After a family Thanksgiving, we decided to meet next day at Villa Pesquera Isabela. The conditions were quite good with winds coming from the NW. To our surprise, we had Full House (on a Friday…), and we have to mention all the pilots and friends present.
Alex Diaz and his wife Belén
Luis Ruiz
Gregory Santiago
Chey Sánchez
Randy Tirado
Ruben Franco
Sao Cruz
Roberto Nieves
Christopher Cruz
Noel Vale
Dannis Rodríguez and family
Michael Diaz
Ted Sowinski
Spencer Fisher
Cameron Bailey
Jimmy Gueits
Fernan Lassalle
As we mentioned, a very interesting weather. There are very few occasions when we have this type of NW wind conditions entering all along the coast. This was a perfect opportunity for pilots Gregory, Michael and Chey, to fly all along the coast, pass the Borinquen airport area throughout the lower part of the Cliff, and reach the town of Aguadilla and its surroundings. But one thing was to plan it, and another to do it. There were inherent risks of the flight. Flying low through that area has parts with little landing opportunities.
Thus, the pilots tried and achieved it. They flew to the Parque Colon in Aguadilla. Once there, the arrival of a large cloud indicated them it was time to return. Here we share some videos of the crossing.
Gregory flying over “Las Ruinas” in Aguadilla.
Over Elegant Houses in Borinquen…
Team Kamikazes over Crash Boat, Aguadilla.
Over “Muelle de Azucar”.
Over Aguadilla Harbor.
Meanwhile in the flight zone, Dannis, Ruben, Randy and Fernan also flew. While Sao, Ted and Alex preferred not to fly. The students Spencer and Cameron put the paramotor in their backs for the first time, also with flight intentions. But the conditions were not ideal for them. Still they tried to launch once. In the case of Cameron he was almost flying, but doubts with the accelerator while running prevented him from launching. His run and inflation of the paraglider were perfect.
Others who practiced with paragliding were the local students Roberto, Jimmy and Christopher. Mostly they used the beloved Apco Thrust and BGD Seed for the practices. In the case of Dannis’ flight, it is worth pointing out that by the time he try to launch, the weather conditions have deteriorated. Even so, he made a very demanding takeoff and had the bad luck that the paraglider left with a tangle. Dannis flew around, corrected very well and landed elegantly before everyone’s eyes. By this execution he won his third star in flight level. Congratulations 💪!!!.
At Sunset, the weather continued to deteriorate and gusts greater than 20 mph began to enter the zone. Luis and Fernan were surprised in the air. Luis landed on his paramotor without major problems but had to be helped to control the paraglider on ground. While Fernan at the moment was doing a Free Flight and thank God he had the acceleration bar installed and used it to avoid flying in reverse. This may have been something serious for a rookie pilot but Fernan solved it with mastery.
After this we terminated the activity. Tomorrow the roads take us to Hatillo and it’s time to rest.
