At 09:47 AM 8/13/02 -0700, John Erickson wrote:
>Jim,
>
>It's refreshing to think of new ways to have fun with our planes in a
>contest setting.� I agree that with all the new electronic gear there has to
------------snip--------You could say that the flyer has to climb 250'
>(or some number) and then jump out and find another hook.� The flight data
>could later be recorded and you could see how many thermals were bagged
>during the window.� You could throw out any dives as they would show up on
>the data chart.� The pilot would have to judge 250' before bailing out,
>which is interesting.
>
>For me the real thrill of flying is the thermal hunt.� I'll never get tired
>of looking for lift and then that feeling of satisfaction (relief?) when you
>hook up.
>
>JE
>--
Hi All,
I've been catching up on this thread with great interest. A bit over a year
ago, I prototyped an altitude logger after a discussion with a fellow club
member regarding an HLG contest idea.
The need by HLG required small size, lightweight and self-contained. I found
that using a serial port on my Palm and Tiny Sheet by Iambic allowed me to pull
the data from the logger for contest scoring. As I looked at the data, several
different contest thoughts began to congeal.
The altitude logger can be triggered to start recording at the first launch, by
simply watching the altitude gain. The length of the round can be set in the
logger which stops recording at the end of the programmed period or the CD
requires all planes to be on the ground within x seconds at the end of the
round.
The data can be scored on several different elements including greatest
altitude reached during round, greatest average altitude, greatest average
altitude with the least number of throws (i.e. sky outs), and you thought
triathalon was complicated ;-)
Maybe even a deduction for a higher zoom, kind of like an inverted landing
bonus ;-) In other words, you get a higher score by launching lower, but you
still have to have a "respectable" average altitude for the remainder of the
flight.
I wanted the HLG altitude logger to be very small, with a target weight of less
than 1/2 ounce, and be self-powered (lithium coin cell), so additional hardware
was ruled out. In a different environment, such as an unlimited class plane and
pulling power from the receiver battery, adding the vario, with the exception
of the TE probe is a no brainer.
For those thinking that this "hardware" is flying the plane or directs you
where to fly the plane, it doesn't. It simply and accurately records your
flight for later review and/or comparison against another contestant/opponent.
Tom Hoopes - ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
------ Hoopes Designs -----
"Taking the hassle out of wing wiring harnesses"
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