SP Weather - GO / NO GO

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Mchurcher45
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SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by Mchurcher45 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:39 am

What weather conditions do others consider in deciding whether to drive to SP for flying? Wind speed would be the major factor with cold temperatures (as they affect the electronics, not wind chill effects) as a secondary factor. From what I have seen, wind direction, in general, does not seem to be a significant factor.

As a trainee with an Apprentice, my initial guess would be that winds of 20 kph with gusts to 25 kph, or perhaps 25, gusting to 30 kph would be an upper limit for my level of skill. What would be an upper limit wind speed for a high wing trainer aircraft?

What criteria do others use in deciding whether to fly at SP and which forecast do you base that on?

Thanks for any advice,

Mike
Mike Churcher MAAC # 91299

Apprentice S 15 e
CG Eagle 2 (electric)

Mchurcher45@gmail.com

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bdg
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by bdg » Fri Jan 29, 2016 4:11 pm

Hey Mike!

There is no simple answer to this as everyone has their own personal "limits" that need to be considered regarding skills, plane types, etc. Some planes and helis will be able the handle wind conditions better than others. The Apprentice is a workhorse and will endure "above average" wind (steady and gust) due to the AS3X stabilizer helping out.

Personally, I find that my Mustang P51 will handle more wind (no stabilizer) but a lighter craft will be a struggle as you will be constantly fighting it.

Larger quads tend to be more resilient to the wind as well.

As for others, all that I can suggest is "it depends". I will say that being able to fly in a reasonable level of wind can open opportunities for flying BUT there is definitely a limit. I've seen the Apprentice pushed beyond my comfort zone by other members.

I was at the field for just a few minutes on Sunday of last week. Winds were high and from the East and my plane was really getting blown around and I was getting cold.... Hence I did not hang around (and no one else was there, either!!).

Personal feelings will also weigh into the equation. Sometimes we just don't feel up to the challenge or work. Sometimes we will just push ourselves beyond our normal comfort zone.

I am at a curling bonspiel today with my son; plans for tomorrow are really up in the air depending upon how the team does today.

All the best,

Brian

wildblue30
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by wildblue30 » Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:20 pm

I was at SP yesterday afternoon with another flyer. Winds were forecasted as 10 kph but they felt more like a steady 20. It was about 0 deg C.

I brought models that could easily fly in those conditions (my Sport Cub and my 450 heli with 4 cell packs). I didn't stick around to fly all of my batteries as I found the conditions that day were pushing my enjoyable limit. The Sport Cub was bouncing around with un-scale-like speeds and my fingers were feeling numb. My heli on 4S was not too bad.

So normally for me 15 kph or less for enjoyable flying. Beyond that it feels like you're flying a kite.

Jeff
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RocketManRC
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by RocketManRC » Sun Jan 31, 2016 6:19 am

Yesterday I created an online wind plotting tool that may be helpful for deciding if you want to go flying or not. Have a look here:

https://plot.ly/~RocketManRC/17.embed

Also I'm attaching an image file in case it isn't running.

This gets the wind speed from the weather station at the Dartmouth Yacht Club every two minutes and shows a graph of the last two hours. You can mouse over the data points to see the exact speed, the direction and the temperature. Right now at 06:15 it shows the wind level increasing and getting a bit more gusty.

This is experimental for the moment and running on my laptop but I may enhance it and make it permanent.

Here is where the data is coming from:

http://www.weatherlink.com/user/dyc/ind ... s=1&type=1

If you look at the link to the map you will see that there are other weather stations around that may be useful as well. In particular of interest to me, there is one on the coast that is near Lawrencetown and one at Scotia Zinc near the ASRCM field.
Attachments
DYC Wind.png
Rick MacDonald
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RocketManRC
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by RocketManRC » Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:22 am

An hour later...

You can see in the attachment that the wind has gone from an average of 10 km/hr to 20. It still looks pretty steady so it might still be reasonable. The forecast is for 20 gusting to 40 and that won't be any fun if it happens.

At this point the only thing to do is go and see. LOL.
Attachments
DYC Wind (2).png
Rick MacDonald
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Mchurcher45
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by Mchurcher45 » Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:32 am

Thanks all for the feedback. Rick, I was not aware of the weather station info from the DYC. That's very helpful. I think your graph has good potential as well.

I'm curious if anyone was flying yesterday or is flying today (Sunday,31 Jan). Based on the forecast, conditions would seem to be beyond my capabilities.

Thanks,

Mike
Mike Churcher MAAC # 91299

Apprentice S 15 e
CG Eagle 2 (electric)

Mchurcher45@gmail.com

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RocketManRC
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by RocketManRC » Sun Jan 31, 2016 8:00 am

I am going out right now Mike. I will post what the conditions are like when I get there.
Rick MacDonald
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RocketManRC
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by RocketManRC » Sun Jan 31, 2016 8:38 am

The conditions are blustery but flyable. Not a great beginner day Mike.
Rick MacDonald
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RocketManRC
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by RocketManRC » Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:10 pm

So it turned out it was an awesome winter flying day after all.

Here is my capture of the last two hours of wind when I got home at noon.

Temperature was around 4C and wind direction was SW to W.
Attachments
DYC Wind (3).png
Rick MacDonald
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RocketManRC
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Re: SP Weather - GO / NO GO

Unread post by RocketManRC » Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:22 pm

Wow, look at it now. Temp is around 4C and dead calm wind :-)

Please note that this temporary wind graphing service will shutdown in the morning when my laptop has to go to work (with me).
Attachments
DYC Wind (4).png
Rick MacDonald
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