AAR - Eureka, KS Dec 4th "Winterseed"

[4bfox]

Well, I think the first "Winterseed" in Kansas came off pretty well! We had 6 brave souls who persevered against the wind and freezing temp to learn rifle marksmanship and history.

THANK YOU to gpbbiker, who had the forethought to rig up a 2-sided canopy/shelter, from the remains of canopies destroyed by the tornado during our RBC last summer! Some of you may remember the Frankencanopy he assembled from some of the parts and pieces....it still lives! Next month I'll add a couple catalytic heaters, and maybe we can make it a 3-sided shelter.....

All of the shooters did well, Mike came REAL close to qualifying....208! Wow...2 more points and we would've had to douse him....

And I have some pics....of special note...Ann, our newest IIT! Congrats, Ann....thanks for taking the hat!

[gpbbiker]

Yeah!
The "FrankenCanopy" took a beating!! It was the sharp 35 mph+ gusts that did most of the damage. Spent most of Monday AM replacing all the grommets that got ripped out. And I am not too sure the one broken leg is fixable! The Average Wind speed in these parts is 14.6 MPH so we will need some calm days yet this year to bring down that number! It is kinda of hard to appreciate a fairly sunny day when the temps are in the thirties and the Wind is blowing so hard you can't hear and it keeps blowing you and the rifles off target! Wind Chill takes on a Whole New Meaning when you are in the Great Plains!

The shooters were GREAT! I about fell out of my chair when Lane answered my question during IMC about why we convert to Minutes!!
"ir-relative to distance" was her answer! (I Think thats the word she used!) Ahhh.. the joys of female engineers who can think in MOA!!!!! What Fun!

Everyone was attentive and worked hard!!

By the way, I had a third side available, but with that much surface area I feared the FrankenCanopy would be in Missouri by now!!

[4bfox]

Yeah, I heard that canopy "pop" several times, and each time, I was SURE it was going bye-bye! I dunno, when the grommets start ripping out, not sure what else you could use to hold it together...

Looking back, we're probably just lucky it wasn't blowing harder....

[POP]

Wow 4b, did you say you heard the canopy "POP?" Hmmm.   

And 4b & gpb, after the RBC this past summer don't you think you would have learned about mixing canopies and wind?   
The mental image of the remains of all those canopies after the tornado last summer still lingers.  Aah, the joys of Kansas.

Most impressive, though, was Mike's 208 ... which at last summer's RBC would have been impressive ... but, add the winterseed to the wind 
Keep plugging away, Mike.  You'll get there.

Hmmm, POP out.

[4bfox]

Yeah, Pop, I dunno.....maybe we need some of those old tarps that were doubled on the edges, and smell like diesel and mold? Never saw a grommet tear out on those!

You get tired of the balmy temps down south, come up to our next one Jan 15th....should be a hoot!

4b

[gpbbiker]

JAN 15th???
Does that hint that a 2011 calendar might be forth coming?

[4bfox]

JAN 15th???
Does that hint that a 2011 calendar might be forth coming?

Yep....2011 brochure AND "business-card" are done, just waiting on schedule upload. Then I'll post them.