february 2006

14 days of flying
so not our best month this year
luckily only 28th days in the month

Tuesday 28 th february

Nothing wrong with some flights at Palomaret and then coming down to Cabo de Santa Pola for a couple of hours of soaring. It was limited for taking off in those 25 km/h gusts at times, especially with the air being so dense.

monday 27th february

Luckily february only has 28 days. Because march this year has to be a lot better than february. Lately we had too many fronts, too much west wind bothering us. No flying again today. Pena Rubia was too strong at take off. Weather forecast was completely off its timing. Winds died off, yeah but by then it was dark. Shit.

sunday 26th february

Rain in the morning, sunny in the afternoon. Inland, big black clouds. No flying today, too much wind.

saturday 25th february

Flew this morning at Toix.

The good thing about being a wind dummy- guide is that you fly a lot, although sometimes in conditions that you wished to be on the ground. I tested the air at Toix and to me, too much west and gusty at the antennas already.
Knowing the weather forecast (strong west by midday), having felt the already pretty strong west before we arrived at Villajoyosa, and knowing the site as a local, I did decide to ask the visiting pilots to wait it out. When we have these conditions it is sometimes very rotary/rotory (?) at the landing. The landing is not the biggest, and sometimes landing in the lee with this west wind is very tricky.

I looked behind and there was a pilot doing wingovers over take off. I thought it was one of us. Luckily I heard on the radio it was a french pilot who arrived and took off. He seemed to know what he was doing. Managed to topland, which was a very very good decision. Met him later. It was not a french pilot but a belgian pilot.
He was from Liege/Luik and knew Olivier Legrand, also belgian pilot who flew with us two years ago. I just forgot to tell him that exactly his friend made a pretty painfull landing two years ago at this site, with exactly the same conditions as today.

I am glad he asked our phone number so he'll be (hopefully) in touch and ask for local advise before he goes flying again. Spanish grass, spanish conditions, local meteo conditions which can change very fast.

(You can see where we flew on the 18th february, same pictures today)

friday 24th february

Low above the Azores, bad news. Fronts all over. Too strong to fly. From tomorrow onwards we should have a more southernly wind. Then we have better chance to fly on our coastal sites. And sunday looks east.

Dutch pilots home now. As far as I can see, they have sunshine up there and smooth temperatures. Thanks for everything !

thursday 23 february

Big efforts in the morning. Should have stayed at home it was a loss of kilometers and gasoline. Too strong west inland. When east at the coast it was raining. Mierda.

But, but. Later , on their last day, our dutch friends were airborne.
Hopefully Bas got his glider out of the tree by now, and is having a beer with his friends. Joking about his mistake. No harm done, just embarrassing.

wednesday 22 february

Snow forecast up on our hills, yes this is the Costa Blanca as well. At the coast sunny. Left early and kissed Willem goodbye. Took off to Peña Rubia and all dutch guests flew a top to bottom, taking off, and a pretty committed take off. I tell ya. No wind, and if there was there was crosswind, pretty much cliff edge.

Later in the day an hours of flying at Cabo de Santa Pola. Unfortunately a local beginner made a mistake and got dragged in the canyon. Broken leg, ambulance, guardia civil, Bad news, he'll be allright and that's of most importance..
Just what we need at this already fragile site, still we haven't sorted out the problems at Cabo de Santa Pola. The urbanisation is building new sort of gates, so no more sneaking it with friendly neigbours. Maybe next some watchtowers ... . Silly people.

Oh well, big fun today. At least I had. It was a day out, on our hills, some flying, good fun guys.
(remember the last bit, not the accident, be positive, after all it was a huge mistake from a beginner who should have been instructed by a school, what can you do ? Be happy.)

tuesday 21 february

No flying. Again another day with too much west-wind. Went for a hike on the mountains near Sella. Amazing views. The ruin at the take off, is totally renovated and is a house with an extraordinary view.
In the valley we had a look at the rock-climbers. And had of course paella in Maria's restaurant. After that we went Go-karting in Finestrat.

It was very funny, when we raced our Go-karts the owner and even the gardeners were waving at us to slow down. We thought of a second, that we were racing too fast !
But no, we were just racing the wrong direction ... . So a 180 degree turn ( where were the days ?) and full throttle.

Sella

monday 20 february

Bad day, angry clouds, strong winds from the west. Hope for tomorrow, we are supposed to have lots less wind, lets see. I need to get those dutch in the air.

Meanwhile enjoying the almond trees' blossom.

sunday 19 february

Too much wind today, warm in the sun, but very cold once in the cold wind and shadow bits.

saturday 18 february

Blue sky, blue mediterranean, very sunny, 18 degrees celsius.

Weather forecast looked crap. Strong westwind, only dying off late in the afternoon. More cloudy in the evening till tomorrow morning.

We got up early morning arrived at the site at 10.30. Nobody there but my buddy Nacho. No locals, too early, after all it is saturday morning.
We flew till west wind were making it too nasty. Café con leche, calamares, sepia and cerveza, then home. No more flying today, too strong.

Gorgeous foto's ? You should have seen these colours, feel the sun, enjoy the flight yourself. It felt very ok.

Didn't feel very ok for Moncho who showed up late at the site. The wind was already too west, but he flew anyway. While we were having coffee, he managed to get his glider in the sea by landing. Salty water, shit.

Hope to see you soon.

friday 17 february

Good news, it was 19 degrees celsius and sunny all day.
Bad news, it was windy, westwinds up to 35 km an hour and gusty.

Left for Playa de Pinet and the temperature was inviting us having a 'tinto de Verano'. Not even thinking of flying today, way too strong unfortunately for my dutch guests.

thursday 16 february

Bad day, too windy. And this is gonna go on for more days. Luckily temperatures are nice as the sun is shining.

wednesday 15 february

Sierra del Carche, one of our highest mountains. West wind predicted, and picking up by afternoon, next days could be pretty windy. So a couple of non flying days ahead unfortunately.

So left early, at 10 am, already heading inland. Once at take off, winds were on, yihaah ! I took off as wind dummy and gave signal to get in the air and play. Got up a bit on the western face, winds in the air up to 25 km per hour west. Good, no speedbar needed, but just in case checking if it was hanging between my legs. It was very very smooth, flying at 6 km per hour at times, like flying in 'algodon', cotton. Once above take off, looking around and taking some shots.

After a bit, followed the agreed flight plan, to try to find thermals in the valley and head for possible XC direction Pinoso, Monovar. But no beep, no beep. The only beeps we got was 150 meter above landing field... . We should have stayed soaring on that western face up high. Anyway, it was a beautiful day out, big mountain and stunning views of the valley of Jumilla, Pinoso.

Coffee time and up to Chinorlet. Once there it was gusty. Took off, soon found out too cross and up/down-up/down, so back home early.

Paul and Bruce, take care, see you later !

Tuesday 14 february San Valentin

Can you deal with this, doyouwanna deal with this ? That was the question.
We were not welcomed today at Palomaret. As soon as you were in the air, you felt the mountain was in a bad mood.

Thermals broken, once in them, all of a sudden cut off by gusts from the side (west), lines getting slack at times. And when you flat turned in a smooth one, all of a sudden the glider surged, gusts rolling in from the east. Cloudbase very low, so never high enough to have that safe feeling of 'yeah enough height' - I can recover if needed.

Palomaret showed its bad mood. So what do you do. Deal with it because you can ? Maybe. Or do you ask yourself the question if you want to deal with this ?

Got home early, better safe than sorry.

angry mountain ...

monday 13 february

Arrived at Peña Rubia. On the way it worried me a bit, that western winds looked very strong. Once at take off though, again happened before, to little wind to take off.
We waited, nicely sunbathing in the sun, 18 degrees I guess. Frederico arrived when I was thinking of taking off with almost no wind.

Peña Rubia has a bit of a tricky take off. Very spanish, sharp stones, cliff edge and nasty bushes in between. So I laid out my glider, and asked my friend Frederico to let me know if there at least was a little breeze coming up. With full faced helmet on, a bit under the 'wind' I had no idea.
Yeah, little bits now he said. Popped up my Magic, and ran like Ben Johnson on drugs down the hill. My eye caught Frederico just below me, tucking away.
In the air, bits of thermals, very narrow windows.
Headed out in thevalley to see if there was more out there. No, had to go land on the road, didn't even reach landing field.

Soon after that Frederico himself and Paul took off. Better now. Sitting near the road in the warm sun, watched them thermalling up above the antennas. Moments later they made their transition to the hills of Biar. Lucky bastards. Impressed. They both had enough after a good flight, so we all went to have coffee.

After the coffee, it was time to check if the sea breeze would get to the other side to have a later in the afternoon flight. And boy I tell you, it did. Look at the foto's to see.

Loved the day !

morning

afternoon

sunday 12 february

Bye bye Norway, see you guys soon, say hello to those I know up there:. If interested, they flew 5 out of 7 days, not bad for midwinter. Today was their last day.

We all flew different gliders. Niviuk Hook, Airwave Sport3, Advance Sigma6, Venus Axispara, Vega Axispara, and why not, in between some tandems.
Time enough, conditions were easy, toplandings when you wanted, hours of good conditions.

saturday 11 february

No flying today. Just top to bottom for those who had their gliders out of the bag. Very cloudy, rainy inland, and the promised strong eastern winds weren't present.

friday 10 february

Aiming low to scratch your way up again, soaring boring ? Depends where.

Coastline of Alicante, nicer from above, that's for sure.

AT 10 AM, at take off Cabo de Santa Pola. The walk to the take off a bit muddy, but what the heck. I think northeners are used to more mud than this. We still have to park our cars outside, as the access road is not "officially" re-opened yet. Soon ... .

We flew this morning, then lunch, siesta till 4 pm and fly again till sunset.

Danish pilots were probably in the most safe place today. Flying above the cliffs, far away from burning flags, and upset people by cartoons. Makes me think burning Beatles' albums, when John Lennon said they were bigger than God. Not so long ago. Damn religions.

I flew the AxisPara Vega DHV 2 and was pleased. Then the not DHV rated, but AFNOR performance glider of AxisPara Venus. Its lines are as fine as dental floss lines, finer than complines they look.
The glider felt pretty twitchy (tweetchy, twytsji, donow), and when I started doing wingovers, it felt that it didn't want to stop doing them. My friend Nacho bought one, he'is competing with it soon. It think the glider is aimed for good pilots, to very good pilots, having the nerves to fly in competition conditions full speedbar.

Iceland friends, Danish friends, hope you had a great time down here. One thing about the Danish, nobody can teach them how to launch in strong conditions, that's for sure. But next time, don't let go of those brakes man, it is bad for my heart ! Take care.

Un abraso.

thursday 9 february

Inversion low, southwest rolling in from over El Cid. In Agost east. So not the best day, although everybody was flying from 1 pm till 4 pm. Thermals sometimes nice and smooth, but at times pretty broken and nasty. Some of us thought the flying had it sharp edges, some of us find it all smooth.

Jerry's gang left this morning, hope all was ok, and hope we will see you all back. If yoiu want to know, it was warm today, very warm, very sunny, very sunny.

wednesday 8 february

We were at take off Calpe. For me the winds were too strong. Up to 30 km hour, and a bit of a cliff edge take off.
Minutes after I packed my gear, Martin Danish took off. Although using a friend as ancer and letting go of the brakes he did perfect ! He was in the air a bit, winds picking up.

So not a really flying day for us, only for Martin.

Killed some time on the beach of Calpe.

Coloured pigeans ready for the contest.	Peñon d Ifach near Calpe
We have Heidi's granddad as a guest.	Martin, BBC cameraman, ex PWC cameraman, lover, joker, opened the swimming season

tuesday 7 february

Ok, we can be short. Palomaret at 12 am, started flying. Mostly Danish pilots in the air. Soon Norwegians and Brits and Icelanders. At the end of the day, more low airtimers. Cloudbase was low, thermals were small. Of course I prefer to fly on my own, nobody around me, the whole air, the whole sky for me alone. It wasn't the case today, there were more pilots who wanted to fly, to enjoy the flying. So sorry, sometimes it is that way. Stop wining, good grief.

See you all in the air tomorrow, have a drink, loosen up, relax. The sun is shining and paella is being served. Olé !

monday 6 february

West-winds early morning, huge inversion over the cities, smog.

Arriving on the hill, the wind was more and more on. The more experienced took off. Winds turned again westward though. So all were asked to head for the valley, more safe. Klaus, good old Klaus, took 1400 ASL above Agost. It was difficult to tell him where to go XC. We usually go the other way ... . But ok, he managed to have a good flightm and almost reaches Sierra de Aguilas. A km further and he could have made a ridge run to higher hills and on and on and on. But very well, all happy. Then a bit of a wait, all in the air.

Many pilots in the end, cloudbase low, so not much time to look around. All had to get used to some traffic.

sunday 5 february

There are worse things than flying for over three hours. Many sunday pilots were floating, flying, wing-overing, SAT-ing, untill the weather turned nasty in the late afternoon. Splendid !!

Some good old friends are back, always lovely to see them.

saturday 4 february

Cabo de Santa Pola. Inland very cloudy, at coast overcast. Low pressure. Northern winds, veering bit by bit to northeast. Soaring but after a good hour window we had 10 minutes to get out of the air, got too strong very quickly. I am sure Jan will always remember this scenario.

Friday 3 february

It was supposed to rain today. But not a drop. Just inland, big fat dark clouds. Today there were top to bottoms at first at Cabo. And we do not come to Alicante to do top to bottoms, we can do that at home. So luckily there was more than floating, a bit later we were really flying over the cliffs of Santa Pola. Wind more on the hill and stronger, yihaah !

At landing field below there was an accuracy landing competition. Karl was best. In the air again skygod Stevie G.

thursday 2 february

Late night, huge meal. This morning a little tiny hangover.
Looking out the window at 8, blue sky, not a sigh of wind.

Bringing my son, Paquito to school : "papa, hoy tu puedes volar con tus chicos no ¿" (daddy, you can fly with your chicos today no ?)
He knows, passing the airport on our way to school, he sees the windsock. South and weak, blue sky, nice temperatures.

For everybody a window today. When we arrived inversion was low. High pressure. We flew but it was pretty much more pitch and roll control than anything else. Later in the afternoon it all smoothed out. Happy faces. Happy welshmen. It was 24 degrees celsius in the central hours today at the landing field. Tomorrow it is supposed to be colder.

Alicante. It is not about huge stories, crossing the Alps, 4000 m cloudbases, postcards to mom having done 100 k, epic flights with vultures crossing the Andes, no. It is about flying a lot in a good atmosphere, thermalling, soaring, reaching cloudbase, safe flying, no bullshitting.

And after such days we also go to the old men's bar, locals watching John Wayne in Spanish. When will I see you again ¿

foto left . Stevie and the old man, Antoniet. Stevie is the one on the right.
foto middle, group of welsh friends, beer o'clock
foto right, had to be done, it is a tradition after a good days' flying
this time no pictures from the hill, not from my flight, this time giving you a shot from some pilots visiting us, having a good time after their flying, olé !

wednesday 1 february

Blue sky, warm day. Great weather forecast. Breezes in the afternoon. Meaning, not in a hurry to get to the mountains, waiting for the ever western winds to die off. The sun should do its work, and create the ever southern breeze.

We were wrong. A group of very eager british pilots, bunch of locals. All at the hill, waiting. Meanwhile spicing up the phone bills, calling other pilots in other valleys. No wind there, so definetely breeze at some point.

But it was three o'clock and still some mean western gusts at take off.

Or we were gonna wait till very late for the breeze and maybe maybe fly. Or we had to leave for the valley of Villena for at least some flying. We took the last choice and all had their flights at Villena.

It was not Alicante at its best. But still everybody had his wings out flying. The perseverence of Jerry and his group made it all happen in the end. Jerry is in charge of Paraventure, before Paul Williams, I can only recommend this british school.

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I started this diary more than a year ago now. So this means months of daily uploading, what we did during the day. I count 270 days of flying last year. And this is no bullshit publicity. This should be a guideline for all who want to come over and fly with us. I think this proves that DOYOUWANNA is run efficient and professional. We are always out there when there is a window to fly.

It is a guideline to choose your time to come down and fly with us. Down in Alicante with DOYOUWANNA you don't have to be lucky to fly, no you will just be unlucky if you can't fly.
We are just a spot on earth, so of course also dependent on the weather. But the climate we live in is amazing. Why do you think grandma still dances and has fun down here in nearby Benidorm. She was never stupid, that's why she choose the best climate in Europe.

I hope to see you. And also, I hope more guides put in a dairy on their website. Because the feedback I get from pilots, repeated or new visitors is good. And it can only benefit their bussiness. What do you think ?