A very active day for the community of Paramotor pilots on the island. And more so, considering that it is Wednesday, in the middle of the week.
San German, 6 AM…
We began the adventure, when at around 6 AM!!!, we met at the Papote’s Place grounds, next to PR2 in San Germán. Present were the pilots Edgardo Rivera, Samuel Travis, Fio López, Tim Slauson, Jomar Crespo and Luis Ruiz. The idea was to leave early to fly to the towns of Cabo Rojo, Hormigueros and Mayaguez, back and forth in a 1 hour and a half duration fly.
The wind was null, so the biggest challenge was being able to take off in those conditions. The instructor Luis Ruiz had brought a Trike, and with this it was comfortable for him to go out in any condition. Likewise, Tim was also planning to go out on a Trike, but due to his lack of experience on a Trike, he preferred to stay practicing in the place with his Trike. Samuel Travis on other hand, take off and join Luis on the air. Eventually, both of them returned relatively quickly to the takeoff area since the rest of the pilots did not Take Off. And the original plans for a long fly need to be evaluate.
The pilots on ground had different reasons for not Taking Off. Fio Lopez failed two attempts and in the second, made damage to his equipment.
Edgardo and Jomar, preferred not to fly because was too late for a long cross fly as planned. A plan B, to visit the Isabela flying area appear…
At least two of the pilots made their flights in the morning…
Isabela, 10 AM…
Once we finish the San Germán activities, Samuel Travis and Tim Slauson decided to visit the Lajas Valley to practice. On the other hand, Jomar, Edgardo, Fio, Edgardo and Luis Ruiz, went to Villa Pesquera Isabela.
Arriving around 10 AM, we found, as expected, a lot of wind in the area, 20 mph+. Jomar was the first to fly, and there’s a lot of wind. We could see his slow speed moving forward despite using an 18-meter Flow RPM 2 sports paraglider. He was followed in the air by Fio López, who despite not having flown in San Germán, tried again at Isabela. He was followed by Edgardo who are using a 16 meter paraglider in which he felt comfortable flying in those conditions.
Rescue of Jomar…
Once Edgardo took off, we received a notification from Jomar. He had landed at Posa de Teodoro for safety reasons. His Paramotor had begun to have intermittency power problems, and he landed safely in a open area. Fio López and Luis Ruiz came to the rescue. The wind intensity keep getting stronger, so we finish the activities in Isabela.
Aguada at sunset, 5 PM…
Edgardo Rivera stayed the afternoon resting in the Isabela area. At some point, he and Jomar paid a visit to the friend and pilot Chino Morales. At the same time, a huge downpour affected the entire area, and when it passed improves the flight conditions for the evening.
Based on previous experiences, Luis Ruiz notified Edgardo that after the enormous downpour, there were possibilities of flying at late afternoon in Aguada. A place that Edgardo had not flown before.
With the improvement in the weather in the next hours, Edgardo, Luis Ruiz and little son Noah Enrique agreed and met at 5 PM on the land of Greonier Acevedo, a relative of Luis Ruiz in the Mamey neighborhood of Aguada. Once there, Noah started playing with his RC paraglider, while Edgardo, after evaluating the place and weather, prepared to take off.
Beside a wet grass, Edgardo managed to take off using his Flow Panorama of 32-meters. The weather was not as good as expected with gusts at different heights that changed direction. Even so, Edgardo kept flying around and visit the old plantation Coloso in the valley. Even took the opportunity to fly over the house of Fio Lopez close to Aguada downtown.
Edgardo managed to land just at sunset. Was a great day of adventure. God Bless!!!
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Photos…
