Yes that's how our sky looked like today. Flying inland again. Low inversion, but still giving us time to practice. It wasn't easy. Only better pilots could stay up and topland.

I wished everybody flew, but now was the time to practice the flat turns, the weightshifting in the harnass.

When it is easy everybody stays up, when it is weak, skills come in.

Also take offs were worth watching, you could easily pick out the one who have the hands.

the end of the day, getting the glider off the windsock ....
always winds dying off just before the sun goes down, and then catabatic.
but many have such a passion to fly, they want to squeeze everything out of the day,
like Jan, who left this morning, every second he wants to be in the air,
never a landing in between, always such a big smile on his face, his helmet almost falling off,
see you again Jan !
Today was not as good as yesterday, but the atmosphere, the comradship on the hill made everything worthwile, super.


Are you sure its your first one ?

All of us. Flying at El cid this morning, superb views. Later good old Palomaret, where it was as if summer arrived. Carving the air for hours. As long as you pleased enjoying the smooth winter thermals. Superb day, already forgotten the bad spell we left behind.

The sun really means so much don't it, it welcomes you in the morning, it warms you, it serves you thermals in the afternoon, and the sunsets you cannot believe how beautiful they are, and this in winter. Loving it, see you all soon.

http://www.sockandawe.com/

Yes sir, back to normal. Very nice temperatures again, blue sky, our friend the sun was embracing us again. Fantastic, didn't feel like Xmas was near. It felt far away.

We flew at Peña Rubia. At last we had our wings out, and played. Weather is getting lovely now again. Just the way we want it.

Huge walks, 16 km walks on the hills. Up and down, along canyons, dry canyons this is. Steep climbs, all you want. Knackered. Just burning some energy off, because we knew flying was out of the question again today.

Mañana.

Weather is getting better. Soon we will be flying again. And it should be good. Cold air that hit us, should give us high cloudbases. A little bit more patience and you'll read all about it.

While the XC distance record was broke, now on 507 km and in south africa, we were just hoping for the winds to die off.

Eveybody looks pretty unamused during this extraordinary bad spell of weather we have. Even my neighbour.... .

Ouch. Nova importer/dealer in Spain has seen better times. Some of my colleagues have to sue him, because he hasn't fullfilled his payments. Bad times. Although after the dodgy Nova RA we all thought NOVA was back on track, with their new Nova Factor. Damn. In Spain we see less and less NOVA gliders. Due to unprofessional attitude., and that's a shame.

Anyway, the flying is little down here for the moment. Spain is in pain, it is cold, and it is raining in most parts. Upcoming days bad as well. Lets enjoy the spanish food, culture and do a sightseeing trip to the sites. Can't do any better.

No flying again. Westwinds how we hate them.

I think this photo is photo-shopped. This is a site 30 m high dune, at Wijk aan Zee, Holland. If this is true, well I certainly hope they all had a good relaxing flight.

At least they could play, we couldn't, too much westernwinds ... again ... .

Ooops. Carla Beeckman wrote me it is not photo shopped, it was one of those rare days that the wind was spot on. And a sunday. Carla is a dutch pilot friend who has visited us on diferent ocassions.

in summer the beaches are packed with bikinis so small,
you can floss your teeth with,
today these beaches are for kitesurfers,
wearing thick neoprenes,

clear sky, but too much offshore winds today

Overlooking the coastline, whilst soaring over Hondon North.

In front of us, huge cloudformation and rain in the distance.

Hondon de las Nieves north. We had a two hour window and took it. When we arrived there was slight rain, and had to wait.
We were at take off at 1 pm, just central hour, when the sun is at its strongest. With some luck cloudbase would higher up a bit, and we would maybe get a clear spell.
10 minutes later Robert in the air, followed by his fellow pilots from Sweden.
Two hours later, just after Robert had landed, clouds gathered again, wind dropped and first drops were felt.

Hondon North is not a regular site. The road is bad, it is a bit of a drive, and lots of times we'd been up there and couldn't fly. Although the ridge gives you splendid views overlooking the coastline, the Arizona looking terrain of dry Crevillente.

Thanks Borje Svensson, Robert Wikstrand, Eduardo Gibs (no foto sorry .... you were too fast ....), Jan Erik Lundin from Skarmsflyg Sweden (did I pronounce it right this time guys ?).

Thanks for flying again with us, always a pleasure. Say hello to your girl and boyfriends up there. Good skills at take off can take you far away, it is of such an importance, and you had the skills, good one.

Cloudy today, possible drizzly. No good winds to fly. So took off with Warren's boat to the islands. And had a damn good paella. After all it was a holiday in Spain today, some virgin had to be celebrated. Long live catholic countries for their fiestas !

Quick shot from a Nova Factor been tried out by Ismael. Lovely glider, as you can see the arch is there, more and more glider types have 'copied' the Boomerang-Ice Peak arch, haven't they.

Lovely day, sunday, social get together at Palomaret of course. The usual suspects at the take off. Best performance, Pepe with his McMagnus, flew all the way to Muxamel. Cloudbase for him 1500 ASL, which means 700 m, above take off.

While he was flying this, we were at Peña Rubia. We were not so succesfull, and had to get back to Palomaret, but too late to enjoy the best part of the day.

A good day out with flights at Peña Rubia and `later Palomaret.

Little flying we did near Murcia. Still open this site, till 31 of december. Then closed again for hunting.

I have to fill in the forms with duration of flights, name pilot, nationality pilot etc... , so local club pilots can hand in the paperwork before the end of the year. I feel lots of sympathy for the pilots of Murcia. I am always welcome to join their site with my pilots. They always keep me informed about new restrictions, rules etc... . And I know they work hard to keep their sites open and maintained.
The take off of Carrascoy for instance is one of the best take offs you can find in Spain. Type St Hilaire du Touvet France. Nicely carpeted, protecting your glider, giving you enough space to prepare your glider cleanly. No spanish grass, sticky bushes, all as it should be.
And this very active paragliding club, Club Murciavuela, has the most problems with the local authorities to keep their sites open. Shame, they deserve better.

Un abrazo a todo los pilotos de Murcia y gracias !

This mornings' sky.

and

this evenings' sky

Too much wind to play. Best thing was getting the surfboard out, and do it on the waves

Windy from the west again, no chance to fly. Later in the day it got more cloudy, grey lenticulares, not a good sign. Swedish pilots arrived, lets hope in a couple of days this spell is over, it's been unusually long.... temperatures rose today, but that was the only thing that pleased us.

http://vimeo.com/2327391

You probably have seen this video, anyway, for those who are interested and haven't seen it yet. A very scary video about two polish pilots in Madeira Portugal, flying on the coast. They were surprised by a local meteo phenomenon, known by the locals.
Luckily both pilots were allright afterwards.

Down in Alicante we had sunny, nice temperatures but only if you got out of the strong norhtwesterly wind. On the hills, too strong and ice cold air from the north.

If you are down here as a tourist, wanting to enjoy the culture, the beaches, the mountians, the Via Ferrata's, the rock climbing, kitesurfing, the 4x4 trips and so on, then this is the right spot.
However for our game, paragliding, the wind is too strong this week. Shame.

Unstable weather. A good day out though. Visiting several sites, enjoying the views, the climbs, the hiking. But no flying, too tricky.

At the end of the day we were at Hondon North, but decided to leave it. Too gusty.

Early evening we spotted the eclipse of Venus by the waxing crescent Moon, clear to be seen.
And just above it, Jupiter. Spectacular, you had to look southwest in this clear evening sky.

We were watching this , sitting in a desert like landscape, the sun setting, and the Moon, the stars so bright. Arabian nights, Ali Baba you know. Pass the dutchie.

We need a break. We need a high coming in. It'll give us cristal clear blue skies and smooth thermals. But for the moment, grey in the morning ,afternoon sunny spells, but very unpredictable with the wind. No wind, gusts, all day long.

Another spell of bad weather, fronts, lots of winds. As far as I can see this upcoming week will have its windows to fly, but it won't be like usual.

Sierra de Aquilas, between San Vicente and Busot, no-mansland. A bit of speleologie in the abandoned coppermines, a hike on the hills, an improvised BBQ, that was our day. No flying, winds way too strong from norhtwest. But pleasant day though.

Pressure dropping, winds strong,
temperature max 18 degrees celsius,
and maybe some rainfall in Spain next upcoming days,
not the best time to be here this week

We knew it was gonna be blown out today, so we took off to visit some castles, some villages.
Rain and snow on the mountain tops, and it got very cold, ice cold northern winds.

Video sent by belgian pilot, never let your hands off the breaks...

http://vimeo.com/2332983

Man, I love it down here. Ooops.

No, look at the foto's, this is not photo shop, not at all, these were the real colours today. Fantastic blue sky, and look how this mirrored in the med.

It was great to fly good old Cabo de Santa Pola again, after weeks flying inland. And the hard core Cabo-flyers were there, Raul, Alex, Antonino and Kike. Good fun.

Although the day started very windy. Palmtrees swinging, seagulls playing speedbar on. Euh chicos, maybe not today. But wait, sometimes in the afternoon that wind dies off and we get a window to fly at the coast, don't count on it, but be there at 1.30.

(oh my god what did I promise)

Yes ! Westernwinds were starting to veer to the north. It was just before midday.

Come on, a bit more. Yes ! Benidorm had eastern winds now, it is midday.

12.15 yes, Playa de San Juan just north of Alicante had a change in wind as well. But not down here at Cabo yet. Steady.

12.30 quick lunch, never know we have to go fly soon, winds are dying off, so maybe maybe

12.45 first eastern breezes, in between the still gusty western wind.

13.00 yes, that's it, the sea starts to look different, no more white horses, a change in colour even

13.15 wait, it is east for sure now, but where have these strong gusts gone, are we flying in the lee, and can we be in for a surprise, lets wait.

13.30 In the air, rig guys, lets have Santa Pola for us today. Halelujah.

When I drove home I saw this,

I love it down here.

Belgian pilot, Filip Peeremans, also helicopter pilot, under his personalised Skywalk Chili.

Today it was too windy to fly. But luckily we could enjoy the sun, which was absent in other parts of Spain. A huge cold front, polar air is gonna hit us this week. Time for putting some heating on at last, vino tinto on the side.

I have no idea what this book is about. But what I know is, that this is a foto of our take off at our precious site Cabo de Santa Pola.

A story from New Zealand with a foto of a spanish soaring site, funny.

Pretty proud we are !

And I am especially proud, because it was my nephew Robin who took the shot.

It was chosen to be used as a cover of a book. More foto's of this art-photographer on next link (page 10 , 11 )

http://www.arcangel-images.com/bin/angel.dll/go?a=disp&pt=1&t=sr-loadersearch.html&si=6108EC3EE231445B9DE9C07897289E&usp=0&_spb=0&_spe=0&_spw=0&mw=2&se=39&searchtext=vandenabeele%20robin

Hope you enjoy them, well done Robin.

Arvid triumph after his epic flight over Peña Rubia, after he just got off the plane.

Rafa and local beauty, supporting.

Brilliant today. This must have been the better Peña Rubia day of the year. Cloudbase at 1800 m ASL, which means a 1000 m climb for some of us. And this means thermalling for hours in november.

I was happy to see lots of buddies flying on my favourite site in Alicante, Peña Rubia. Some went XC, some stayed near the hill. But all got great climbs in the valley. And that's just the secret when the wind is cross. Yes, I really believe Peña Rubia is working at its best when winds are cross. Then pilots are forced to fly out in the valley, and not do the dynamic thing near the hill.

And this valley works. Due to its structure it cooks, and when it is flyable we need cold northern winds, best cocktail.
But something else now. Alicante is known for its flying, its several days in a year. Maybe not known for writing postcards to mama that your first 100 km XC is done. But perhaps writing postcards to friends, that you are filling up your boots in Alicante, having visited lots of sites, and having flewn hours. That's what Alicante counts for.

So lots of pilots, local pilots, have hours of experience. Mostly though flying in thermic dynamic conditions, and this later in the afternoons, at our several sites.
Today all these many hours, was proven very good exercise to fly in todays conditions. And today I saw some very good flying. And it pleased me to see pilots high up in the sky, enjoying the thermals, coring them right, and reaching cloudbase with the better pilots.

But you know what else ? The bullet proof take offs of them, on our 'nature' launch as some foreign pilots tend to call the take off of Peña Rubia.

Flying is easy, landing as well, having a 'bullet proof' take off to me is so important. Here is

a foto of our nature launch, small, on rocks and spanish grass.
Give it to me !

Most of the pilots today, left for inland flying near Peña Rubia, Sierra del Buey. But all in vain. Strong winds inland, and no wind at the coast. Teasingly veering to the south, to the east at times, but never consisted enough.

I stayed put, checked the coast. Enjoyed my day off, with a fantastic sunset in the end. Temperatures were in their twenties, it was overall very sunny. Next week temperatures should drop a bit, and we should get windy days. Lets hope its gonna be a three day cycle as usual and not more. Because I have to pleeeeeeaaaaase lots of visiting pilots.

Flying near Villena, Peña Rubia. The famous Peña Rubia I heard Eva say But it wasn't that famous today. Winds were weak, and thermals were not present. Still enjoyed the hill, the flying and the company.

Later on my own, I visited Orito again. Drove down to search for an adequate landing field, since the paris-dakar road in the valley is not blocked any more. Soon I'll have my first flight up that one, southside. Just to check if we should use this one for everybody. I cannot see any harzards, but prefer flying it in still conditions, cross winds, and strong conditions.

On the left is the pelgrimage site Orito. Where believers hike up on their bare knees for penitention. True, I saw it with my bare eyes. In the near future, lets leave this for the believers, just walk up with our shoes on and fly it, happy ?

Weather change. Colder and wetter in the morning. Late afternoon, it all cleared up. And flying was possible, alhtough just gliding down. El cid would have been my choice, a 650 m top to bottom from one of the highest mountains near Alicante.

Didn't go out though, as only from saturday onwards we'll have visiting pilots again.

Foto from the site El cid, two take offs, two southern take off, one western take off.

No flying today. Bad weather came in. Dark and cloudy inland. Eastern winds and temperature dropped.

If you are looking for a Xmas present, why not a flashy helmet of ICARO. Check this website and let me know what to order :
http://www.nac-inter.com:80/