The Russian weather roulette of the month of January brought us to this weekend of excellent flying conditions. This when in other places it is snowing heavily or there is a lot of wind. Many stories to tell, we took advantage of every minute we had this weekend to fly and enjoy with family…
Kamikaze Pilots and Family Present…
Pablo Cruz and his wife Millie
Ricardo González and his wife Ermelinda
Hermes Ferrer, his wife Neisha and family
Robert Rodriguez and his son in law
Luis Ruiz with his son Noah Enrique
Sammy Badillo
Miguel Orona
Wilkins “Chino” Morales
Pedro Agostini
David Silva
Darwin Hernandez
Jomar Crespo
Ken Arciola
Fio Lopez
Sherly Hernandez
Saturday, January 11, 2025…
The strong waves prevailing in the area caught our attention. It is observed that at dawn, the water covered much of the area that we used for our takeoffs and landings. Fortunately, as the hours passed, the water receded and calmed down a bit… Despite this, the winds were excellent, with a NNE direction of 5 to 8 mph intensity.
Pilot Activities…
Luis Ruiz was with Pablo and Millie, Sammy and Miguel. This time, Pablo decided not to fly and was assisting Miguel in his practices that lasted all morning. At one point in the afternoon Miguel went out to fly all over the coast, and later, Sammy had the opportunity to fly Miguel’s paraglider, the BGD Luna 3. Sammy was very impressed by its lift performance, comparing to his 29 meter paraglider, but the Luna 3 was just 26 meters. Other that made a fly was Robert Rodriguez, who was accompanied by his son in law, he was testing his Paramotor that this time works good.
Happy Faces…
Luis Ruiz, for his part, was doing some introductory flights to the sport. This time to Gladys, from Connecticut and Isabela‘s neighbor, accompanied by her husband Edwin on her birthday. Later the opportunity was for Roberto Hau and his wife Zuleyka, that came from Utuado. Finally ending with Gerard, who arrived with his family from Maryland, USA.
Sunday, January 12, 2025…
Although conditions continued to be excellent. This time the wind was low in intensity, at about 2 – 5 mph coming in from the NNW, this complicated the flights for some pilots and especially the novice pilots and students. But anyway, there’s a lot of activities from early morning.
This was the case of student Sherly Hernández, who arrived ready to attempt her first “solo” flight. But between the weather conditions, some unexpected paramotor failure, she could not Take Off on this occasion… (better times will come for her flight…)
“Cross” Fly Isabela – Hatillo – Isabela…
Some of the pilots present, taking advantage of the excellent conditions, decided to make a Cross fly to Hatillo. Once there they would stop at the Milton Santiago flying grounds, and then fly back. The first to make this journey in the morning were Jesús Rivera and John Baez, who did it in reverse, from Hatillo to Isabela, although they preferred not to stop in Isabela due perhaps with doubts of being able to Take Off again due to the low wind conditions.
The pilots in the Cross were, Pedro Agostini, Sammy Badillo, David Silva, Fio López, Ricardo González, Darwin Hernández and Jomar Crespo. All of them covered the route although, Fio and Ricardo just reached Guajataca in Quebradillas before returning to Isabela. Ken Arciola, for his part, due to having arrived late from a flight from New York, decided not to fly today and just keep practicing on ground with his paraglider.
Meritorious mention of the Cross fly… Jomar made this flight using Luis Ruiz’s Sky Zorro paraglider. Darwin, for his part, as part of his tour, was also performing aerial acrobatics during the route and later over Isabela and with a Beginner Glider, difficult to turn!!!. In the case of Chino Morales, he had to be searched for in Hatillo, since on his return flight, his Paramotor had mechanical problems and he couldn’t made the flying back to Isabela. Jomar Crespo was at the rescue.
More Happy Faces…
Luis Ruiz, for his part, was working on Sherly‘s training in the morning, and was later in charge of carrying out the Introduction Flight of Moisés, a native of Isabela and possible student of the Team. However, his friend Jorge could not make the flight because when it was their turn to do it, the wind lost intensity, remaining at about 2 mph…
At sunset, the wind picked up again, and Luis took the opportunity to fly with Sherly as part of her training.
Tomorrow Monday we return again with God‘s favor!!! Although the next week looks challenging to fly due to forecasts of heavy strong winds.
Photos…
