The Greenbird ice craft is now in record ready shape, but alas, one thing is missing, yep, wind! A huge high pressure is dominating north west USA, bringing clear skies and very light winds. The good side to this is that temperatures are above normal during the day and often creep into the +0 deg C region, so this melts the surface ice, gradually making it smoother. In fact, the ice is in great shape and getting better by the day, so when it does blow, we will be ready! It looks like the current weather system will change around Thursday, with a trough approaching from the North east Pacific. This will lower temperatures increase cloud cover and bring the chance of wind, as well as snow, of course!

On the craft, I have improved the steering control with a more robust hydraulic steering system from Teleflex, and also added yet another GPS, with a graphical display, showing the track and speed in real time. This is very useful, because when travelling at high speed, so close to the ice, it is often hard to tell how close you are to obstacles or the edge of the lake. We now carry a total of 6 independent GPS systems on board, each logging the speed and position at frequencies between 10 and 1 Hz.

I have also added a parachute, which can be used in emergencies or to just to aid stoping. Slowing from max speed should be relatively easy, but actually slowing from 50 mph to zero can be much harder. With such a low parasitic drag and the wing always wanting to drive forward, the parachute may be necessary to get the craft to come to a complete stop. As yet, all hypothetical, but we will soon find out if it is needed.

Would be nice to go out and test it all now!

However, despite the lack of wind, I did get one day of sailing in, clocking 60 mph in light wind. Although this is only a fraction of the vehicle’s potential, it was fast enough to demonstrate that everything is working perfectly. My concerns over the rear suspension on the bumpy surface was unfounded and that gives me a lot of confidence for the next weather window in March.

As all the landsailors had disappeared after the Nalsa regatta washout, I dismantled the Greenbird by myself, which is always a challenge, but after a long day, it is all safely back on the trailer, and off the lake. The craft will be stored locally over the winter, and be ready for the next land record opportunity in March.

The next challenge for us is going to be the ice record in Montana in January.

Then, from nowhere, the wind set in blowing 18-25 mph, almost instantly, and I was not ready!

These are not record wind speeds, but very good testing winds. I worked frantically to finish the hydraulics and bleed the system and finally got the wheel covers on at about 3pm.

Pushed it out on to the playa and sure enough, the wind meter was now reading 13 mph, where it stayed till sunset (our self starting threshold is 18 mph of true wind).

Typical. However this is the nature of the desert, sometimes a good forecast does not materialise, and other times a nothing forecast suddenly becomes good for an hour.

There is a better forecast for tomorrow, so hopefully, we will get some runs in.

I awoke to find the area that had been wet yesterday was now dry, but the larger body of the lake that was dry, was now wet as lots of water has obviously blown up from the south end of the lake. With such a large area (10 miles by 6 miles) it is impossible to survey the entire area and know how much of the surface is covered, and of that area, how deep the water is.

The Greenbird uses wide slick tyres to try to achieve maximum grip, and although a little surface moisture does not matter too much, surface water will be very bad, loosing traction and would cause aquaplaning if hit at speed. We can use ‘wet’ tyres with tread, but this will not yield the maximum speed.

Only time will tell how quickly the water evaporates, but right now it does not look great to be dry within this 3 week window. The standby period can be extended, but as spring develops, the probability of big winds after the 10th September decreases.

However, we will do our very best to find a useable, dry patch, when the wind looks good.