September 11, 2008
ABFM Grand Slalom update
I was able to check on my times for my three slalom runs and as I indicated earlier, all three were absolutely clean with no penalties. Good for us. As I was looking over the results, I noticed that my name was in a very respectable place. Not bad, I thought for my first time; it would have been fun to win a ribbon or something first time out, but no complaints! Then I started looking more carefully at the results sheet. I am the top placing female in my car class!!! Now THAT makes me feel great!!! Thank you Baby Jag!
2008 ABFM Grand Slalom
When I moved to the NW, I joined a car club. We have drive-outs, dinners, and events where our cars are on display. Over the Labor Day holiday, there was an event at PIR (Portland International Raceway) called the All British Field Meet- which involves British made cars and motorcycles.
One of the things that we were able to do was to slalom race our cars. Helmets required —three timed attempts at the course. That reminds me, I need to call someone and see how I placed. It was so much fun, that I really didn’t care about where I placed in the event. It gave me the opportunity to see how my sweet Baby Jag handles under tight course conditions under my attention with no speed restrictions. This car was designed for just these conditions and it was exhilarating to get to know her qualities (and my own) better under the closed course driving competitions.
Are people like that? We are designed for life. We get to see the true worth of a person when they are under the stress of a closed competition. Do your better qualities come through under stress? Do they give you that extra confidence so you know how you will handle in extreme conditions? Do they give you the confidence to push the limits of your performance? Is winning more important than the thrill of the personal contest? Is where you place more important than what you learn about yourself?
I ran each of my three timed Grand Slalom runs cleanly. I never missed a gate, I never missed a cone (2 -360 degree turns). The course starts off to the left with a gentle slalom through several gates; then a hard left 360 degree cone (keep off the grass!) which is followed by a tighter slalom down a straightaway to the last 360 degree cone which is followed by the tightest slalom gates ending with a straightaway run. I forgot to tell you that there was a strip of gravel after the last 360 cone that you had to cross to get to the last set of slalom gates. I took the first run slow and easy (well, compared to the next two), getting to know the course and just how hard I wanted to push the Baby Jag and myself.
The second run, I decided to go for it! Well, as I was smoking in to the last 360 degree cone, I noticed that there were some people in front of me –maybe 50 feet away–but not far enough if I lost control or hit some gravel. What were they doing there????!!! They must have thought that I did this for a living — I bet they never would have been there if they knew I was a novice! Anyway get rid of the distraction…focus on the 360 degree cone turn …. focus … turn hard … brake … accelerate… turn… turn… accelerate more… turn some more… opps…I have go w-a-ay-y over there! Focus… H-m-m-m this is more than a 360 degree turn … it is more like 360 plus another 45 degrees..at least! Oh, well, lets drive fast to our left way over there to that cone/gate…. Squeal….. Brake…What was that??? UHG..gravel….I forgot about the gravel……Oh my goodness…..There is a gate I have to go through, but to go through the gate, I have to turn back to the right. Turn.. turn hard –OVERCORRECTED! Probably because the AWD kicked in the second it felt the gravel—good Baby Jag! Whew… as we made it through that gate I wondered if I knocked over the cone - I’ll find out later that I didn’t. …..now where to?? Way back over there to the right! Accelerate…brake… turn… Overcorrected again … accelerate … But we made it through all the gates without knocking over any cones or penalties! Now, FLOOR it and go for time!!!
My third run driving intensity was somewhere between the first two even though it was my best time. I just wanted to drive clean and fast. BUT…. those stupid people were still there at the final 360 degree cone turn. What are they doing there??? They actually look like they are having a picnic!! Get out of the way!! I leaned on the horn and came smoking in with the horn singing!!! That got the attention of the folks having the picnic as well as in the grandstand! And they loved it!
Some of my friends had been in the grandstand watching, but not knowing for sure who was driving which car until I took my helmet off and put on my sun hat. After the event, they were talking as I walked up. Any way, it turns out that my intense driving was the crowd pleaser! Particularly as I came out of the last 360 degree+ turn into the gravel right in front of them on my second run. They said that the crowd collectively sucked-in their breath in one huge gasp. Evidently it looked as though I was going straight into the wall. “What wall,” I asked my friends? “I never even saw the wall; I was focused on those silly little orange cones that I had to drive through!” My driving caused some thrilling moments for the watching crowd!! If they only know how thrilling it was for me!!!! Baby Jag deserves a nice rest and I have yet to completely wash the number 9 off of her windshield because, everytime I look at it, it reminds me of a fun event and we both smile!
Parallel Runways
Our regional Hillsboro airportairport services a large number of corporate jets, business planes and a flight school. The Port of Portland held an “under the radar” community meeting tonight (9/11)! to introduce a proposal to the community to expand the airport. None of my neighbors, or the local business people that I had contact with knew about the proposal or the meeting.
The proposed expansion involves the construction of another runway — this one to be built parallel to one of the existing runways. The new runway will also impact (destroy) existing wetlands which provide habitat to wildlife. With this new runway, I am sure that the homeowners can expect an increase in air traffic over our little sleepy suburb. This increase in air traffic will increase our air pollution, and increase noise pollution, and decrease property values. Since part of the reason for the expansion is because of the increased traffic at the flight school, an increase in student pilot air traffic is not conducive to air safety.
The Hillsboro airport is closly surrounded by businesses and homes. It has a limited amount of land there which is the reason they have to make the new runway parallel to an existing one; still encroaching on the wildlife wetlands. My personal biggest objection is the fact that the proposed runway is parallel to an existing one. I feel that this is a disaster waiting to happen. Inexperience pilots crossing a busy runway used by corporate jets, confused while trying to get to their hangars, trying to find the right taxiway, the right runway, the right path to cross, etc. I had many years of flying into and out of the Lambert/St. Louis airport. It has parallel runways. There were many narrow misses, go-arounds and aborted take-offs because another plane had yet to taxi completely clear the runway or the taxiway. There were also fatal accidents. And these were with experienced pilots who had had many years in commercial aviation most after having been in the military and were very familiar with the runway situation at the St. Louis airport.
I just feel that our little bedroom community of Hillsboro does not need the increase in air traffic, the increase in noise pollution, the increase in air pollution, the increase in student pilots flying above our neighborhoods and schools and the multitude of resulting problems that this runway expansion would create for the homeowners of Hillsboro.
