We arrived at the 3rd Day of the PPG Tour for our pilot friends from Iowa and Kentucky. On this occasion we received the arrival of a strong Cold Front over the entire Caribbean region. The north coast of the island will be all these days with sustained winds at over 30 mph+. With that conditions, simply is not possible to fly safely and enjoyably. So, we need a Plan B…
Lajas Valley in the South at Sunrise…
Our best flight option was to visit the Lajas Valley. So, we arrived at 6 AM, to the land of our friend and pilot José Sánchez Sr. at the Lab Warehouse, Lajas. Present were the pilots, Dan Bushman, Chris Crystal, Chris “Banjo” Barnett, Richard Turner, Mitch Michael, Edgardo Rivera, Luis Ruiz and the host José Sánchez Sr.
The weather in Lajas…
As expected, the magical Lajas welcomed us with very good conditions for flying, clear skies, and zero wind conditions. In addition, the grass was wet, so a failure on takeoff and the glider would get wet, making subsequent exit attempts more difficult. This brought its own challenges. The flights would have to be earned…
The Takeoffs…
The pilots from Iowa and Kentucky are used to these demanding takeoffs. It is his daily life flying adventures to takeoffs in these conditions in the States. So one by one they all took off and filled the sky of Lajas with paragliders. This also included José Sánchez Sr. with his Trike, being assisted by Edgardo Rivera.
Edgardo and a unexpected ankle problem…
This time, the Kamikaze Pilot Edgardo Rivera could not take off successfully. At the moment of the takeoff run, he had problems with an ankle. This caused him to fall on his side and the flight equipment suffered some damages. In this situation, Edgardo‘s attitude in the adversity is admirable, in fact after a some minutes, we already had everything repaired and ready to fly if necessary.
Hour and a half of flights…
After an average of an hour and a half of flying, the pilots were already arriving to land. All with excellence. For a day when the flying conditions were not promising, we managed to achieve an Epic and unforgettable day of flights over the Lajas Valley.
After collecting the equipment, we stopped for breakfast and then visited the Anasco Valley, in the West area of the island. There, sometimes, in these windy conditions, a climate bubble form, and the winds in the zone rotates and arrives from W direction. This would allow us to fly along the coast of Rincon, Anasco and Mayaguez towns. This was not the case this time. The winds kept coming very strongly from the E direction. After this, we called the day for flying and the pilots went sightseeing the town of Rincón.
Photos…
