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Learn more about a Federal Wilderness Bill which will
effectively remove soaring pilots from using Mt. Riley in south
central New Mexico -- For more info, please go
here.
May 15 Tuesday -- Anapra Mesa Delight -- Why
work when the air is coming straight in at one of our best east
facing sites? Well, ace pilot Lee Boone and instructor Had
Robinson decided that is a good decision so we ditched the whole
day for paragliding. Arriving at Anapra, conditions were
strong and variable. Through out the afternoon, the air
would be coming in at 12-15 and then it would do a 180 and come
in from the west or southwest. This was, of course, the
effects of giant thermals east of the mesa blocking the flow of
air and, when close to us, even reversing it. As the
afternoon got on we were able to launch but would dirt out after
a while because of the thermal blocking going on. It was
not until around 6:30PM that the air became steady enough to
keep us up for as long as we wanted. It was then that
soaring this site became pure delight!
Below, Lee (L) and Had (R) float above the Mesa in the dream
air of the late afternoon. Photo is by award winning
photographer and pilot, Glenn Tupper. More of his amazing
photography and video can be seen
here.
Lee in the early evening glow high above the Mesa in the
strong air. Conditions were so strong that we had to
occasionally use speed bar to keep out in front.
Lee near the border with Mexico. The winds were SE so the
lift was even better where the mesa curved around and faced more
south. International flight is fun! How many in the world can
say, “We flew in two countries one afternoon.” View is SSE.
Barely visible, Glenn Tupper joined us on the ground and took
some photos. Because of the weird convergences and
standing waves, pilots can really get high over Anapra Mesa.
In this photo, the pilot (Had) is just "parked" -- not going
back or forward nor to the sides. It is one of the coolest
things that paragliders can do because they are so slow moving.
We have to finesse our position in the air in order to do this.
Lee in the "Second Wave" high above and out in front of the
Mesa. Only a handful of pilots have been able to make the
jump from the ridge lift to this other independent wave of lift
that, we think is caused by some convergence from Cristo Rey
mountain or some prank by outer space Aliens. Whatever it
is, it's more fun than a guy is allowed to have.
Lee flying off into the sunset somewhere -- far, far away....
May 11 Friday -- PPG in the Valley -- With the
winds calm, PPG was the best option for today. Ace pilot,
Lee Boone, and instructor Had Robinson took a tour of the Rio
Grande river -- dry as it was -- in the early morning. We
always have to keep in mind that the valley is full of horses.
"Big things" (like a paraglider) in the sky within a 1/4 mile
often cause them to panic. It is required by FAA rules to steer
clear and it's also just plain common sense and courtesy to
livestock owners. Below, Lee cruises up the Rio Grande and
then over some fields.
Inversion over the valley -- View is east from 1,000' AGL
over the Dona Ana County Airport. This was one of the most
polluted
inversions in recent years. The western boundary is
the west edge of the mesa which is about 400' above valley.
Those within the inversion are not that aware of it unless they
get above or away from it. The heavy smoke is mostly from
Juarez, Mexico and was caused by a strong southeast breeze
during the night that blew all this smoke in. Inversions
trap air -- and everything in it including carbon monoxide.
May 10 Thursday -- PPG at Dona Ana Cty Airport -- Did
a test flight on the Falcon 4 TrikeBuggy today. The Falcon
is among the quietest of all powered ultralights. It has 4
cycle air cooled V twin engine that turns a 62" 3 blade
propeller. At cruise, it barely runs at 2,400 RPM.
With the big muffler and slow turning propeller, the pilot
really does not need ear protection.
Flying south of the airport. The East Potrillo
Mountains are in the distance.
April 27 Friday -- Spring Fling 2012 -- The final
results of the competition are available
here. El Paso boys Lee Boone and Had Robinson placed
6th and 13th, respectively, among a field of (30) pilots from
all over the world. Foreign countries represented were
Czechoslovakia, Russia, Turkey, Australia, and Brazil.
What a great week of cross country flying! Congrats to
all, especially to meet organizer, David Prentice, and tow
operators Steve Sirrine and Nathan Beane. Had Robinson did
the scoring for the meet.
Flying along at cloud base in central Florida -- how fun is
this!
April 26 Thursday -- Spring Fling 2012 -- The total
pilots are now (30). Lee Boone is now 2nd place on the
American team. Had slipped to 5th on the American team but
all pilots flew safely. The course was over 84 km in a
difficult conditions. Cumulative results are
here.
Carlos Curti, native of Peru, getting ready to fly. Nathan
Beane of Boone, NC, (lower right) is one of our tow operators.
Steve Sirrine (not pictured) drove his tow rig all the way from
Minnesota to help out.
Thermalling up through the atmosphere. El Paso pilot,
Lee Boone, is in the background working the same thermal.
April 25 Wednesday -- Spring Fling 2012 -- Of the (29)
pilots from all over the world, 1st place is currently held by
Vlasta Puczok of Czechoslovakia. Our hero and local ace
pilot, Lee Boone, is in 3rd place. Pilot and Pterodactyl, Had
Robinson, is in 8th place. Well done, guys!
April 22 -24 Sunday - Tuesday -- Spring Fling 2012 --
(27) Pilots registered for the competition this year.
Countries represented include the USA, Turkey, Brazil, Peru,
Russia, Czechoslovakia, and Australia. The first two days,
Sunday & Monday, were blow-outs so comp organizer, David
Prentice did two days of training pilots on how to be better
pilots. Had Robinson also helped pilots who needed some
tips on how to navigate at a competition with a GPS.
Pilots created a mock task (Task 1) on Monday for practice.
Part of the mock trial while we were blown-out was "find the
kitty". At our staging area, we have a resident feline
that has a new litter of kittens every year. She is quite
a hunter and catches game regularly of which there is plenty...
A competition task is simply a set of waypoints where a pilot
has to navigate from one to the other. The course is often
dozens of miles long and can have 2 - 5 waypoints. Most
pilots do not make goal but sink out along the way. Scores
are calculated based on a number of things such as whether a
pilot makes goal, how fast he completes the course, and how far
he gets from the start. Thankfully, comp organizers have
software that downloads a pilot's tracks from his GPS and does
the math.....
David Prentice, a world-class pilot, giving us some tips on
how to be better competitors.
Tuesday the race began in earnest. The results of the
first day of flying can be found
here. Local pilot
Lee Boone is currently in 4th place, having met goal yesterday.
Our other local, Had Robinson, is currently in 10th place.
Congratulations guys!
April 19 Thursday -- Training -- Congrats to David
Schroeder of Alamogordo, NM who completed his PPG1 (powered
paragliding) certification with flying colors. Last week,
David began with towing at the sod farm and quickly became
skilled at handling his paraglider and was then able to add the
paramotor. Today the air was strong and he learned how to
launch and land a paramotor in winds over 12 mph! A few
days earlier, intrepid PG pilot and explorer of flying sites
around the country, Christoph Clemens
of Oviedo, FL, banged out his P3 certification.
Christoph is one of the few visiting pilots who has flown every major
site in our region. Congrats Christoph for a job well
done. Both pilots are natives of Germany
David Schroeder
Christoph Clemens
April 16-17 Monday - Tuesday -- Sod Farm Training --
Christoph Clemens of Oviedo, Florida jetted in to El Paso for
his P3 training last week but, as everyone knows, the weather
was not flyable. But in two days, Christoph banged out
(and completed) his P3 certification. On his last day,
Christoph underwent an introduction to step-towing. This
is where the pilot gets towed to a certain height, has the winch
back off so he can drift downwind, and then gets towed up even
higher. Both the winch operator and the pilot have a lot
going on. It is a good training exercise as the pilot must
learn to fly his glider instinctively. Congrats,
Christoph, for a job well done!
Coming in for a landing. The pilot has to carefully
judge his glide angle in order to hit the cone. Landing
accurately is one of the hardest things we do as pilots.
Below, Christoph touches down for a perfect landing.
April 4 Wednesday -- Sod Farm Training & Flying --
Student pilot, Greg Rollans, continued his P2 training.
Jan Auwermann joined us for some foot-launched PPG and Lee Boone
practiced for the Florida Spring Fling in his new UP Summit XC2
glider. Lee broke another local record by flying from the
sod farm to the Franklin Mountains. No PG pilot had yet
made the trip across the Rio Grande Valley to reach the
mountains. Congrats Lee!
Below, Lee getting towed up to about 600' AGL. On his
way back to land, he snagged a thermal from less 400' AGL.
The white line in the lower right is the ½ mile of tow line
going out to the turn-around pulley and up to Lee in the air.
Lee hooked a thermal just behind the landing zone near the
winch and went up to about 8,000' MSL. Below, Lee is
turning in the thermal and on his way out. He also got in
a very strong thermal that had popped off the Sunland Park
Racetrack. Nice work!
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