Stars Track XII

User avatar
Barish
Marshal
Marshal
Posts: 212
Joined: Sun Oct 19, 2014 9:54 am
Has thanked: 18 times
Been thanked: 50 times

Dears,

You can write your trip reports under this topic.

Barish
Last edited by Barish on Fri Nov 26, 2021 3:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Mghoneim
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 50
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2021 7:41 pm
Location: Dubai
Has thanked: 68 times
Been thanked: 253 times

Great drive with awesome lead from Giorgio and outstanding support from the crew.

Thank you all.

Cheers!
Mghoneim 👍🏻
Cheers,
MGhoneim
User avatar
AZK89
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 22
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2021 9:16 am
Location: DXB
Has thanked: 53 times
Been thanked: 87 times

Thank you for all , awesome team and so adorable group .
Today my second time with you , i really
1: enjoyed
2:benefit from your experience.
3: safety
 ! Message from: AZK89
i was on other club and , i got out from other club .. because they not care for the new and no safety … to much think .

I am so happy with ( Almost 4x4 club ) . :in_love: cool
Image
Ahmed Abu Saood cool
User avatar
galindakis
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 1:25 pm
Has thanked: 143 times
Been thanked: 218 times

Hi To all

It was a real pleasure this second trip.
We did long climbs, long descending, fast, technical…
We learn a lot and most important part we had fun and safe all the way. I like how serious you are about safety.
The next upgrade in my case is clear, skip plate.

See you in the next.
Cheers
Ozgur
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:42 pm
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 33 times

Hello everybody!

We had a nice Friday morning again!
First of all thanks for @Barish organizing the drive!
Today I have attended @Rashidjass’s convoy with +5 drivers. Convoy lead by @Rashidjass and float marshal @Mahmoodyasin and sweep by @ivantorrellas ( I only remember his name, hope his nick name is correct). And also @Ehab was floating around of us for club’s sponsor BFG Tyres photographer.

In this area, this is my 3rd drive. I can clearly say it, each drive is different experience then the before. Today it was more technical drive and I really enjoyed it. We did some very small height crest side crossing. I was feeling confident to climb those small crests. Because it was not really hard but it’s good to train yourself on this size crests for get better with upper levels.
Today most of the time sand softness was okay, it was not soft to stuck.
Today, there was a little big crest, and behind of the crest’s left side was ditch.
Front of my car , he crossed the crest at lower position and he stuck once he reached the ditch. After he left from there by himself but watching the other cars also teaching us very well. After that crest, one of the driver had radiator temperature issue, because his skid plate was bended while he was landing from that crest. Skid plate slightly damaged the radiator. After this mechanical issue, he couldn’t continue much and already it was almost end of the drive. We left him with @Mahmoodyasin.

@Rashidjass headed to the finishing point with us and he also went back to the help the other car.

Thanks again for all our trip’s marshals @Rashidjass @Mahmoodyasin @Ehab, support drivers @ivantorrellas and all drivers! Stay safe and see you in the next trip!
User avatar
Tomvanhouten
Intermediate
Intermediate
Posts: 190
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 10:25 pm
Has thanked: 1078 times
Been thanked: 1075 times

Hello everyone,

Once I reached the meeting point, I was happy to see so many drivers showing up for this drive directly after the CM! Really nice attendance, but a little low on support this time?! OSMILEY

I was requested to join the convoy with @alshamsi_m leading and @haider alnuaimi floating.
Small convoys of 7-8-9 drivers per convoy really initiated a good and smooth flow all along.

In our convoy a minimum of incidents took place, with only one assisted recovery, the convoy was assured of maximum fun!

I specifically enjoyed the company of the group, really nice to meet you all and hopefully see you soon again.

Tom
User avatar
brett
Crew
Crew
Posts: 204
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:08 am
Location: Dubai
Has thanked: 1294 times
Been thanked: 830 times

Dear Almosters

It was fantastic to see so many eager Newbies turning up to continue their journey with almost4x4 family after their initial Club Member drive last weekend. Welcome to the family !

After the initial briefing by @Barish and @alshamsi_m the group was split into 3 convoys based on the number of drives everyone had, I should add here that it was great to see also drivers from previous batches returning to continue their journey.

I was placed in the convoy to be lead by @giorgio where I was to be placed in the now almost regular position at 2nd Lead - thanks @giorgio for having the confidence to put me in this critical role. we had @Gabor and @Jasper as intermediate support dispersed within the convoy and @Barish in the ever watchful floating role to keep us safe.

@giorgio picked a great track with just the right amount of technical challenges for the level of experience in the convoy. pushing just enough in the technical areas to allow for the drivers to get a feel for how their car handles and more importantly how they handle their car. It was a relatively uneventful drive with only a few 2nd tries and no popouts. and from memory no assited recoveries - I might be wrong, as at the front sometimes its not known what is happening down the back of the convoy. There was One particular obstacle that was about to impose a challenge that may have been a bit too complex for the convoy with this limited level of experience. @giorgio decided to find another line instead of risking having multiple drivers stuck in a bowl. The new track was set and with the direction of @Barish commanding the operation like a General from atop a dune the convoy successfully regrouped and we proceeded along the route.

Now it was a little faster in more open terrain with ups and downs and a few easy low arches.
The almost roller coaster style took its toll on one unlucky passenger and the convoy had to hold up for a few minutes while she was able to recompose herself. This was towards the end of the drive so luckily for her she didn't have to endure the feelings of nausea for more than a few more minutes.

Even after the number of drives I have under my "Newbie" belt every drive is a learning experience - time behind the wheel in the dunes develops your skills no matter what the level. Here are my take aways from the drive

1- As always, leave any ego you have at home. We are all here to learn
2 - Radio communication is key to a safe drive for everyone
3 - A 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) try doesn't mean you failed, it means you are learning and doing so safely.
4 - Flying is great if you are in a plane ! cars do not have wings ! take off is easy its the landings that will cause the problem.
5 - Maintain the right following distance, too close you run the risk of kissing the car in front or worse, and not being able to maintain the right momentum, resulting in stucks and 2nd tries. Too far and you might not be able to read the terrain based on what you see the car in front doing or losing the track completely.
6 - Respect gravity, it is ever present and in any battle it will always win.

Thank you everyone - stay safe and looking forward to meeting you all again in the dunes soon
Until the next Adventure

Brett
Red Baron
Daiyaan
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:01 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 55 times

Good day!

This was my 5th drive and so I was placed in the 5+ convoy for the first time which was also my first drive led by @Rashidjass which I was scared about :;^^: but thankfully the drive wasn’t scary haha blank . This drive consisted of shorter crests and felt to be a more technical drive. Which is somewhere you always learn.
Towards the end of the drive one of the members unfortunately faced a radiator leak, where their car was rescued by @Mahmoodyasin and @Rashidjass and I dropped them to their home where we had a good chat.
After the end of the drive I decided to go away to the dunes at the side for “nature’s call” where I got stuck while coming out :hidden: . Called on the radio and @Rashidjass came to the rescue.
All in all this was a great smooth drive where after a long time I didn’t face technical/mechanical difficulties.

As always, looking forward to the next one!
User avatar
AntonT
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:51 am
Location: Sharjah, UAE
Has thanked: 258 times
Been thanked: 160 times
Contact:

Good evening, almosters!

Another excellent drive day in Al Qoudra Desert!

During the last week, I shuttled between Sharjah and Dubai to be on time to equip my car with safety equipment and install a snorkel. @alshamsi_m and @Rooies made an outstanding contribution to the upgrade of my Nissan. Thanks to their advice, I saved a lot of money and time.

That was good to see a large amount of fresh one-star members from the recent club member drive at the meeting point. Some of them came on board from other local off-road societies, but it seems they were impressed by almost4x4 performance and atmosphere.

My Kamikaze got from @brett a long-awaited tattoo – sticker with the club’s logo.

On the briefing, @alshamsi_m and @Barish split us into three convoys. @giorgio led our G-Team (G for Georgio) with @brett as the 2nd lead. That was my 3rd drive with almost4x4 and the most challenging one. We quickly passed a short technical area and climbed to high dunes with remarkable bowls and arches. My young navigator – Maria – enjoyed a lot from butterflies in her stomach. I stuck at tricky crests a few times due to main mistakes – the wrong "angle of attack” and early breaking. But differential helped me to avoid assisted recovery. Shortly before we reached the flat area, there were a few exciting drops from high dunes!

Thanks, everyone, for the fantastic 4x4 event!
Hope next drive will come soon)

Anton
User avatar
jundrive
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2021 9:54 am
Been thanked: 14 times

1st drive as Newbie dated 26.11.2021
Arrived at the meeting point around 08:10 and immediately proceed on deflating the tires. After sometime a roll call and short briefing headed by @Barish and @AlShamsi was conducted . The group were splitted into 3 convoys.
Was included on the convoy being led by @Giorgio and 2nd leaded by @Brett. Assigned as 3rd car following Brett.
A VERY Good Drive and with some technical maneuvers and some straight crest and some side crestings. Being the 3rd car saw a bowl that seems will be very difficult for us to tackle with. Giorgio advise us not to follow him. Later, Barish plot a new track for us to avoid the bowl.
LESSON LEARNED:
1.0 Keep distance = it really pays to keep safe distance saw it personally on the aforementioned bowl. If not, we may got stuck on it (specially for us as newbie)
2.0 Momentum = Driving a Pajero really needs momentum compare to other vehicle which is having more torque and hp.
3.0 Flag = This time i’m closely watching the flag of Brett as if I saw it suddenly disappear then it should be a drop or have an idea that if it sways left and right then expect a bounce.
4.0 Understand your vehicle = in relation to momentum , one must understand or feel the vehicle particularly for us having a LWB which is more prone to being bellied and stuck in a straight crest.
Kudos to our Lead @ Giorgio, our 2nd lead @Brett, our support @Jasper & @Gabor and last but not the least to our Marshal @Barish.
Post Reply