Google Earth Kiting

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 10:28 pm

I've tryed to put togather a race at Sermin for two years, NO TAKERS!!!
Come On, I'm not all that BAD (thats REALLY GOOD for you young folks) Ha Ha!
Now you start talking about some looong drag of a race going up wind!!!
Would you use a dragster in a Tractor Pull??

Before you guys get any bright ideas about killing off the competition with some Megga Race, remember you gotta be able to finish the course too....
Ha Ha Ha,
L.M.G.
What ever- just give me a call before you run.....THis dawg is ready to hunt!!

OliverG · Post by **OliverG** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:23 pm

Count me in!

LMG, You know I'll need that new stick from you now...

windhorny · Post by **windhorny** » Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:46 pm

You guys are fucking nuts!

charlie · Post by **charlie** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:34 am

i know for a fact that Limm can rockit up wind like no other!
its just getting him motivated, that is key

and now gee has full blow groms to deal with !!

and now ollie wants a new stick to burn on ....

lmontejo · Post by **lmontejo** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 8:19 pm

In gliding, with what is known as the OLC competition, one can race whenever one pleases against the rest. That was the whole point of the GPS tracing on Google Earth!

That is, we can show up whenever we are free, or we pick a good day, and we compete a published course or feat, and then post it on the internet.

I believe that what we need to do now is set up a few courses out of different locations - Sherman, Alameda, Crissy, 3rd Avenue etc.

The meeting of many for a race is fun, but sometimes we can't all make it. That is why the gliding system has worked so nicely.

It you go to the Minden gliding site http://mindensoaringclub.com, you'll see an article on what a typical winner gets: An invitation to spend a week at the Hilton Ranch in Nevada. In our case, we can dream up of a prize - a week with Charlie in the South Pole, or whatever.

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 11:25 pm

Leo... I bit the GPS bait and taped one onto my arm today..... Armed with my brand new Misfit 134 (super sweet board... and REALLY FAST) I did a few speed runs and pretty easily broke 30mph.....didn't feel all that powered... but did my best.. My last run of the day felt much more powered ( I caught a gust) and I know I went much faster than my prior runs... GPS said 46.6kts as top speed, but that has to be too much (I am not the best judge of speed).... I'd believe 35-40mph... but 46.6kts has got to be close to a record.... I am now wondering if my GPS is really accurate or is reading some sort of bounced signal or something... (Leo... have you experienced this with your watch GPS?)

Also... I rode a little over an hour and it said I went 15 miles... I believe that is accurate.

Andy

windhorny · Post by **windhorny** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:51 am

I dont know how much the speed differs from one gps to the next but my gps was right dead on. I used to drive wth it and as long as your speed was consistant for a second or more it would read accurately.

Sander · Post by **Sander** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:29 pm

Andy,
I'm sure you're going damn fast but you should either contact the Guiness Book or recalibrate your meter.
The world record for sail powered water craft is 48.7 knots by windsurfer Finian Maynard. I believe it is avg speed over 500meters.
Link:
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/technology ... drcrd.html

clints · Post by **clints** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:35 pm

The gps log contains altitude information from the mean sea level so it all depends on the application whether it supports parsing this data from the NMEA log file and displaying it. As for speed challenge, I would not use a gps since it with won't give you the exact position of you're start and finish. It's only accurate up 1-3 meters. Also poor weather affects the GPS signal so you might not get an accurate reading during stormy and windy conditions.

-clint

lmontejo · Post by **lmontejo** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:45 pm

Andy, it really sounds like your GPS has something wrong with it.

Or, are you sure you are talking about KNOTS and not kilometers per hour? 46 km/h I believe, but I agree with others that if it was knots, and your GPS is accurate, you are a new record holder.

Does your GPS store a file of your run?

Send it to me and I'll look at it and convert it into Google Earth format.

Finally, Clint, I've flown in much bad weather with a GPS both in gliders and airplanes. I've never seen them give me bad information as you suggest - which by the way is when one would need it most (ie flying a GPS approach into the Bay Area on a bad weather day...) I don't buy your explanation for Andy's surreal numbers...

Andy is also a pilot. What do you think?

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