06.27.08

Volando en Lagunilla (Salamanca)

Posted in General at 1:08 pm by Administrator

Video corto del domingo 22 Junio 2008.

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06.22.08

Liga Centro 21-22 Junio 2008

Posted in General at 4:12 pm by Administrator

El Sabado en Piedrahita viento del sur oeste de atras. Quatro horas esperando en el despegue para que se pusiera pero no tuvimos suerte y se anulo’ la manga. Fuimos a conocer un nuevo despegue cerca de Bejar, Lagunillas orientado al Sur con al frente el valle de Ambroz (foto arriba). Estuvimos volando alli toda la tarde y fue un vuelo muy placentero casi de restitucion. El Sabado cenamos en Piedrahita. El Domingo fuimos a Cebreros y se cancelo’ la manga. Algunos volaron por libre. Todas las fotos aqui.

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06.15.08

Castejon 2008 - Liga y PWC

Posted in General at 7:13 pm by Administrator

This week-end I drove to Castejon to compete in the Spanish league and watch the first task of the Paragliding World Cup. Friday we had a small window to run a 41 km task before the rain set in. I forgot to sign the flying list and knowing  would get 0 point and seeing already that the clouds were closing in, I went to land. Several pilots in goal but with some heavy rain in the last TP…not for me. Saturday a 68km race to goal with 3 waypoints in the valley and the goal in Sort. Once again I showed my limitations when flying in a high mountains environement  and I bombed out in Vilaller…only 33km and 35km short of goal. Sunday, bad weather and they cancelled the 1st task of the PWC. I was at take off and flew down with all the others, unfortunately the conditions worsened very quickly and it took a while to get down with big ears and spiralling.. taking off was a bad mistake and many pilots came to regret it as it was windy down in the valley and raining with significant cloud suck. I had to pull very big ears all the time, suffer some turbulence and strong wind but managed to get down safely…an avoidable mistake.. Pictures of the Spanish League here. Pictures of the first day of the PWC in Castejon here

Este fin de semana fui a Castejon para volar en la Copa Pirineos 08 Liga Espanola, y ver la primera manga de la PWC Copa del mundo de parapente. El Jueves no se disputo’ la manga, el Viernes, con mala prevision, se lanzo’ una manga de 41 km con un circuito de balizas por el valle antes que caiera la lluvia… Yo despegue’ y cuando estaba remontando en la Tuqueta y cobrando bastante, me recorde’ de no haber firmado la hoja de presencia..Sabiendo que me iban a descalificar y 0 puntos decidi irme a aterrizar antes que se montase la tormenta (que finalmente se monto’ 5 minutos despues que llegara el ultimo en gol). En la ultima baliza se veia llover a cantaros y varios pilotos aterizaron con las velas bastante empapadas.. Gano la manga Raul Penso de Venezuela( Niviuk Icepeak) seguido por Ivan Colas (Axis Mercury). Llegaron 20 pilotos a goal. El Sabado, buen dia y buena prevision aunque con techo bajo (2400mt). Se lanza una carrera a gol clasica en Castejon con 3 balizas en el valle y luego gol directo a Sort por un total de 68km.. A mi, otra vez mas como cada ano, no me sale este puto vuelo a Sort y la cague’ en Vilaller despues de 33km (faltaban 35 todavia para llegar..). Gano’ la manga Goyo Gonzalez (Aircross Ultima 3) con 23 pilotos en goal. Aqui va la clasificacion de la segund manga. Goyo gano’ tambien la Copa Pirineos 08- Enhorabuena! Aqui va la clasificacion general.  El domingo subi’ al despegue para ver a los Pro de nuestro deporte, pero con  muy malas previsiones, se cancelo’ la manga. Todos volamos pa bajo al valle (yo incluso) y fue una mala decision ya que se cubrio todo muy rapido, empezo’ a tirar pa arriba y habia que meter orejas y acelerador a tope o barrenar fuerte para bajar. Tambien habia viento y turbulencia y no fue muy agradable…un error que se podia evitar..muchos pilotos se arrepentieron de haber despegado..los ultimos aterrizaron con lluvia …Aqui van las fotos de la liga. Aqui las del primer dia de la PWC.

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06.10.08

British Open 08 Task 5

Posted in General at 3:31 pm by Administrator

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06.08.08

Task 5 British open 2008 - Pedro Bernardo June 7th.

Posted in General at 11:33 am by Administrator

Back in Spain after my  working spell in the USA, I drove to Pedro Bernardo where the last task of the British paragliding open was held. The forecast did not look too good with moderate north winds which means that often this  site is unflyable due to the turbulence associated in the south facing ridge protected lee-side. I decided to drive there anyway to say hello to many friends and enjoy the day out, not thinking much about the possibility to fly. Once I got there it was nice to see so many fellow pilots again and also put faces to some names (paraglidingforum members). Calvo asked me if I wanted to register and fly the last task. I went for it and soon we were up at the west take off, the feared north wind was nowhere to be seen and a 64 km task flying south was set with  two cross wind legs over the north side of Talavera de la Reina. I took off pretty soon and struggled for a while to gain some decent altitude to venture into the flats. I left the ridge with about 1400mt following two groups of small gaggles that already formed near the village of Buenaventura. In the flat the climbs were weak and broken and it was crucial to work all lift available and be very patient in this first part of the task. After the climbs got stronger and stronger and I was cruising at base having decided to stay well to the west of the Real de San Vicente mountain and in the flats. A very good decision. My gaggle was some 8 pilots (inlcuding Daniel Crespo) and we were advancing extremely well and overtook a lot of pilots who chose to cross above el Real. In the vicinity of TP1 I must have been in 30th place and I could clearly see the leading gaggle crossing Talavera to go to TP2. Still I was in very good position heading for TP2 when I started to fly way too conservatively riding the now abundant thermals too high where I should have been pushed on the speedbar and go directly to TP2…I lost contact with at least 25 pilots in front of me and I was overtook by another 10 just before rounding TP2. I also mis-managed the glide to goal arriving with a staggering 980mt above it… I came in goal 60th with 3 hours and 8 minutes to complete the course.  Shame because I flew 3/4 of the task very well almost to the max of my current capabilities and could have positioned myself amongst the first 35. An awesome flight in unknown territory; from P Bernardo we normally fly the mountain ridge to the west. Beautiful landscape and very nice smooth conditions. Felt very good to compete again (my last comp was in January in Valle de Bravo) and get to goal. The picture above is taken by D. Crespo and it is me thermalling with him. All the pictures here.  Task 5 results here. Stay tuned for the video.

De vuelta a Espana despues de unos meses en USA por trabajo, me fui a Pedro Bernardo este Sabado donde se celebraba la ultima manga del British Open 2008 para saludar a unos amigos y pasar el dia; como habia prevision de norte fuerte la posibilidad de volar era minima. Calvo el director de la compe me pregunto’ si queria inscribirme y volar la ultima manga. Decidi que si y fue una decision acertada ya que el viento de norte no aparecio y se volo’ una manga de 64km hacia el sur sobrevolando la ciudad de Talavera de la Reina. Yo vole muy bien hasta la ultima baliza donde llegue’ entre los primero 35 y tenia al grupo de cabeza siempre a vista. Desde alli empece’ a asegurar demasiado y a volar muy conservativo para asegurarme el goal. El resultado fue que perdi totalmente el contacto con mi grupo y antes de la ultima baliza me pasaron un monton de pilotos. Tambien falle’ completamente el planeo final a goal donde llegue con un alturon de sobra de 980mt.. Entre en goal el 60 en 3 horas y 8 minutos de carrera. El vuelo fue espectacular por zonas desconocidas ya que normalmente volamos en Pedro Bernardo con Sur Oeste y recorriendo la ladera hacia el este. No competia desde Enero en Valle de Bravo Mexico y disfrute’ mucho del vuelo y de completar la prueba.  Aqui van todas las fotos. Resultados aqui.

Pronto el video.

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05.28.08

Eagle Rock -Virginia- The video

Posted in General at 10:04 am by Administrator

Here’s the video of the memorial day week-end fly inn at Eagle Rock - VA - USA.

Aqui va el video del fin de semana volando en Virginia - USA.

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05.26.08

Eagle Rock, Virginia - USA - Memorial day week-end

Posted in General at 5:04 pm by Administrator

Drove down to Eagle Rock VA for the annual fly-inn organized by the Skywackers. Good weather on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday the conditions were really good with nice cumulus everywhere. Unfortunately due to the owners of the LZ working on the field, we could not take off from the north launch until well late in the afternoon. With light and variable winds we moved to the south lanuch and myself and Orlando (in the picture with his Sigma 6 orange) took off on a nice cycle and we climbed to almost 1600mt (over 5.500ft). From up there the view was awesome. This is a very pretty flying site indeed. We decided to try our luck at XC and pushed above US 220 towards Fincastle. We worked some very weak lift along the way and unfortunately landed just after only 14km. It was late in the day when we took off (4PM)… Sunday was too much stable (high pressure) but still I managed to ride a nice little thermal to 1700mt; then in the evening a nice glass off with lots of gliders in the air. Sweet. All the pictures here. Stay tuned for the video.

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05.23.08

Flying in Utah -The Video

Posted in General at 3:07 am by Administrator

Here’s the video of the Utah flying week-end..a bit long, I had a problem with editing…
Aqui va el video del fin de semana en Utah..el video es un poco largo..es que he tenido problemas en la ediccion..

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05.19.08

Flying in Utah 17-18 May 2008

Posted in General at 3:53 am by Administrator

An awesome flying week-end in the Salt Lake City Area, Saturday manouvering over the lake (SIV course where I trashed my beloved trango3 with accelerated collapses, stalls and a spin) and in the evening a wonderful flight from the north side of Point of the Mountain. Sunday morning ridge soaring at point of the mountain South and two nice flights at Inspiration point. All the pictures here. Stay tuned for the video.

Un fin de semana fantastico en Utah (Salt Lake City). El sabado por la manana  SIV en el lago Yuba donde he hecho varias maniobras con mi trango3 (perdidas, negativos, frontales y asimmetricas aceleradas etc..), luego por la tarde un vuelo de dos horas en la cara norte de Point of the Mountain. El domingo laderita muy pronto por la manana (la foto arriba la he tomado a las 7…) en la cara sur de Point of the Mountain y dos vuelos guapos en Inspiration point. Aqui van las fotos.  Pronto el video tambien.

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05.15.08

Florida XC 2008 -Spring fling -The video-

Posted in General at 6:40 pm by Administrator

Here’s the video of the week-end at the Florida Ridge.

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05.13.08

XC Florida spring fling 2008

Posted in General at 1:14 am by Administrator

Went down to the Florida Ridge on Friday ready to try flying cross country with David Prentice, Luis from paraglidingflorida and friends at the annual XC spring fling fun competition. Saturday was a blast, on my first tow I got straight to cloud base, amazing..but then I picked a stupid line in the blue amongst two clouds, hit sink and landed some 7km away. I launched again at 14.45 and rocketed straight to base once again. From there I was crusing and hopping from cloud to cloud pushed by a nice 25kmh tailwind. Some nice clouds were forming to the north of Clewiston on the south shore of lake Okeechobee and I went straight under them. I was crusing nicely when I realized that I was drifting a bit too much over the lake, I wasted some time in weak lift drifting even more when I realized that I had to get back to dry land…this is alligator territory…I had to face some cross wind and lost precious altitude. I landed after a nice XC of 55km. Sweet. Shame I could only stay for the week-end and not for the whole week… They are flying everyday some long XC tasks. The place is truly awesome .you can read it here on David’s blog.  Here is the track  Here you can see some pictures.

Este fin de semana fui a Florida a volar en el Florida Ridge con David Prentice y otros pilotos. Condiciones muy buenas el Sabado, y para mi un vuelo de 55km (el segundo remolque ya que en el primero me fue mal y aterrice despues tan solo 7 km..). una pasada de lugar con termicas superbuenas y posibilidad enormes en esta epoca para vuelos de cross. Lastima que solo pude estar alli dos dias y no toda la semana..estan volando cada dia muchos km…aqui podeis leerlo en el blog de David. Cuidado pero donde aterrizeis ya que hay muchos pantanos con cocodrilos y serpientes…. aqui van unas fotos.

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05.05.08

Flying in Ohio 4th May 2008

Posted in General at 7:54 pm by Administrator

A very good day at Wes-Mar airfield with plenty of sunshine, light variable winds and a good lapse rate. On my second tow, I hooked on very low and patiently worked the weak lift which became eventually stronger and took me up over 3000ft above the field.
I kept climbing this very smooth lift well above 3800 ft AGL and I started to really enjoying the day as there was lift all around Wes-Mar airfield; but then I looked to the north east and clearly saw Rickenbecker International Airport’ runaways not very far from my current flying position; I then remembered that I was in a LOA (limited operating area). At 4000ft AGL I decided to leave the thermal as I did not want to climb any higher for the moment. I then started thinking about going cross country but could not make my mind up about which direction would be best and further away from controlled airspace and the regional airstrips of the area. The wind was very light and variable so I could have gone any direction really; the day was really good with plenty of lift and a good climb rate. The most logic rout to take was to the north west where a good cloud street had formed; but not having studied a map beforehand, I wrongly assumed that it would take me very near Columbus CMH controlled airspace. I therefore decided to enjoy the lift and the day by flying around the airfield area and over Darbyville, leaving thermals as soon as I went over 4000ft. Also the Cessna going up and down on the airstrip and dumping men made me a bit nervous as I am not used to see aircrafts in the vicinity when I am soaring.. The best lift of the day was when I saw Steve and his hanglider climbing real good towards the end of the airstrip and the cornfield. I decided to go and join him; I pushed on the speed bar and in no time I was climbing at 5m/second on a monster thermal that took me well over 4500ft. After another couple of tours around the field and one hour and thirty minutes in the air I decided that I should give XC a go. I finally made up my mind and decided for SE, head past Darbyville and possibly follow road 56 all the way to Circleville and beyond. I left my thermal possibly way too early over Darbyville and went on my first proper glide of the day. After a couple of minutes I started to sink really bad, a constant –5ms. I tried to pick a different line but it was too late, all of a sudden I found myself low and had to land some 5 miles SE from Wes-Mar. I landed next to the road on the green yard of a house; the landlady very kindly gave me a ride back to the field. When I was folding the wing, I noticed how the thermal I did not reach on time was now full on lifting losts of dust and weed in the air about 50 yards from where I was.. very unlucky.. typical, you can’t get down because of lift everywhere and the minute you decide to venture away, you hit sink… A very good flight nevertheless with almost two hours in the air. Shame that I could not get very far, but this happens especially if you are not focused and distracted by controlled airspace thoughts and waiting way too long before heading away.

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04.28.08

Wes-Mar airfield - Ohio

Posted in General at 1:49 am by Administrator

A high overcast sky gave very scarce thermal activity. A nice day out nevertheless with the good  company of three fellow Ohio paraglider pilots and lots of hang-gliders pilots. Some sky-diving activity was also going on on the airfield. Three tows and three very short flights. It felt good to be up in the air again…Ohio flyers rule! All the pictures here.

Fui a volar en torno en el areodromo de Wes-Mar en Ohio. Mucho cirros y cielo cubierto con muy poca actividad termica. No obstante eso lo pasamos muy bien en compania de tres amigos parapentistas que viven por aqui y muchos pilotos de ala delta del club Ohio flyers. Tambien habia unos cuantos paracaidistas. Me di tres vueletes muy cortos, pero me encanto estar volando de nuevo despues de mas de un mes. Todas las fotos aqui.

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04.21.08

950 miles driven in two days and no flying…

Posted in General at 1:15 pm by Administrator

A further confirmation that I am an incurable paragliding junkie, but this time I was not lucky. I decided to drive down south to Georgia  on Saturday morning,  passed through the beautiful Smoky Mountains on  US129 on the famous tail of the dragon  and arrived at Bell Mountain flying site around 5.30 pm. This is a picture taken from the take off. Conditions were absolutely perfect for ridge soaring but being completely on my own and not knowing the area,  I did not risk it.

I then went on driving south. The church goers of the town of Demorest, GA obviously do not know about paragliding and think they can only fly through “rapture”….

I spent the Sunday at Atlanta Paragliding where it was too windy to fly. I did some ground-handling which was good fun. We had a nice barbecue and it was good to meet up again with fellow pilots and friends. Towards 3 PM the wind started to calm down but it was unfortunately time for me to head back home as I had another 450 miles drive waiting for me to make it back to Northern Kentucky before midnight.. this is how the sky of Northern Georgia looked like at 4 PM…damn it!!

On the way back I went through the great Smokey Mountains again and stopped in Cherokee NC, a beautiful little town nested in the mountains and home to the Cherokee Indian reservation. Lots of scenic driving and no flying..

 All the pictures are here

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04.12.08

Grounded again

Posted in General at 3:27 am by Administrator

After a couple of very promising day during the week with plenty of sunshine, high temperatures and light winds, here comes another stormy and non-flyable week-end..curse this weather! I am so longing to be up in the air..

Despues de un par de dias muy buenos en esta semana con sol, altas temperaturas y vientos debiles, llega otra vez un fin de semana con tormentas y vientos…y no se vuela…maldicion!!

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