[TVARC] Flagpole Toppled By Thunderstorm‘s Wind

[Anthony Wayne Hackenberg]

Several people have inquired as to what flag pole I was using that got toppled by the wind gust front during the thunderstorm on 9/12/2020 in The Villages, FL.  It was the standard “Valley Forge” flagpole kit available from various vendors (“Flags & Flag Poles” store on US 441 in Lady Lake, FL; Amazon.com; etc.).

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 12, 2020, at 23:48, Marty Santic <marty.santic at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> What flagpole did you have?  The Harbor Freight version or a commercial version.  Thinking of putting up the OCF flagpole per John Portune's design.
> 
> 
>> On Sat, Sep 12, 2020 at 8:31 PM Anthony Hackenberg <anthony.w.hackenberg at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Members of TVARC MailList,
>> 
>> Today’s (9/12/2020) thunderstorm, in The Villages, FL, took down my flagpole antenna.  The gust front snapped the pole at the first joint (about 4-5 feet above ground).  So, I am off-the-air and will be for some time.  
>> 
>> It’s ironic because I was just re-building the station after tearing it all apart over a year ago for floor remodeling.  I was only a few steps away from having the station working again.
>> 
>> Maybe metal fatigue was the primary culprit causing the flagpole’s demise.  A contributing factor may have been the Valley Forge “Dura-Flex” USA flag that I recently purchased from Amazon.com.  I’ve used these before without any problems but these were purchased locally, at the Flag Store, in Lady Lake.  The current one from Amazon seemed to collect and hold water much more than before.  This added a lot of weight to the flax during rainstorms.  This one also began fraying (at it’s sewn seams) in less than 3 months of use (less than 50% days flown during this quarter).
>> 
>> 73,
>> 
>> Tony/K4QR
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Marty Santic ----- W9EAA - EAA Chapter 75 Newsletter Co-Editor - RV-12 N128MS (Flying)
> "FLY the Airplane, Stay SAFE and Keep the BlueSide UP"
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