Dear VADCFLL community:
I received a wonderful solution proposed by FLL Team 6825 "Virtual Storm" at 10:00 AM US Eastern Time today - Chain all four trucks together with heavy chains before going on the riverbed. If the first one gets stuck, pull it out immediately and move up or down river and try again. But once one is across the rest of the trucks will be attached and it can help pull them over. If you happened to have a winch on one truck send it first so once it gets across it can secure the winch on a tree or large rock (if any) for further torque (more power) pulling the other three trucks over.
Sincerely, FLL 6825 "Virtual Storm" South West Virginia I relayed the solutions to Captain “Tibet Mountain Lion” immediately once I saw the email (it was around 11:20 pm in Beijing Time and it is 13 hours ahead of US Eastern Time. Since the caravan is anchored at a large base camp in the west region of China, so the local time is like US Mountain Time vs. Eastern Time, in other words, it was like 9:20 pm actually.) A message now has come back from the captain. I’m now forwarding his email to entire VADCFLL community so we all can share the great news – Dear Mr. Ye: Please help me relay my sincere and deep appreciation to FLL Team 6825 “Virtual Storm”. I cannot imagine this wonderful solution came at a better time! We just need this right now because we have fully loaded our trucks and we must depart tomorrow morning. We do have a few of contingence plans but none of them are as complete and superb as the one that Team "Virtual Storm" laid out. Enlightened by this innovative plan, I have pull a few more winches from the base camp warehouse and our engineers are going to install them on the trucks, and we are carrying a couple more with us so we may use them with our two ATVs - we do equipped with two all-terrain vehicles. Your solution may help us to solve another major problem after we are across the rivers and enter the mountain area. Usually it is sunny or cloudy at this time of the year. However according to the satellite data and local weather stations, we will most likely encounter rains or showers in next a few days. The problem is that we have to drive through some unpaved roads in the mountains and they can be not only steep but also slippery in the rain. With your solution for crossing the riverbeds, now I think in case the trucks have difficulty to going uphill, we will deploy our ATVs going uphill first, and install a winch somewhere and use it to help the trucks. Wow, I am very excited the idea and I’m going to try it out! Thanks very much again and please congratulate for me to “Virtual Storm”. You told me they have been selected to participate in the VADC FLL09 Championship tournament. What a great accomplishment it is and a great opportunity as well! I wish them the best in their FLL adventure, FLL expedition and FLL journey! Sincerely yours, Captain Tibet Mountain Lion 1:00 AM --------------------------
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