Friday, March 6, 2020

TGIF! and other things.....

And it's SIXTY-EIGHT degrees here today!

Been scouting out big parking lots here with Google Maps so I can find a long enough straight to let the Limitless R/C car stretch her legs. The parking lot we shot the video in has a maximum usable distance of about 250', which is about 1/3 the distance I need, and about 1/4 the distance I'd like. The car spends most of the first 100' scratching for traction as it accelerates, and then I have to get on the brakes 100% to slow it down enough to turn as it approaches the end of the lot.



The biggest parking lot that's fairly close to me is at the Community College, so I'll have to drive down there on the weekend to see if the lot is open, and how many cars are parked there.



Up to the Northwest, on the way to Laporte, there's an airfield used by the Colorado National Guard, or at least it was at some time, called "Christman Field". You can read the history of Christman Field here, about 1/3 of the way down the page. It's also the site of the CSU Motorsport Engineering Research Center ("MERC"), which I've been looking into. This is another location I'll have to scout to see if there's any "public" access to it, and to see if it's posted "Keep Out" or "No Trespassing". This is a paved, 4000' strip that looks to be usable from the Google Map (actually USGS) images.



And then there's the now closed Fort Collins airport.



Close looking at the images show the runways to be blocked in places with stacks of tires.


And further down the runway is a large section of removed runway, and other cuts or barriers to the upper left.



They did a number on the main runway, BUT the taxiways still have some quite long uncut straights.

I'll have to talk to the guys at the eTeam Hobbyplex again to see if I'd get run off or cited for trespassing if I tried to do a run there.

The hip seems to be responding to 200mg of Naproxen three times a day, along with the pain killer "As Required". My consultation with the Orthopedic Doctor went through, and I'm seeing him next Friday. It should have been sooner, but somehow they had a wrong phone number for me. The Ortho people contacted my Doctor, who contacted me, adding about a week to getting the referral set up. I don't know if the PT exercises I'm doing are helping any, but they give me something else to do when I'm not messing around with Ham Radio or model cars.

So I'll go do some scouting on Saturday to see how full the college lot is, and if there's access to it, and then head up to check out Christman Field. I have no intentions of trying to get an organized "Speed Run" event going, but I'd sure like a surface long enough to let this thing rip!

16 comments:

  1. You could drive south to the SALT FLATS!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bonneville is almost due East of here, LL.

      Got some drift in your INS?

      Delete
  2. Good luck with the recce, but I like the idea of the SALT FLATS too. Dramatic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bonneville Speed Week is the #1 item on my bucket list. It's a stark, hostile, brutal, desolate place, but magic happens there, and I'm told you can feel the history.

      Tickets were sold-out last year, and the weather ruined things for the first few days.
      Speed Week is the middle of August, and I might not be up to the physical challenge of the Bonneville Salt Flats in August, so I'm considering the World Finals the last week of September.

      Delete
  3. It hurts so bad to see a good runway cut like that.

    So many airfields are being lost or have been lost in the last 20 years. So many bases, so many chances.

    Sad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You really wanna get pissed, go research what they did to Meigs Field in Chicago.

      A buddy of mine had a plane stranded there!

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meigs_Field

      Delete
    2. I've heard of that before, but had forgotten about that.

      Grrrr. It's Chicago Politics at its finest!

      Delete
    3. And they did it against FAA orders to wait!

      Delete
  4. No recommendation as to a place in this area. I would point out you can get to Utah going east around the globe, but going west is a days drive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. D'OH!
      I looked at the map and saw we were East of there, and, well...screwed it up!

      Delete
  5. Yep, they tore the hell out of that place. Good luck with the referral!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Numerous reasons why they closed the airport, and I guess they had to make the runway unusable for liability reasons.

      Delete

  6. Find out where the local roads are marked for the 1/4 mile. You should have plenty of room!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I need more than just a bit of room. It also has to be fairly flat, and smooth.

      Some of the bike paths and bike lanes here would be perfect, and they're on the list of locations to scout.

      Delete

Keep it civil, please....

Gloomy, Gritty, Grey Day

 At 1700 local it's as described in the headline; 30*F, 88% RH, completely overcast, snowing like crazy (small flakes, but lots of them)...