Very active weekend for Team Kamikazes Paramotor Puerto Rico, independent of strong winds, Dust from the Sahara, and even earthquakes (again). And not only that, but we were active in different parts of the island enjoying our sport.
We started on Thursday the 25th in Isabela, where Luis Ruiz was in charge of the flight for Alexia, who was accompanied by her mother Cristina, residents of New Jersey. Luis was able to make Alexia’s flight, although Cristina’s fly remained pending for a next time due to the strong winds. She assisted Luis in the fly of her daughter.
From there, we recharged batteries on Friday and prepared equipment. Then, on Saturday we were back on the adventure with flights in the area of Boquerón, Cabo Rojo at 6 AM !!!. There Luis Ruiz arrived along with the student/pilot from Florida, Juan Pagan. He came accompanied by his wife Jenny and sister Nelly. We chose Boquerón, knowing that the day would be very windy for the whole island and the SW part of the island was the best option for flights. So much was the success in the forecast, that there was no wind at all to help in the Paramotor take off.
Luis and Juan arriving very early at Boqueron, Cabo Rojo.
At the same time, it was a perfect for Juan to practice the Take Off using the “Front Launch” method. Luis was in charge of all the preparation. When the time arrived, Juan had two initial attempts that although went well, they were aborted because the running launch route was not secure. On the third attempt, Juan managed to make his “Front Launch” takeoff with authority!. Unfortunately, the communications radio had accidentally fallen out of its frontal case and ended up with the propeller, breaking it 😖…. Juan managed to take off anyway, but the flight lasted just 2 minutes before he had to return and land. Given this situation, and considering that there had been 3 flight attempts, we decided to stop the paramotor activity and just take the day to walk around the area.
Juan Pagan launching the Paramotor at Cero wind conditions…
We went to visit the area known as the “Ovni Puerto”, where, as the word implies, there have been many UFO sightings in the past years. We also visit Bernabe Velásquez’s old house in Lajas. Bernabe is a great friend of Juan and now they both reside in Florida. Bernabe’s surprise was great when he saw the photo of her house taken from Juan 🙂… Another obligatory stop was to visit the “Playa Sucia” area and the Cabo Rojo Lighthouse. Much of this route was on foot as the vehicle entrance is still closed. In the meantime, at “El Caracol” area in Dorado, Alex Diaz and Ariel Rodríguez meet there in order to practice with the paragliders. Sadly, the wind conditions were very strong throughout the northern zone and they didn’t practice as planned.
Then, Sunday 28 arrived, and Luis Ruiz was again at Villa Pesquera Isabela showing the experience of the Paramotor flight to José Luis De Jesús and his son Alejandro. These had come with their family from Salinas to “Live the Experience” of flying in the Paramotor. At the end, both flights were made, despite that the wind was hovering around 15 to 20 mph of intensity all day. Both, José and Alejandro were very happy with their experiences and promised to return 💪…
The flights of Jose Luis De Jesus and his son Alejandro in two minutes…
Meanwhile at Machos Beach in Ceiba, several Kamikaze pilots got up early betting on better flight conditions. The pilots Gregory Santiago, Alex Diaz, Danis Rodríguez (arriving from NY), Juan Carlos Correa and the student José Santini arrived there. The wind stayed all day between 10 to 12 mph from the NE. Perfect for a “Cross fly. Eventually, this was used by the pilots to fly to the Hotel “El Conquistador” in Fajardo. But, not only that… they took height and went to fly to the island of “Icacos”, “Lobos” Cay and “Isleta de Ramos”. For Alex, this was the first time he went cross country with Grego and JC. Here we include some of the videos they took. With this performance Alex arrive to 4 stars in his pilot level, Congratulations !!!!.
Video from Alex Diaz flying at the side of “El Conquistador” in Fajardo.
Here we include some additional photos of the weekend. I hope they are to your liking and as always we thank God for the opportunities that allow us to live 🙏.
