Folks, these are my quick notes from the club meeting if you missed it. I'll do a separate, more in-depth write up for the What's On Your Deck question, keep an eye out on this blog for the next article. -NFH
Meeting Agenda
FIRST HALF: Admin, Notes, Updates, and Catchall topics
1. Intro new members
Name, how long, where do you live?
Plamen, Jason, Hank. Welcome guys!
2. Club Info & Updates
-Cote record (beating his own record from LB)
-wild weather, post/pre frontals
-reviewed descent procedures, discussed order of ops re. big ears or speed bar first
-Little Black to Blossom, airspace, Jeff Brown pointed out that there's new class E,
-Chris C makes the point that all his records were set without hitting airspace
-David H talked through his recent Palomar flight with a newer pilot:
Launched on what appeared to be a perfect day with a newer pilot, as DH climbed up he saw that over the back was a black ominous cloud, he called on the radio to his newer pilot buddy to immediately get away from the mountain and fly into the valley, radio wasn't working, turns out the remote mic was broken. DH flew back to his buddy to get close enough for hand & arm signals. Tons of lift, slightly dicey getting down, once they were on the ground the sky darkened everywhere and flying was over.
Reminders: Check your radio before flying, if someone is giving you hand and arm signals it's probably a big deal, even when you test gear it can still malfunction, have a backup plan.
-Otay over the back with Connor, David, and Phil. Fun day, but be aware that most days that is an active flying area with human missiles (skydivers, wingsuits) blasting through.
-Telegram working well. The group is fine with all 3 channels (Announcement, Day of Flight Planning, and Banter)
-Med course feedback, tourniquet source on Amazon. Pilots are interested in further learning though no one really wanted to pay for it. Internal group teaching, or we may have to reach out ot others who would volunteer again.
-Website updates, to include more frequent emails and a re-org of the backend at least. New member Hank offered to help with that.
-Proposed putting "fly bios" on the site so you can see a few pieces of info on each pilot: How long they've been flying, currency, what wing they usually fly, etc. Idea well received, we (the board and any tech volunteers) will have to discuss how to implement it.
-Kudos for Steve R's work on RRG, USHPA, and the SDHGPA. Proposed finding a USHPA award to submit his name to or figure out some other public recognition for all his hard work. Well supported.
-Asked club members how do you want to receive info? Telegram, email, FB? All are good, several members said they liked email the best.
-Next month's possible topics:
-XC talks
-Rehash of the Valle incident including coordination,
-Travel for paragliding questions (gear, how you pack, insurance, InReach/Spot considerations, communication, etc)
-Designate primary & alternate site guides. Currently have them but should probably reconfirm and update.
-Dave Metzgar talks about gust front dangers and how San Diego is one of the few places he's flown in the world that doesn't routinely experience gust fronts & valley winds. Told a sobering story about a gust front 70 miles away killing hang gliders up in Missoula MT 30 years ago. Excellent reminder to keep an accurate model of the sky in your head.
SECOND HALF
-Gear discussion, each person talks about their setup, apps, why they’re running it, what benefits it has, and what the downsides are. This will be addressed more fully in a separate blog post.
David Hatfield
Samsung S8 or S9, XC track, XC Tracer Mini, GPS navigation for an old Winnebago shade hood, matte screen, GoPro or Bluetooth speaker, 2 screens
Ethan talks about the top 3 varios LeBipBip, Syride, XC Tracer
Jeff Brown
Compel, air probe, phone, battery case, stylus for drawing, radio, point and shoot camera, first aid kit Garmin inreach
Chris C
Phone with baro sensor is as good as any expensive flying instrument, Oudie 4 repaired, map sucks, tones are nice, has vario, airspace, comp tasks, phone next to it using XC Soar with map and airspace and excellent thermal tracker, GoPro, external battery 20k milliamperes battery, 10k is plenty
Peter Hill
Silver thread for a stylus, placement of InReach/Spot, XC track on his phone, maps are good, separate phone case on flight deck, Flymaster GPS model, customizable screens, auto flipping screens, screens dim over time,.
Brad S
Phone with Velcro on the back for the soft side on his phone, ascent H2, ball compass
Connor points out that a ball compass on your flight deck (or anywhere) can’t be near other electronics
Plamen asks about putting flying kit on the riser. General response is not to do it, but he seemed to have a special case since he's rolling with a front-mount reserve.
Ethan points out additional features and comparisons of various flying computers, Garmin watch, not using messages that much. Brad backs that up, said he flew for a ton of hours down in Columbia and spent something like $24-26 per month.
Plamen asks what the difference between Spot and InReach is
Jason asks where the messages go for Spot & InReach
Chris Cote asks about LiveTrack24 use, flying comps and extra backup
Bill D talks about international coverage for inReach and how it's not automatically included. More to follow in a future meeting.
Dave Metzgar used Blackfin (?) phone for flying?
Meeting wrapped up by 8:30.
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