Arosa (cont)

Two more nice days here in Arosa.

Tuesday: 2 flights; ideal launching conditions in a light NE-wind. Contrary to all expectations (for this time of the day/ year) on the first flight I found some weak thermals above 'Tschuggen'. I could climb 100+m and prolong the flight to 25minutes :-))
On the second flight unfortunatley no more thermals.

Wednesday: 2 flights; launches in nil wind (or even a hint of tailwind)
- sledder to Arosa: landed for the first time on the 'temporary' LZ near the train station;

Medergen

- sledder to Chur: taking pictures and 'playing' with my Alfapilot.

Chur - historical city

Weisshorn: Sunset at 1730 (Webcam)

Arosa

Webcam Weisshorn

The webcam at 0750 is showning a beautiful sunrise; so a sledder should be possible; Chur is still covered by clouds, which are supposed to break up later...

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The day turned out as 'promised', actually even less cold than I had anticipated. so for the first flight I was rather 'overdressed'  ;-)

1. flight: conditions on top/ at launch:absolutely no wind. Just a sledder to Arosa-Isla: no thermals at all, not even reduced sink as it was still too early.

Maran/ Golf: cross-country tracks

There is so much snow this year, that we've 'got' a new LZ ;-)

LZ Winter 2018/ 19

In order to dispose of the huge amounts of snow, it was dumped onto the lake, thus building a nice 'platform' near the train station we can now land on.

2.flight to Chur: a little West-wind on launch. On the way to Maladers reduced sink and above Maladers and also in Chur some weak thermals, allowing me to extend the flight beyond 30', which is rather unusual at this time of the year.

Chur, Sapünweg (?)

Tomorrow hopefully more of the same ;-)

Planning :-))

...the plan...

For quite a while already I wanted to go back to Japan for one more PG holiday. On my previous trips ( in '04, '05, '07) I had visited only sites on the main island (Honshu). This time I want to fly mostly Kyushu. Kyushu has more sites than I could possibly fly, but is also very well worth visiting for his landscape. So even if the weather shouldn't play along, there will be no shortage of alternatives (ie Onsen).
The time on Honshu will be mostly used to meet friends and possibly fly with them.

The problem: apparently only few pilots on Kyushu speak English. So in order to use my time most efficiently I need to have some assistance, which helps me communicate and possibly also drives.

For about 2 months I've been looking for somebody, bothering all my friends in Japan again and again with my requests ;-)  But nobody could be found or had time. Just as I was about to give up and postpone my trip some 'doors opened'  :-))

First I got in contact with Rick Brezina. He is a Canadian living on Kyushu and regularily uploading flights to XContest; he had also participated in 2017's XAlps. Without his invaluable knowledge and assistance this trip would be impossible. Unfortunately due to his work he's unable to come along, but he's supporting me by providing infos and contacts. Then with the help of a Swiss friend and his wife (both live in Tokyo) miraculously also a 'guide' could be found. She (Yuko) is living in Kumamoto, the place I had anyway chosen as 'base' for my stay while being on Kyushu. She'll handle the communication and will drive me. She is also providing great help in organizing my stay (like selecting accomodation, airport pick-up etc).

Already now a big ARIGATO GOZAIMASU to all of them!!!

SPC - La Palma: Campanarios; dinner for five ;-)

After two non-flyable days due to too much wind I had my last flight for this trip yesterday. After a side trip to Puerto Tazacorte for an icream from 'Frida' (probably the best gelateria on the island) and el Time, where we had a look at the launch, we flew again from Campanarios. Cloud base was rather low (just above launch and even a bit descending with time), but nice thermals almost everywhere permitted an easy flight to las Indias and back...

Campanarios

looking North towards Puerto Naos

Flytec 6030 and Alfapilot RS

I was using again the Alfapilot flight instrument. So far I'm still pretty happy with it. The support from the company is exeptional: mails are answred within hours and in detail! But for sound I'm still using my XCTracer, which I consider to be the most responsive vario available at the moment...

'Dinner for Five' in Puerto Naos: excellent fish! - thanks Hart!

Sunset from our Finca in Sao Naicolao

Today (Sunday) return flight to ZRH and the cold...

SPC - La Palma: Torre del Time

Yesterday we also tried to make another flight: this time from 'Torre del Time'.

Pano looking South towards 'Los Llanos'

Launch was without problems, but as soon as we (Bernd and I) were airborne, it felt very 'starnge': virtually no thermals (I could make twice 2 or 3 circles) but lots of sink. Distance to the LZ in Tazacorte is only about 5.5km; with an altitude difference of more than 1100m this should be easily doable, Should . as we both didn't make it and had to land below 'Tijarafe'. A few yeras ago while flying here together with Andy exactly the same had happened :-((

Looking back to launch (in front of the tower)

Pano from Mirador del Time (looking again towards 'Los Llanos')

After having been picked up by Hartmut (which we just could 'prevent' from launching by calling him), we had a 'snack' at the Mirador.

SPC - La Palma: Campanarios :-))

On Monday (last day with Kalima) my friends Gaby and Hartmut arrived from Düsseldorf.
On Tuesday we have been able to make two nice flights from Campanarios. Quite a lot of pilots are presently on the Island, so it takes some patience until you can launch.
Also the quality of some launches makes you wonder...

Main LZ in Puerto Naos

On my first flight I headed south until short of Las Indias. I didn't dare to venture further, as with the northerly wind component I feared I might not make it back to Puerto Naos. But it turned out that the way back was far easier than I had anticipated...

our finca (right): 'Cuevas de las Palomas'

Hartmut had brought my a new gadget I had ordered last year: an 'Alfapilot' flight instrument I had recently discovered. Its e-ink display is very easily readable in even the brightest sunlight, the software looks rather promising and its maps are very detailed... It can also be used as a normal (Android) tablet with WiFi etc.

So far I'm still experimenting, but the first impressions are very good.

For the second flight we could hang on until sunset. For a moment I hoped to be able to fly to Tazacorte and land there, but again the northerly wind component didn't allow for it.

But two very nice flight any way :-))

Also Today (Wednesday) we could make a good flight off Campanarios. This time I could fly further south, but shortly before 'Fuencaliente' the NE-wind could be felt coming over the ridge, so I turned around. But very easy flying with nice thermals :-))

SPC - La Palma - la Isla Bonita: Kalima

For the first 2 days of my flying week here on La Palma I have been 'grounded' due to Kalima.
Kalima is (warm) a S/ SE-Wind coming from the Sahara and bringing lots of sand/ dust, which can obscure the sky. It can be very strong: on Sunday some gusts exceeded 100kmh..
So I went exploring the NE part oft the island, looking for 'new' TOs and LZ's...

LZ in 'Fajana de Barlovento'

Puerto Espindola

some videos...

found on Lucien Haas' Blog:




- AWT: Acro World Tour Final 2018 in Soncheaux
  (you have to scroll down on the page to find the video)

- another way to launch   ;-)     (thanks Oli for the link!)

- Dolomites: just a nicely made video...

New Year in Arosa

After the many days which have been unflyable lately, today looked as there might be a chance for a flight: although the strenght of the wind in the forecast looked about the same as during the last days, the direction (W iso NW) looked more promising. Apart from the wind, a perfect day for wintersports!

Pix taken from the webcam...

After the wind speed had dropped a bit, I tried to launch direction west: a 'cliff launch', where EVERYTHING needs to be perfect in order to permit a safe launch. But with the limited space available and the ever decreasing wind I never felt comfortable enough for launching in the several attempts I had made... Many thanks to Marlies, PeterN amd PeterW for laying out anew the wing several times.

Finally I launched on the 'FIS', our regular launch here on the mountain and landed 12mins later on the 'Obersee'.
This most propbably will have been the only flight this month here in Arosa. Next Sunday I'll fly together with Ruth to La Palma (Canary Island), where I hope to make some flights between 13.- 20 January...

Jahresrückblick

Some numbers  ;-)

99 days away from home for flying  (blue and green)
64 days of actual flying  (green)
82 flights
4:17 longest flight
58 mins average flight time
88.7 km longest flight

16.8.2018

XMas in Arosa

25.12.: strange wind situation...

26.12.: a relaxed 'sledder' to Chur

Chur: historical city center

29.12.: noFly: Wind :-((  and overcast in Chur...

Seasons Greetings!

With my best wishes for 2019!!

BRgds

Taggi

Pix by Kari Castle - thanks!

extended sledder :-))

Webcam ;-)

Just another (extended) sledder from Arosa Weisshorn to Chur... There have even been some weak thermals along the way (near Maladers) :-))

 

Ringelspitz; Churer- und Haldensteiner Calanda

Kantonsspital

How to fix a 'Cravatte'

©flybubble.com

Arosa-Chur: autumn at its best

The day before (Sat) the conditions (wind speed/ direction) didn't look 'convincing', so I didn't even try to fly. But today (Sun) the ride up to the Weisshorn was well worth it: excellent visibility and good conditions for launching (at least for this mountain)  ;-)

Pano looking North towards Chur/ Calanda

As the cable car to the Weisshorn was one of only a few trams/ gondolas operating at this time of the year quite a few pilots had found their way to Arosa. But the mountain still was closed for skiers, so this posed no problem and we could lay out without 'restrictions'.

Webcam at 1150: I (centre of pix) launched shortly after 1200

Chur / Calanda

Chur, looking back to launch (Weisshorn)

Absolutely smooth conditions, though rather cold... In Chur the North wind blew with 15-20kmh.
After landing I had to walk less than 500m to the bus stop and could make the train back to Arosa with just a few minutes waiting time :-))

landing at 'Obere Au'

Even at 1500 several pilots were getting ready to launch (again).

Webcam at 1500

...chli stinke mueses

©alpina-paragliding.ch/