Report from GV Brasil

[Flying Lobster]

Finally got hooked in at Ray Leonard's place.

After a couple of days of getting my ass kicked by rippin mid-day thermals and rotor--I finally vindcated myself with a lucky flight today.

I watched a dozen Brazilian, Swedish and Italian pilots launch and basically sled to the lz. I launched last and decided to scratch close in--a risky thing at GV but it seemed OK given the stable conditions. I get the luck of the draw and manage to squeak into a disorganized thermal which slid me over the towers. But once clear of the mountain, the thermal turns on big time--1,250 fpm worth. I couldn't believe my luck-especially since it was a blue cloudless day. What da f%^ck--I decide to see what happens as I follow the road out of GV. Over 40 kilometers later I land in a village--even though thermals are still rippin--I was just too beat and dehydrated to fight on.

This is the most outrageous paragliding I have ever done. Big rippers all the way down to the deck--I had quite a few low saves from just a couple of hundred feet or so. Everything is manageable as long as you keep the glider cranked over--I've only had a few moderate tip collapses so far. The locals say conditions are unusaully strong for this time of year. On Sunday--when I couldn't even make it to the main lz--about a half dozen pilots went 180 to over 200 kms--including the new site record.

marc

marc

[tomceunen]

200k that's remarkable for GV.
I remember the site as indeed low saves and soft thermals. the rainy season is for Feb-March = soft thermals. So you will see more blue sky
Have fun and the 40K is very nice. Did you take the bus back to GV?
Thats great about SA , buses everywhere.
Tom

[Flying Lobster]

200k that's remarkable for GV.
I remember the site as indeed low saves and soft thermals. the rainy season is for Feb-March = soft thermals. So you will see more blue sky
Have fun and the 40K is very nice. Did you take the bus back to GV?
Thats great about SA , buses everywhere.
Tom

I haven't seen a drop of rain the whole time here. Tempertures have reached 100 degrees F and the first few days I was here--still trying to figure things out--pilots were flying 100 kilometers or more every day. The locals say conditions are unusually strong for this time of year. I don't know why--but whenever I travel overseas I always seem to get ideal flying conditions--unlike here in the US.

As for a ride--some guy simply came driving by and offered me a ride back to my posada. Always have to be careful about getting hustled by somebody. My host, Ray Leonard, has a wonderful condominium right on the banks of Rio Doce at directly across from the foot of Ibataruna. He lives here part of the year and knows everything about getting around etc. He also will conduct both hang gliding and paragliding tours. Although its possible t get by without a guide (as I have) you'll waste alot of time and possibly get into trouble, especially if you do not speak Portuguese. I was only here for 5 days--I think coming here for anything less than ten days is really a bad idea--all the Euro pilots stay for at least three weeks.

Got to pack and leave--but I'll definitely be back--as well as visiting South Africa and maybe Chile next year

marc

[Flying Lobster]

Now that I'm back I finally got to download my flight for analysis--CU tells me I only went 38 kms and peak lift was only 1,050 fpm--but most was averaging in the 700-800 fpm range. There seems to be a slight discrepencey between what the deck tells me and the program analysis.

REgardless, despite my rather meager results, the area around GV, and other sites in the Minas Gerias state, seem to be designed by God as absolute perfect cross-country terrain.

marc