Wednesday: Mala / Mirador del Rio (Orzola)

Yesterday my friends Gaby and Hartmut have arrived with Condor from Düsseldorf just after noon. That meant that I was occupied for most of the day and could attempt only to fly around 1600. But by then the wind has become strong. Andy on the other hand, which I had 'dropped' off in the morning at Mala could make 2 nice flights.

Today (Wed): the general wind was forecasted to be 080/8kts. This is rather little wind and it meant that it was very hard to find a good flying spot. Andy, Hart and I made a (very) short sledder in the morning at Mala (wind too weak and cross), then we began to look for something 'better'... We drove to Famara (actually a site for W/ NW): it would have been possible to launch from las Nieves (we saw some other pilots) but we were not really convinced that this would be the best option for the day...

las Nieves

Famara (seen from las Nieves)

With the given general wind direction we hoped that Mirador del Rio would offer more consistent conditions; if not we would have gone back to Mala.

Mirador del Rio (launch, looking towards Orzola)

But we've hit the 'jackpot' ;-) 

Nice steady wind on the nose, absolutely perfect for launching and flying. And additionally: nobody else around :-)

Launch (Hart getting ready)

Actually Hart didn't want to fly at first (as he didn't know the site and the LZ), so Andy launched right after me. But as conditions really have been picture perfect, Andy toplanded and could convince Hart in the end to make the flight. He later admitted that he would really have missed something.

Hart (Wings of Change - Crossblade)

 

 

Orzola (and its beach -LZ)

Orzola (left); launch in the middle; Isla Graciosa (right)

The conditions allowed relaxed soaring and the (dynamic) lift extend rather far out over the water. But there also have been some thermals: I could get about 250m over launch. I landed after a bit more than an hour. Driving back we could see that Mala meanwhile also had turned on; but we think that Mirador del Rio has been most probably the best option for the day.