el Hierro (VDE) / Tenerife (TFS)

Mon: in retrospect by far the nicest day here on el Hierro. Flying twice from Dos Hermanas (highest launch with 1365m): very large, fine gravel, Holfuy wind station...

Dos Hermanas, looking NNE

As usual, a layer of clouds started forming below/ at launch, but normally it's not very thick....

...so flying through it (with a compass or a flight instrument showing your heading!) poses no problem.

LZ 'los Sargos' -looking back to launch (about middle of pix)
> that's actually what it is supposed to look like on a 'normal' (good) flying day ;-)

'Estacion'

I flew twice, landing at 'Estacion' on the second flight.

For dinner we visited 'Bodeguita del Fa', a restaurant we knew from last year's stay here.

Tue: the day started very wet with high humidity and reduced visibility. Some people have been speaking of 'Calima', but we were not convinced as the wind direction throughout the day remained North...

Mirador de la Pena - looking South towards Frontera

In the late afternoon we headed up to 'Salida 600', hoping for an extended sledder.

'Saida 600' (pix taken the day before)

Contrary to my expectations it turned out to be a very nice flight in smooth conditions. Here the Leeloo showed one of its strong points: climbing well in (very) weak conditions :-))

very hazy during the flight

landing at Los Sargos as the sun was about to set...

Wed: unfortunately too windy for the whole day; even at the lowest launch ('Salida 600') it felt too strong/ gusty for us. There might have been a chance to fly at 'Tacoron', but the chance to do so seemed to small to us to go for a 38km drive (each way).

But 3 acro pilots with their small wings enjoyed flying at 'Sabinosa'.

Sabinosa, looking NE

To 'compensate' for the day we had an excellent (!) dinner at 'Con Fusion' in las Puntas.

Thur: last flying day on VDE: I made 2 flights: 1) around 1230 from Dos Hermanas, where we hit the perfect launch window when the wind has been at its lowest for the whole day.

2) I went for another flight later in the afternoon, this time from 'El Golfo -600' with nice climbs. Unfortunately upcoming rain forced me to outland in the 'pampa' and I had to walk 3.5km before Gaby could pick me up (- short version). Again dinner at Bodeguita del Fa'.

Sunset over Frontera (seen from 'Salida 800')

Fri: too windy for a late morning flight. We returned to los Christianos (TFS) by ferry at 1400; but at least I could do a short sledder from Taucho.

 

>> Many thanks to Alvaro from the local club on VDE for his assistance, hints and tips!!

Sat: last day on this trip together with Gaby and Hartmut. We headed up to Taucho, but when we began to prepare a light drizzle started. After it had stopped, a sledder to the beach would have been possible, but neither Hartmut nor I felt 'tempted'