For the obvious reasons, I invariably get too busy to blog exactly when things get interesting...
Following the successful low-altitude test two weeks ago, we re-assembled this past weekend for another round of testing – this time to full altitude, and integrating all steps of the operation.
Just like last time – everything worked straight out of the box. Set-up was quick (less than an hour) and we were ready for the helicopter. Doug Uttecht was flying for Northwest Helicopters again, and he seems to have been practicing this in his mind over the last two weeks, since we were able to dive right into it.
First flight was a warm-up flight, duplicating last week’s flight, just to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything since then. We additionally rehearsed radio commands so that we will later be comfortable positioning the helicopter.
We then practiced climber pick-up and lay-down, which are now a bit more complicated than they would have been with the winch-based design. This is done with two simple tools that allow us to handle the cable without really getting uncomfortably close to it.
We next performed a series of measurements in order to correlate helicopter positions and lasing angles. The trick is to have the climber within the allowed 15-degree lasing angle throughout the climb, while at the same time maintaining its separation from the helicopter. Not-too-steep, not-too-shallow, and actually, we need to drift the helicopter during the climb since there’s no single position that satisfied all conditions. Given the practice we’ve had, this was almost trivial to do, and what’s more important, since wind conditions will likely be different during the games, we know we can adjust in real time to different cable sags.
Finally, we did an end-to-end test with battery powered climbers. Only USST and KCSP had climbers ready to go, and KCSP suffered from control related issues and did not have their van full of spare parts with them, so to Brian’s endless misery, they were out of the game. USST was the last climber standing, and on their second try, they put the pedal to the metal and completed the 1 km climb with no problems. Meanwhile, Lasermotive who were out with their beam director, confirmed that tracking was feasible within the 15-degree cone I mentioned.
Not much more to say then – the vertical raceway is now ready and waiting for the teams. More information on the upcoming schedule coming your way soon.