Flying in Quito
Trip Start
Jan 03, 2007
1
5
18
Trip End
Jan 21, 2007
Quito,
Ecuador
Monday, January 8, 2007
Today we went flying along a ridge separating a suburb of Quito from Quito itself... Unfortunately, it go cloudy very fast... So, most of our flights were short and low... However, we all managed to sneak in two flights: the first pretty smooth and the second with failed or rough landings. The launch was an impeccable grassy slope with a nice Eastern wind coming strait into the launch... The landing was a little tricky since it is smaller than we are use to at home and it is actually a small local sports field nestled in between a homes next to the mountain and on both sides (with small hacked power lines) and giant high tensions power lines in front (complete with a select few tress just before the power lines at the end of the field)! I'm very grateful for all the experience I accumulated back home in our many tight and tricky flying sites!!! There's no such thing as a perfect site and this place has no exceptions
Craft Market Goods
! Easy launch, tricky landing, tricky launch, tricky landing, etc. I'm learning a lot, new weather conditions, everything in exponentially bigger sizes, etc. We went strait to the launch this morning since it only in the morning. It was great fun and the local kids crowded around us as we landed our second flights... I'm pretty sure it was their lunch break. Good times by all. Benoit and Michel were *lucky* enough to get caught into the descending cloud cover... They manages to fly for half an hour in quiet enough conditions with lift all over the place. However, we did loose them from sight in the clouds a few times. Henri decided to have Martin, Jean-Roch and I stay back in order to avoid collisions... Which, although it meant no lift for us, it was a wise decision in the end.Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah... It feels so great to be flying again, in a new place with new people... Even though the flight times are similar to those at home, thanks to our streak of bad weather, it is very fun and satisfying.
We had lunch, nothing special for me: pan fried chicken and papas fritas and then some of us walked around the indigenous crafts market a few blocks from our hostel. I spoke to some vendors there and they all come from Otavalo... I'm paying a slight premium for my goods here, but we didn't have time to buy anything at the source... Everything is relatively cheap here anyway, so souvenir shopping is still acceptably priced. Tomorrow, we are hoping for some better weather since we are returning to the same site as today... *fingers crossed* Enjoy the pictures and videos! I have included my first launch video in Ecuador (from my first flight this morning)!
