Flying in Quixada, CE, Brazil: a good experience

[wmelo]

I heard a lot about free fly in Quixada: finally I had the opportunity to see “in loco” how extraordinary this amazing place is.

To get there, I flew from Washington to Miami, then Miami to Fortaleza – Capital of Ceara (CE), a state in the northeast region of Brazil. CE is knew as the sun state of Brazil and offers several sport opportunities including windsurf, kite, and free fly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQKUBorr7_A).

There are several hang gliders ramps, most of them 2 hours away from Fortaleza. I visited a few of them: Canoa Quebrada (http://www.guia4ventos.com.br/rampas-do ... uebrada-ce) , Pacatuba (http://www.guia4ventos.com.br/rampas-do ... -urubu-ce-), Hotel dos ventos (http://www.guia4ventos.com.br/rampas-do ... ventos-ce-), and Quixada(http://www.guia4ventos.com.br/rampas-do ... urucum-ce-).

You can take off from Canoa Quebrada’s cliffs and fly along the paragliders. It is a very low cliff and you will need strong winds, which is not normally a problem in CE. Although the beach and the dunes are very beautiful, this is a very week HG place.

You can also fly from Pacatuba where you can fly many hours by “surfing” on the ocean breeze. They have 2 ramps: one to HG (wood ramp) and another one to PG (natural). The main LZ is huge and easy to be reached from the LA, but you can have a lot of PG traffic. They are building another LZ only for HGs. A PG flew 240KM from this site.

The 5 stars place is Quixada. Located on the “sertoes” (outback) of CE, Quixada offers 4 ramps: two inside the Hotel Serra dos Ventos (one for HG and another for PG), and two others close to the monastery. You do not need to pay to use them. The HG ramp inside the hotel needs a 4x4 car. However, all the others are easily accessed with a normal car. Many records have been broken in this site.

In the next paragraphs I provide an overview of my trip.

Day 1. I arrived in Fortaleza. Since, I was tired from my trip and decided to enjoy the white sand beaches and drink caipirinhas on the beach (see picture).

Day 2: I went to Quixada and checked-in in the Hotel Pedra dos Ventos (Hotel Rock of the Winds). This hotel is owned and managed by a HG pilot. I had a friendly reception from one of the flying natives (see picture). They are kind of shy at the beginning, but after a couple of drinks they are very friendly (see picture). I met other non-flying natives (see picture). The hotel was full of PG participating in a tournament. The winner was a Germany pilot who has been living in Brazil for many years. Although the conditions were strong, PGs took off and flew away. I waited until 4:30 when the conditions are more “waltable.” I had a very good launch and landed on the main LZ (see video).

Day 3. I flew again from the PG ramp and had again a short flight and landed safe again in the main LZ. Those 2 good flights helped me built my confidence.

Day 4. Finally, I flew from the main mountain: Sanctuary. Since I was only assisted by 2 very young PG pilots, and I decided to take off from the natural ramp instead of using the wood ramp. It was not a good idea, but I was able to manage the cross wind and had a good flight.

Day 5: I went to Pacatuba, took off by 3:30pm and flew for 2 hours (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaTLhYQSlR4), mostly lift combined with strong thermals. I landed safely in the main LZ.

Day 6: I decided again to spend the day in Fortaleza enjoying the beaches and caipirinhas before flying back home.
I am planning to go there again in July. Volunteers?

[wmelo]

A few more pics:
Hotel swim pool just below the PG ramp: it was very hot - 85F
Landscape behind the HG ramp in the hotel
PG preparing to take off in the hotel PG ramp

[krryerson]

Walt,
Thanks for posting this and love reading it. You are in one of the world's best PG flying sites (513km) and that is so cool. Looking at the map, did not know it was that fare north east.
Was it difficult to get there from Brasilia and how may HG pilots did you meet?
Merry Christmas!
Knut

[dbodner]

Walt,

Sounds like a great vacation.

Did you bring your own wing, or were you able to rent one there?

[wmelo]

I rent a single surface, F1 like.
I was offered to rent a T2C and an advanced Moyes glider: I refused since those are too much glider to a lousy pilot like me.
Most of the HG pilots there use topless glider to deal with the strong winds: I did not see any Sport 2

The lack of glider to rent was the only inconvenience I found. This is why it would be cool to go with a group so we could sent our used gliders together via a cargo and sell the gliders there and pay for the trip.

I met 4 HG pilots and a dozen of PGs: The hotel owner who "observed" me in 1st first flight: Mr. Almeida. He is a very nice guy. He showed me the ramps, rent me the glider, drove and rescued me in the 1st 2days in Quixada. Another great guy was Fernando. He has been flying there for decades. He is (or was) a HG instructor. We did not fly together, because the had a car issue and could not drive to Quixada. I also met Mr. Coelho: A HG instructor who "observed" me in Pacatuba. Very nice guy who drove me to the ramp, helped on the wire, and rescued after my flight. Finally, I met Ramon: a very peculiar guy. He drove me Santuary ramp, but we ended not flying that day because the cross winds. As far as I know he is the only HG who does tandem flights there. He flies a very old glider! I would be be please to share their contact if anyone wishes to go there.

It is not difficult to fly from Brasilia/Sao Paulo/Rio to Fortaleza: there are many flights. However, from USA it would be easier to fly directly from MIA to Fortaleza. The problem is cargo from USA to Fortaleza: I was not able yet to figure it out how it works.

Another great flight option is Brazil is GV (Governador Valadares). The great advantage of GV compared to Quixada is that there are cargo options from USA to Belo Horizonte (the closest international airport to GV), so it is theoretically easier to ship gliders to Belo Horizonte than Fortaleza. GV is 4 hours drive to Belo Horizonte. I have not been in GV yet, but this is another great site that I want to explore in the future.

Costs: I spent $700 on tickets, $300 on rental car, and +- $1000 on food and hotel, so $2K in 10 days. Dollar is pretty high right now in Brazil: $1 dollar ~ R$ 4 reais +-