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05-20-2012, 10:18 AM | #1 |
RCC Junior Contributor
I am: Lorne C
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Ontario
Radio of choice:
JR/Spectrum # of RCs: 50+
Feedback: 9 / 100%
Posts: 200
Total Props: 13
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Scarboro Bluffs look good for today
Forecast is light southeast wind. Good for a lightly-built slope or slermeling. I'll be there this afternoon if anyone else wants to join in. 'Tis nice to look out over the lake and a bit cooler than inland sites. Site is marked on Predictwind as Eastpoint Park area in Scarboro.
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05-22-2012, 09:44 AM | #2 |
RCC Master Contributor
I am: Dan D.
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PICKERING, ONT
Radio of choice:
DX18, JR9503, JR9303, Feedback: 34 / 100%
Posts: 1,333
Total Props: 5
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Re: Scarboro Bluffs look good for today
Sorry Lorne, read it too late , I was out flying most of Sunday, it was great.
Did anyone show? Was flying good? The wind was shifting a lot all day. Dan |
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05-22-2012, 09:03 PM | #3 |
RCC Contributor
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Re: Scarboro Bluffs look good for today
Dan, I was there with Lorne in the late afternoon.
Wind was mostly from the East. Sloping was just so so, even for the Radians. It is more thermo where I used up my two packs of 3s1000 in just two and a half hours. Ronald |
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05-22-2012, 09:32 PM | #4 |
RCC Junior Contributor
I am: Lorne C
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Ontario
Radio of choice:
JR/Spectrum # of RCs: 50+
Feedback: 9 / 100%
Posts: 200
Total Props: 13
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Re: Scarboro Bluffs look good for today
$%#^? wind! Would not swing around to SE from ESE or East. Made life difficult for us, and thus, you didn't miss much.... same issue when I went back on Monday ...only then I went to the high (treacherous) bluffs above the marina. The cliff is much higher there, almost Torrey Pines like.
--- I did get a chance to "map" more of the bluffs and speak with the local paragliding expert, who I consider god-like in all things wind, so the 2 days were indeed productive. According to the "baggies", (slang for paraglider) a decent SE wind is not that common, but when it's on, it's really on, and 4-5 hours in a paraglider are possible, all the way from Cherry Beach to East Point! The view from top of the bluffs is spectacular (much more so than East Point near the water treatment plant). I, with he help of a few friendly Eagles managed to find a spotty areas of lift with ESE-E, but they were not too good. This would have been impossible without a motor, as some of the lift bands were hard to get to. The Radian then decided that it didn't need its prop and shed it and the spinner while I was underneath launch hieght, forcing a white-knuckle landing with the CG rearward (no prop or spinner) on the beach among the gazzilion people there for Victoria Day I landed safe away from people with no damage, but it did take me an hour to retrieve the plane. The Radian is indeed more foregiving than priest on confession day. -- The actual high Bluff site is not for the timid, although there is a good landing area in the school yard behind the bluffs. That said, the view, the potential for lift and lengthy front-side... if conditions are good, make it worth while. I hope to be out soon with something a little faster than the Radian, although that plane remains the go-to in light conditions or to map areas of lift. - Lorne |
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05-23-2012, 08:33 AM | #5 |
RCC Master Contributor
I am: Dan D.
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PICKERING, ONT
Radio of choice:
DX18, JR9503, JR9303, Feedback: 34 / 100%
Posts: 1,333
Total Props: 5
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Re: Scarboro Bluffs look good for today
I was thermalling all morning on Sunday, lift got good around 11 am but south east wind was early, around 9am and very weak. Did not think sloping was good. That bluff at the Bluffers park marina use to be very hot hang glider spot in the 80's, then they started to build there on top. The cliff at the very end of that park over the beach is high but better with south wind and very treacherous. You need motor to stay out of trouble, at least I do, but is easily accessible from the street. From Scarborough to Ajax there is a lot of spots to access the bluffs with various heights but wind needs to be south or south west and it is pretty rare.
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05-23-2012, 10:18 AM | #6 |
RCC Master Contributor
I am: Dan D.
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PICKERING, ONT
Radio of choice:
DX18, JR9503, JR9303, Feedback: 34 / 100%
Posts: 1,333
Total Props: 5
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Re: Scarboro Bluffs look good for today
Is this the spot you were talking about? This is at the end of the park, very steep but plane would be gone in the undergrowth and trees, my friend took this picture from his Easy Star couple of years back.
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05-23-2012, 06:44 PM | #7 |
RCC Junior Contributor
I am: Lorne C
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Ontario
Radio of choice:
JR/Spectrum # of RCs: 50+
Feedback: 9 / 100%
Posts: 200
Total Props: 13
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Re: Scarboro Bluffs look good for today
That's it. It's actually very easy to fly there if you have a motor; or conditions are very good. You should never encounter the actual bluffs for retrieval; land either on the large field behind the bluffs as seen in the picture (a huge field about double a normal school yard and well groomed with minimal trees) -- good for thermaling and general flying if wind gods are asleep. Or on the beach in an emergency. If you get up 100 feet or so above launch height, the air is smooth and steady ...watched eagles for about 1/2 hour soaring off to the left in less than ideal winds.
If you must land below the slope; there is a large section of beach below and access by car via the Yaucht Club. I was able to land on the beach successfully with a somewhat disabled plane in the soft sand without a scratch. The view is spectacular, but if you walk out to the point shown and launch, it's not for the faint-of-heart ...200+ feet almost straight down with no fence. Because of the height of the site, the wind blows in stronger than it does on East Point. Lots of parking nearby too. I remember trying to fly there about 25-30 years ago; lost an Aquila on slope, in plain site ...could not get down the treacherous bluff though. But now we have motors, so I think the site has new life. One of the problems with this site is an accurate wind forecast/real-time. The wind may show perfect SE at the nearest weather station, but be different here...I've had this happen more than once. I am now watching wind predict daily to see what really happens at the site during the Summer/Fall/Spring (I know November was good last year). |
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