Well…., We were given an EPIC day !!!! Without a doubt one of the best activities we have had in 2020. And the most important thing is that all those who participated in it had positive experiences of their respective stories in the practice of this beautiful sport of Paramotor.
We began by saying that the meeting plans and the pleasant climate led us to carry out the activity in the area known as “El Caracol” in Dorado. But not only that … But while we confirmed the attendance of how many pilots would attend the activity, Juan Carlos Correa expressed that he would try to fly there from Luquillo, as long as he obtained the permits for the San Juan and Isla Grande airports.
Upon obtaining the permits and announcing it, little by little pilots joined Juan Carlos’ plans to fly from Luquillo to Dorado. So with a day of preparation, the list of pilots who would go to Luquillo was as follows… Juan Carlos Correa, Gregory Santiago, Michael Diaz, Chey Sánchez, Danis Rodríguez, David Silva, Alex Diaz, Robert González, José Roberto Nieves. Nine pilots with their companions who would be giving “support” on the route and taking the vehicles to Dorado.
Once they arrived in Luquillo, Juan Carlos received them at his house where they used a computer to explore the route and evaluate the challenges that each section to be flown took. From there they went to the launch area in Luquillo where the little space and little breeze made them change their plans. Not everyone could launch from there. So, they decided to move to CEIBA !!!, which was equivalent to add more than 30 minutes of flight to reach Dorado. This complicated the issue of gasoline for the trip … would it be enough ?, for all pilots?🤔
Once they reached Ceiba, the winds continued to be mild and in a NE direction. Those who know the area know that taking off with that direction is somewhat complicated there, especially because it was necessary to run hard while the engine was revving. That said, they all managed to take off, except for Alex, who after 4 attempts decided not to go out. The 1 hour 30 minute route from Luquillo now became a two hour route from Ceiba …
While in “El Caracol” of Dorado, the bunch of members of Team Kamikazes arrived, Pablo Cruz and his wife Millie, Alberto Sabah and his wife Mercedes, Ariel Rodríguez and his grandson Derick, Chelo Meléndez and their son Marcos, Omar Colon and their daughters, Luis Ruiz, José Santini, Gabriel Martínez, Omar Román, Rubén Torres, Pin Pin Castillo, Noel Vale and his wife Tata, and possible students Gustavo Pagan and Rafael Carazo.
The winds began to rise gently at 9:30 AM, and students Rubén and Marcos began their inflation practices, being accompanied a little later by Derick and Ariel. The flight window was opened by Luis flying in the direction of Levittown and on his way back he went to explore the entire coast of the Dorado hotel complexes. Eventually he was followed in the air by Omar Román, Gabriel, Chelo and Pablo. All with excellent takeoffs, and most of them were flying for more than an hour on their respective flights.
The flight in “El Caracol” supposed a different problem, and that is that with the winds coming completely from the North, the landing space was a very limited one. Faced with this situation, the most novice pilots had it more difficult, but at the end all of them managed to make excellent landings !!!
After two hours, as expected, the pilots of the “cross” flight from Ceiba arrived. They all arrived with little or no gasoline in their tanks. Impressive was the flight of Danis, who ran out of gas just as he was over the landing area and the photo shows his tank completely empty as he landed next to us 😲. A little less luck ran Robert González who was one kilometer away from completing the route when get out of gas. His landing was a very good one and he was picked up in a few minutes to share with the rest of the pilots at “El Caracol”. In the meantime, Michael, José Roberto, Gregory, David and Chey also arrived with their tanks very empty, but all with a big smile at such an adventure !!! In the case of Juan Carlos, he didn’t arrived, instead, he landed next to his house in Luquillo. A sudden problem with the pipe of his Paramotor was enough to consider abort the trip, he did not want to pass the metropolitan area in those conditions. It was a good decision on his part. Later he arrive to Dorado by car to share with the rest of the group.
Then in the afternoon after some rest, Danis would fly again and this was accompanied by Ariel, who in the morning had seen his grandson Derick fly, and now it was his turn. Michael for his part was dedicated to practicing with Luis’s new glider, the Apco “F1”. Danis landed relatively quickly, but Ariel flew off to the Dorado hotel zone and delay his return. When he return, found mixed weather with crosswinds on the way back. For this reason we sent him to land where he could best, eventually landing next to the river. Danis and Derick went to rescue him in the area and with that we finished our activity.
Thanks very much to all the pilots and family that were present in the activity. And much important to God for allowing us to enjoy these moments !!! Here are a lot of videos and photos of what happened on this EPIC day !!!
https://www.facebook.com/gabriel.martinezcastillo/videos/10207555306957052/
Video from Gabriel Martinez.
https://www.facebook.com/daved.silva.37/videos/631064434212883/
Video of David Silva close to “El Morro” Old San Juan.
https://www.facebook.com/daved.silva.37/videos/631030594216267/
Video of David Silva close to Hotel “El Conquistador” Fajardo.
https://www.facebook.com/100002324670556/videos/3242824642471660/
Video of Robert Gonzalez flying over Luquillo, heading to Dorado.
https://www.facebook.com/LuisRuizParapentePR/videos/10159091462465229/
Luis Ruiz over Dorado Hotels.
Video from Gregory Santiago over “El Capitolio” and “El Morro” Old San Juan.👈
