Scheisshorn... Maestro

A (unfortunately) rather typical day here in Arosa on the Weisshorn with westerly wind.
It took more than 2 hours before launching became possible: first too much west wind with a possible rotor on launch, then for a while even SE-wind (= tail-wind).

if you're familiar with the area, then you know, that this is not the 'best' wind direction ;-)

Finally I could launch with almost zero tail-wind. The first launch in these conditions failed, but on the second one I got away without probems. Thanks to Marlies, Peter & Kiwi for their assitance!

Some light thermals above the Golf course allowed a climb of 350m and thus to extend the flight to almost 30 minutes.

BTW: my PHI Maestro 25 (LTF/ EN B) (105-130kg) is now up for sale: 10 flights, about 8 hours; bought Dec'19; price negotiable.

GGZSCHWEIZ/             or
GGZ Markt                     or
DHV Gebrauchtmarkt

2 days Arosa (Rook 2/ Maestro))

Thursday/ Friday I spent in Arosa, taking advantage of the nice weather: blue skies, little wind, but also no thermals. As the Maestro is still with Stefan, I was flying the Rook2.

777 Rook 2

2 flights to Chur and 1 flight to Arosa, landing beside the Obersee.
For me the feeling flying the Rook2 is rather different to the Maestro: with the R2 I feel completely at ease. But I have to admit that launching the Maestro is easier.

Chur / Calanda

Chur: train station

As I'm writing this post I got a message from Stefan: he has been flying the Maestro: with just 100kg on the low side of the weight range. He reported that everything felt 'normal'; for him the brakes are (now) too long... So I'm waiting for PHI's feed back on the data from last week's measurements.

Maestro

Today I brought the Maestro to Stefan in Kirchberg (SG). He took measurements of all the lines: A-, B- and C- lines are all within tolerances.
The brake lines as well... B U T   only considering that I have made them already longer by 14 (!) centimetres.
Even now they still seem to be a touch short. And on the first couple of flights they had been made longer only by 5cm, meaning that on those instances they had been about 9cm too short :-((
It's interesting too see that 'my feeling' made me prolong the lines to almost the correct value according the DHV-line sheet. 
Stefan is now mailing the data to PHI - I'm curios to see, what they will say...
He will also be flying the glider one of the next days (weather permitting/ and with lots of ballast)...

Stefan kiting my wing

For those wondering why I prolonged the brake lines in the first place (as this is something we're not supposed to do): after my accident in 2012, I cannot any more stretch out my left arm fully, so I need to have the brake handles a bit 'further down'.

SPC -last (flying) day here on La Palma

Time is flying - already 4 weeks are over and in less than 24 hours I'm back home in the cold ;-)
Today similar wx situation a as for the last days: nice thermals, so I attempted a flight South to Las Indias (and possibly beyond).

Las Indias (looking South: Vulcan San Antonio)

I didn't venture much more South as the wind influence from the East side of the island could be felt. Flying back was slow, but not too difficult. But after El Remo, the NW-wind could be clearly felt and for a moment it looked that I would have to land at Charco Verde...

Charco Verde

With a little luck I managed to reach the LZ at Puerto Naos :-)

Many thanks to Hartmut for his assistance and Gaby for driving down our car whenver it has been possible to fly!

Addendum: looking at some flights on XContest, it seems that I have been overly cautious when turning back at Las Indias...

Next week I'll have the Maestro checked and I'll also have a look at a new harness.

Campanarios / el Gallo

Another good flying day, but again under the 'threat' of possible strong NW-wind -which (again) didn't happen in the end. The wind didn't go above 20kmh - but who was to know beforehand? 
So we flew from Campanarios at midday: strong cimbs near the mountain, but I elected to fly towards Puerto Naos, so I could see any possible change in wind speed / direction.

la Bombilla

With the steady NW-wind we decided to try to fly el Gallo in the afternoon: ideal conditions for launching on the rather flat slope. Same again: good climbs near the mountain, but from there it's not possible to see what's going on at the LZ...

Campanarios (more) / Maestro

Another good flying day here on La Palma with lots of pilots :-)

Unfortunately the flight was cut short due to the increasing NW-wind, indicated by white caps on the sea. Warned by yesterday's experience, when 1 hour after my landing in Tazacorte the wind inceased well beyond anything a paraglider could handle, I (and most others) landed. Today this has been an unnecessary precaution, as the wind speed in the end didn't go above 18-22kmh...

Puerto Naos

re: Maestro - I don't think I'll ever get to really like this glider. I'm not sure, but it feels like I had more collapses in the last 7 flights with this glider than I had on the Rook2 the whole last year. And they have not been 'nice' collapses; they happen without any fore warning whatsoever. More collapses have been probably only avoided as I kept the brakes most of the time pulled a little - but everywhere they say 'let the glider fly'...
This glider here does not seem to be the glider I have read all the reviews about before making up my mind :-((
Back home I'll let someone familiar with this glider fly it and he shall then tell me if it is behaving like a PHI Maestro is supposed to...
If it is, then I'll fly my R2 until I get something more to my liking. If it isn't then I'll change it as well, because then it shouldn't have been sold to me in the first place.

(Wind) Campanarios

After 2 non-flying days due to wind, finally the first really good flying day :-))
Taking off from Campanarios, nice thermals got me to nearly 550m over launch.

Campanarios: Hart setting up

Villa Mamita (where we stayed this time)

With that much altitude I decided to attempt a flight to Tazacorte - something so far I have not yet been able to do from Campanarios. Thanks to the excellent conditions I made it even against a slight head wind :-)

looking North: Los Llanos

Puerto Tazacorte

It's amazing how fast the conditions can change here on the island: just about 1 hour after my landing the wind increased quite a bit and it would have not been flyable any more.

Torre del Time

Torre del Time

Just a sledder from 'Torre del Time' with virtually no thermals. Near 'el Time'-launch just 2 circles - but no altitude gain.

(over Mirador el Time) looking back to launch

Tazacorte

Puerto Tazacorte (landing is on the left side)

Later a nice dinner and sunset at 'Balcon Taburiente'.

Campanarios / (el Gallo)

Today 'just' a midday flight from Campanarios (lots of pilots....)
Conditions have not been good: not a single decent thermal so I landed after 50 mins :-(

Campanarios

Later (too late) we went to 'el Gallo'. Bernd was able to launch before the wind turned catabatic and he landed at Puerto Naos; Hart and I decided to drive down...

el Gallo

Campanarios

All of us (Hart, Bernd and I) got to fly today at least once from Campanarios with landing at Puerto Naos. On my first flight I launched maybe 15mins too early, but still managed to fly for > 1hr; this mostly on the lower ridge. Whereas pilots having launched later could climb above launch.

Bernd

Puerto Naos

Puerto Naos

I'm still 'struggling' a bit with the Maestro, as the handling is different from the Rook2: especially wing overs are much less fun.
On the second flight the WNW-wind could be clearly felt and the thermals have been a little rough - but maybe it's just the different feeling of the wing...

sunset at Puerto Naos

Later dinner at a fish restaurant in Puerto Naos.

(Roque de los Muchachos)

The last 2 days no flights have been possible due to the wind situation (south / Calima). As the wx otherwise has been really nice we did some sightseeing...
Today we wanted to fly from Roque de los Muchachos, as the fcst (and actual) wind showed the required west component for launch at 2100m. As none of us had flown from there, we haven't been sure of how to get there. 

Bernd & Hart

looking into the caldera

launch is on the hill on the left

Our route decision turned out to be the wrong one :-((  It took much longer and was much harder than we had immagined. Therefore we arrived on launch at least an hour later than anticipated. And probably this 'delay' was the reason we couldn't laucnh anymore safely: the wind had swiched to NE...  I tried to launch twice, but failed.

looking back to Roque de los Muchachos

Launch looking west; the first 500m of the flight look a bit tricky...

So we had to hike down: a long and arduous descent. This brought me really to my phisical limits...

La Palma (SPC) 'maiden flight'

After 2 weeks on La Palma with Ruth (pix here), yesterday the first flight on the island :-)
Not that I missed much last week anyway: the conditions have not been very good for paragliding.

And it was the first flight with my new PHI Maestro as well. Launching was extremely easy in the perfect conditions at Campanarios; the glider feels a bit more 'nervous' than the Rook2. As it was a late afternoon flight, I landed after about 40mins.

Unfortunately, the fcst for the next days is not too promising again: flying might just be possible...

my perfect day (- 'go flying' cont)

still undecided? - try this 'schedule'  ;-)         © Bruno Girstmair 

Roldanillo (CO) - Rancho Aurora: lodging at (new) launch

For those travelling to Roldanillo (CO) and looking for (quite) alternative lodging, there is now a new option: Rancho Aurora. It is situated on the road to Agua Panelas/ el Pico and features it's own (small) launch.

a short video of the launch

Admittely I have not been there yet myself, but it is run by a friend of mine and his friend...

'Go Flying'

Are you undecided if you should go flying or do something else?

This might help make up your mind  ;-)

© Michael Kunst (via Facebook)

First impressions

Today I could pick up my new toy at Flugschule Ostschweiz. Thanks to Paul for doing whatever was necessary to get the glider to me before XMas so I can take it along to La Palma.

What is immediately noticeable is how light the glider is and how compact it can be packed; this of course also because no rods etc have been used. Production quality looks very high and precise. But also: some lines are even thinner than they were on the Rook2...

But what needs also to be said: the backpack is a joke! I've seen many bags durinng the last 30 years: very few of them good, most of them not convincing and a few bad. This bag clearly falls into the last category :-((

More info when I'll have made my first flights but probably not before 13.1.20.

Happy Holidays!

Many thanks once again to all the regular (and of course also occasional)
readers of my (rather irrelevant) blog!

I wish you all a merry XMas, a happy NewYear and of course
all the Best for 2020 - including good health and many great flights!

I hope to see you all again somewhere on the ground or at cloudbase ;-)
 
Fly high! Fly safe!

Taggi

Special thanks to:
first and foremost: Ruth!
Hartmut, AndyS, PeterW, OliW,
Nicole, Marco,
Tekko&Peter, Yuko, Leanne&Rick, Masahiro, Koji&Mari, Atsushi, Chikako,
Ralf, Miguel
(this list is not to be considered final...)

PHI Maestro

Some of ouy might have realized that I have not particularily happy with the performance of my 777 Rook2 while in Chile ;-)  In late May the wing has been in Ajdovcina (SLO) with 777 for a check. When I got it back, I was told that they retrimmed the wing to 'faster'. In the strong summer conditions I didn't notice anything special, just that it didn't seem to be faster at all.

777 Rook2 (pix by Ralf)

Now in Chile -with often weak conditions (especially in Maitencillo, but also during the flight from San Marcos)- the performance of my Rook2 was kind of 'dissapointing': according to Ralf I should have flown 'at the top of the stack' with this wing, but instead I was the one who landed most often on the beach :-((
After my return from Chile I had the wing checked again (at FS Swissfly) and Walo confirmed that the wing is trimmed 'fast'...
Alteady during my stay in Chile I began looking around for possible alternatives, as the Rook3 from 777 is still in the pipeline and they wouldn't/ couldn't give me even a tentative date when the Size L might be homologated. And of course there is also the question: will the R3 live up to its expectations?

As I didn't want to go on my next PG trip (La Palma in January) with the Rook2 any more I had to make up my mind about a substitute. So WITHOOUT testing (time/ weather wouldn't allow for it when I wanted the wing to be ready by my departure). I ordered a PHI Maestro in XL at Flugschule Ostschweiz (the dealer closest to my home). I was promised the Maestro should be in my hands before I leave for SPC on 29.12.
But I don't want to be unfair to the R2: it has (especially before the retrim) given me many very pleasurable moments and flights!

PHI Maestro (pix by PHI)

On the short list have been also Ozone Rush and U-Turn Vison. But Danny (U-Turn) had told me that he'd be absent until 7.January, so the Vison was out of 'the race'. Between Rush and Maestro it was more like the toss of a dice - but I tend to lean a bit towards the not so well known brands... This comes probably from the times when I was 20kgs heavier and a wing for my flying weight (140+kgs) could never be had from the 'big' names (ie Nova, Advance, Ozone etc).

There is an video on Youtube from Flybubble testing the Maestro. (They also have a YouTube-channel with many interesting videos (instruction/ tests etc).

Test by Ziad Basil (Dust of the Universe): here
Test by Lucian Hass (lu-glidz) : here