Cari - not my day ;-)

Fri (28.2.) I departed early (0645) for Cari (Ticino) after a lousy night with little sleep. The thermal fcst looked very promising with the wind situation similar to the day before, when already some nice flights had been made there.

Quite obviously I have not been the only one to have seen this, as for the 0945 bus from Faido to Cari a rather big number of pilots had congegrated. Besides the regular service, which arrived alreday half full at the post station, a larger and bigger bus with more than 50 pilots had been departing from the train station directly for Cari. The regular service was also filled up, leaving about 12 pilots behind. The driver apologized as they had only 1 spare bus/ driver available and said, that he'd be back in about 60'... But none of the 'left behinds' had wanted to wait that long, so several pilots elected to drive them selves to Cari and in the end everybody had been taken care of.

For quite a while the wind remained weak, 'tailwindish' with only short spells of head wind, so it has taken quite a while until everybody could launch.

...even strong tailwind at times (I have been wondering whether to unpack at all...)

But in the end, after almost everybody had already taken of, a nice ('crossish') head wind set in :-) As per fcst, thermals have been strong and climbing has been easy. Right from the start I realized, that today I wasn't really 'fit to fly' (due to lack of sleep), so after a benign collapse (thanks to RAST) and later, when I encountered stronger head wind I turned around and with some spirals landed after 40' in Faido. The decision to land early has also been influenced by the fact, that I had completely misjuged the temperature above 2500m.

Pano looking south (Leventina)

looking West

           
It can be clearly seen, how the RAST-system is 'fighting' the collapse, which otherwise would have resulted probably in a full frontal rosette...

spiralling

landing at LZ in Faido

But nevertheless, it has been a worthwhile 'excursion' which resulted in a good night's sleep :-))

Arosa - Leeloo / LeelooX

Weisshorn Sunrise - Webcam (15.2.)

Sun (16.2.) I have arrived in Arosa in the evening, as the fcst for the coming week was looking rather promising ;-)

Mon (17.2.) Excellent conditions (but cold!). As my wing has been still very dusty from the flights in Marocco, I have taken along that wing, in order to' clean' it a bit by launching/ landing in the snow ;-)

1st flight: I launched shortly before noon, not expecting too much. But as it turned out there have been good thermals almost everywhere: thermal tops at 2620m :-)) I landed after a little more than 30' near the gondola station. @Marlies: many thanks for your assistance on launch!

2nd flight: initially I had planned to land in Arosa, but as I had been able to climb back up to >2700m, I decided to head to Chur: loooong glide (on half bar) until Maladers; here the Skytraxx indicated a windspeed of 21-29kmh in Chur: uneventful landing just North of Masans. The bus station lies just 200m from where I landed and a bus arrived already within 10' of my getting there, taking my to the train station for my return to Arosa.

@PeterW: thanks for helping me getting ready!

Pano looking North towards Landquart

All in all a very nice day with conditions much better than predicted by Burnair...

Tue (18.1.) ...another promising looking day

Sunrise at 0730

But today the wind has been a real 'problem': not too strong (greatly variing in speed though), but coming from all the directions which are unlaunchable here on the Weisshorn. I had taken along my LeelooX, which might have contributed to my not beeing able to launch, as I have much less experience with this wing. I've made several unsuccessful attempts, but gave up in the end. Bruno has been able to launch, but reported very bumpy conditions... @Hampi/ PeterW: many thanks for your patience and assistance!

...packing up...

Wed (19.2.) High cirrus clouds dampend the thermals and I had to wait rather long until I have been able to launch on the FIS-slope with 0 tailwind; but the LeelooX launched perfectly in this 0-wind condition.

...taking pictures...

Whereas 2 days ago getting high has been a 'piece of cake', today 'some work' was required ;-) But the wing turnes nicely in these weak conditions. I've also tried some wingovers, but some more training is necessary in order to feel at ease...

Landing after 1h22min on the golf course (nordic track), just a few minutes walk from the bus stop.

Thu (20.2.)  Same as yesterday: a long wait until 0 tailwind on the FIS-slope; unfortunately by then the sky was almost completely overcast. Still I have been able to fly for 30' and climbing up to 2600m over 'Arlenwald/ Hauptichopf'.

Teneriffe (TFS) -4 Taucho

For the last 3 days I have been groundet due to a 'conjungivitis' (Bindehautentzündung) of my left eye. It had started in the early hours of Thursday (30.1.). Luckily there is an ophtalmologist (Augenarzt) in Los Christianos, where I had received an appointment the same morning. He prescribed some eye-drops to be taken 3 times/ day for a week and the consult with my eye doctor at home. Contrary to the same problem I had while visiting Japan in 2019, the drops had an immediate effect and every day the eye hurt less when exposed to (bright) light. Yesterday I had accompanied Hartmut for a flight from Taucho - as a 'test' in order to see how my eye would 'take' bright sunshine. 

Taucho: Hartmut launching his 'oldtimer' (Wings of Change) 

As everything felt (close to) normal this morning (Sun, 2.2.), I decided to make the last flight during this year's visit. It turned out to be a short flight, as the thermals have been rather weak... Actually I had wanted to land at 'Bahia Principe', the LZ closest to our appartement, but the stronger than expected headwind made me choose an intermediate LZ.

Teneriffe (TFS) -3 -Izana (SE): 'third time lucky' (almost)

Wed (29.1.) Again a very nice morning, no clouds to be seen at all. We decided to try Izana (launch at 2230m). We drove by the way of Güimar, so we could check out the LZ and the wind: wind at the coast (Puerto de Güimar) has been too strong, but at the LZ near 'las Rosas' and on 'Ladera de Güimar', as well as on Izana, looked good/ ok.

Pano above 'Arafo' - I have never seen this area so clear and free of clouds. Gran Canaria on the left

Pano at launch: Gran Canaria

Arriving on launch we found just a little head-wind, perfect!? While preparing a little  tail-wind could be felt at times, interrupted by some spells of head-wind, so I had a good launch.

Unfortunately right after my launch the tail-wind steadily becam stronger and uninterrupted, so Hart couldn't launch anymore... 

Izana Astronomical Osservatory / Teide

While flying out even some thermals could be felt, but I ignored them as I wanted to get near/ above the LZ in order to asses the 'real' wind - as unfortunately at launch there has been no more internet reception for updating on the actual winds below...

''Ladera de Güimar' (launch)

The lower I came, the more the wind could be felt, a little bumpy at times. Above the LZ conditions have been very strange for a while: thermals and wind from the 'wrong' side. But in the end the landing has been been uneventful in a steady (strongish) wind (coming from where it was 'supposed' to be coing from)  :-)

LZ Güimar near 'las Rosas'

I didn't have to wait too long for Gaby and Hartmut to pick me up. On teh way home e had an early dinner in Arona ('Asador la Camella'  ('just' 800gr of excellent meat for the three of us)...

Teneriffe (TFS) -2 (La Corona) / Taucho

Tue (28.1.)  In the morning, the wind for 'la Corona' / 'los Realejos' looked right and alos the webcam didn't show any loe clouds, so we decided to give this site a try. But the drive there takes almost 1.5hrs and by the time we had arrived there, the situation had significantly changed: wind speed had increased (but still launchable) and TO was covered by clouds  :-(

la Corona / los Realejos

RMK: this is one of the nicer launches I know: ground is covered by 'Tartan'. The wing in the pix is from a tandem pilot who had wanted to to talk his guest into flying in these conditions. He told his passenger, that it would be only about 30 seconds, before they would be out in the clear, blue sky; but the client declined... While driving down we estimated the cloud-layer to be at least 300m thick and that it would have taken several minutes before being able to see the ground again. Both Hart and I judged the 'attitude' of this pilot completely irresponsible/ non professional - but we assume, that he just wanted to get the 170 EUR for the flight...

Playa el Socorro - (LZ for la Corona)

Pico Teide (3715m) seen from near Santiago del Teide

In the end (like yesterday) we ended up at Taucho, a site we both do not especially like ;-)

...overflying some nice villas...

Teneriffe (TFS) -1 (Güimar) / Taucho

Sunset from our appartement (Mon, 26.1.)

Tue (27.1.) We woke up to a clear, blue sky. After having done some shopping, where we also encountered a tandem pilot, who told us that we couldn't expect much here at Taucho, but that Güimar seemed to be looking good, we started driving North. Shortly after passing the airport (TFS) low clouds started to apppear, getting denser and lower the more we approached Güimar - so no luck there. After having taken something to drink, we turned around, heading South. But by now these clouds had also spread to Taucho and cloudbase was below launch...

low clouds over Conde

Only later in the afternoon this cloud-layer started to lift and dissipate, So we headed up to Taucho - as did every pilot here  - at least it felt that way ;-)

After a good launch I headed out for the LZ; unfortunately I couldn't find any usable thermals, just some reduced sink.

...probably the only grass-covered LZ here on the Canaries...

For dinner we went to a Sushi bar, Hartmut and Gaby had discovered last evening while having a stroll exploring the surroundings of our appartement.

...pretty good for Spain: all you can eat for 25EUR/person...

el Hierro (VDE) -2

Thur / Fri (23./24.1.) The wx continued to be wet and/ or windy, so still no flying...

Sat (25.1) Finally a change, so in the late afternoon we could make our only flight during our stay on this island :-)

Malpaso (1501msl), looking N

Dos Hermanas (1350msl)

This cloudlayer forms (and dissipates) very quickly: when we arrived, there have still been some 'holes', but they closed while we have been setting up.

The cloud layer has been about 200m thick; below - where the sun still could get through- some thermals could be found, so I could extend the flight to about 40'.

Sun (26.1.) Maybe flying from Malpaso would have been possible (good wind direction for launching) but the cloud layer appeared to be very thick, so we just went sightseeing before sailing back to TFS/ Los Christianos in the afternoon.

el Sabinar

the ferry travels with 60kmh (or more if needed)

el Hierro (VDE) - 1

Mon (20.1.) After 2 weeks of travelling through la Gomera, el Hierro (VDE) and Tenerife (TFS) together with Ruth, she returned home  (> some pix here). A few hours later my friends Gaby and Hartmut arrived and together we travelled to el Hierro by ferry, arriving there at 2030. We'll be staying until coming Sunday (26.1.), when we'll be going back to Tenerife for another 8 days.

Tue (21.1.) In the morning it has been raining :-(   While travelling with Ruth, we had 'blue skies' for the 2 weeks  - but I can see that this rain is more than welcome on the island as it has been way too dry so far this winter.

Dos Hermanas (1320m)

The launch has just been in clouds, but with a little less wind flying should have been possible, as there have been moments, when we could see the LZ...

Wed (22.1.)

no comment ;-)

Colombia - airspaces

A very helpful article about airspaces in Valle de Cauca/ Piedechinche (CO)