ARNOLD'S NEWS
November 2011
Well, the season is over. And what a year it has been. The business went well,all things considered,
and we made alot of new friends.Especially encouraging was the new interest from both the
Scandinavian countries and also our Portuguese friends. The word is out, we offer good value to all.
Guided groups or simply weekenders.
On a personal note, this was my best year of flying ever.
Next year the dream continues.
September 20th
Cerith,Dough and I went Go-Carting on a Non-Flyable day. Good fun and a Great Alternative
Activity, close by too
September 1st
On August 30th , in strong wind and difficult PreFrontal conditions
XAlps pilot Martin Muller flew an amazing 217km from Linhares,
the best flight from here since 1995
His track log at link
Congratulations Martin
August 31st
Well, my 4 days of XC Open has passed without incident
I was asked to be Meet Director , a First for me.
It was a great experience , learnt a lot about Task setting,
ie"You can't please all the people all of the time" , but my local knowledge
meant that we could fly all of the days. Also learnt a lot about organized retrieve,
congratulations to Sam of Wind and his very professional team.
Klaus van Bellen wrote:
We drove to the take off above Linhares today, wind direction was southwest and thermals started late. The window was open from 12:00 to 17:00 so it was possible to start late or to restart if the thermals were to weak. Many pilots launched late, did some kilometres at the ridge and then try to fly away with the wind. The thermal top was near 1700m and the wind was really strong in the afternoon. Todays task winner is Klaus van Bellen, he flew 44km. Second place goes to Thomas Blatter with 37km. Klaus van Bellen wrote: Our 3rd day of the competition started with sunny skies and promising weather conditions in Linhares. After we drove up to launch, Arnold gave us the outlook for the day: we had to expect a slowly developing day with tops reaching only about approx. +600m over launch. To a smaller group of people Arnold later on explained what his recommended strategy would be for the day. I especially remember him pointing out that it would be a good idea to cross the wind turbines in direction Celorico to the right and continuing towards the village of Prados and Rapa. This piece of information made it a succesful day for me (thx Arnold!) A lot of pilots including myself launched at around 15:00 and we were greeted by uncoordinated thermals and an inversion layer at approx. 400m over launch. Following 3 or 4 unsuccessful attempts to make it trough the inversion - and convincing some other pilots to move on - I decided to give it a try and departed towards the wind turbines on my own. Near the first turbine I found a nice but slow thermal that gave me enough altitude to safely aim for the village of Rapa from where I continued towards the big valley with the Rio Mondego in the middle. At the far side of the valley the IP5 highway slopes up the up the hill, which is where I cought again some very good thermals, which allowed me to continue further towards Acores. Past the village of Acores towards Freixedas the terrain changed to flatlands with a good number of brown / dark fields which kicked off decent thermals as the day progressed. With wind speeds of ca. 15 to 20 km/h from the west to south-west I managed to cover enough distance to eventually make it just shy of Pinhel. Likely I would have been able to continue for another couple of km but the ground suck to a nearby petrol station with a large Super Bock beer sign was too strong to resist. Thanks again to Arnold for a great pre-flightn briefing and to the super efficient retrieve team from the Linhares flying community which made this 44km flight truly enjoyable. Later on, we celebrated the day at a nice life music party and free beer sponsored by the organisation. Klaus van Bellen CIVL 1210 |
| Sunday 28-Aug-2011 |
|
SMS INFO +++ Window Open 12:00-14:00 * Takeoff D33124 -> Open
Distance Optimization 3TP -> LastTaskTime 19:00 +++ END SMS INFO |
| Saturday 27-Aug-2011 |
|
SMS INFO +++ Window Open 13:00-16:00 * Takeoff D35085 -> Tp1: M51035 (5km) -> Open Distance -> LastTaskTime 19:00 +++ END SMS INFO
Day Winner Marian Michlichek CZ, Advance Sigma 8 reports: |
August 16th
From the 12th to the 15th we had a leg of the Portugal Nationals here in Linhares.
We were again privileged to have a Full House of simply Great people.
Special Congratulations to Dinis Carvalho (First Overall) and Silvia Ventura (First Lady).
Also had the rare opportunity to fly the R11, wow. What a Sailplane.
I've been asked to be Assistant Meet Director for the XC Open next week,
thanks Sam , I'm honored.
July 29th
July 15th
Yesterday was another of those exceptional flying days.The whole gang showed up early
in eager anticipation."Good Day to Hunt the Kilometers".
The day did not disappoint. See Link
July 11th
Yesterday at 18h20, I dropped off the FlyBubble group at Porto airport, exactly on time.
What a group and what a trip.We flew 8 out of 9 days. Ate too much , drank enough and laughed
alot.Thanks guys and hope to see you all soon.
More at Facebook
July 1st
Pleased to say that the Nordics was a roaring success.
4 Valid tasks in 6 days.
Congratulations to Vitor,Miguel and everyone of ClubeVertical for a great event.
Of my guests, congrats to Magnus(1st Swede overall) and Marko and Jenny for their podium positions
in the Ladies and Sport divisions.I guess the training week helped.
Lets not forget Tor, with his personal best, of 170km in the training week.
Did a lot of networking, lots of interested pilots,dreaming of a visit next year.
June 17th
Final shopping trip in preparation of Nordics done. Enough beer and wine guaranteed.
Upgrades this year include 3 new private bedrooms , a trailer for the gliders and a seperate bar fridge.
Let the Games begin.
June 16th
June 10th was simply great.Although there was too much cloud and base was not very high,
we managed some great flights. 2 flights of 200km and mine , 150km.I only took off at 3pm.
Congratulations to Pedro Moreira and Francisco Nunes
For more detais, have a look at http://www.xcportugal.com/modules.php?name=leonardo&season=0&year=2011&month=06&day=10
June 4th
We finally got a break in the weather and some good flights.
On Friday 3June Vitor Baia flew 79.6km and I flew 73.7km.
On Saturday , we were outdone by Pedro Moreira --179.5km
and Christiano Pereira--150.5km.
Congratulations to all.
Very promising for the season as this is not usually the direction to fly in.
Link to flights http://www.xcportugal.com/modules.php?name=leonardo&op=list_flights&fltr=428849.
Marko's article in Hypoxia
Thanks Marko Wramen for a very nice article in the
Spring Edition of Hypoxia , the Swedish Paragliding Magazine
Fantastic picture of Marko on XC . Took of from Azinha .Photo over Linhares looking east at Turbines.
Click here to see the article
XC FEVER 2011
Here's an idea.
July and August rock here in Portugal.
Last year Nuno did a whopping 248km from here.
Put together a group of 6 serious XC pilots and we'll have a mini-comp.
The pilot with the longest flight gets a full refund.
Nordic Open 2011
I am pleased to announced that we have no vacancies left.
My humblest apologies to all still looking for accommodation.
Link to alternative accommodation http://www.nordic-open.eu/2011/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=50&Itemid=53
Our local paragliding club , Clube Vertical , will be hosting the Nordic Open from the 25th June to the 30th June. We at ParaglidePortugal will again be offering our services to Competitors as we did in August 2010 with the PWC. Accomodation,meals and transport,and a great crowd,all for a very reasonable rate. Pilots like Nuno Virgilio and Adrian Thomas will vouch to this.
Look for the article by Marko Wramen of Hypoxia (Swedish Paragliding Magazine) in the
Spring 2011 edition.Link to Nordic Open http://www.nordic-open.eu/
XC-Open World Series
Exclusive competition special.
Dinner,bed,breakfast and transport to and from Meet Center for only €35pppd.
Wind , the organisers of this years PWC event are hosting the XC Open here at Linhares.
As with the PWC 2010 and the Nordic Open , we will again be hosting some pilots.
http://www.xc-open.org/
| Aug. 27 - Sept. 03 2011 |
2011 XC-Open Serra de Estrela e Mirandela (FAI Cat2) |
Serra de Estrela (Portugal) |
Flybubble confirms for 2 to 10 July 2011 .
Thankyou Carlo and Nancy ,looking forward to your visit.
Azinha XC League
Proud to say that after a late start , only started flying my Triton in August, I managed to claw
my way to an overall 3rd place. Love the Triton and flying here in the Serra's.
Next year, first place????????? Results at this link
September turned out to be a good and busy month for us.
First group included Marco Wramen,editor of Hypoxia,the Swedish paragliding magazine,
and a friend of his , Anders . Check out Marco's Blog . Along with them we had Ann from Belgium and Clive from South Africa. We had some nice flying and some Tourist stuff.
Our last group of the year ,6 Austrians from Flugschule Breggenzerwald, had a fantastic week,
with all 6 days flyable.Thanks to all for helping us make this year memorable and enjoyable.
Greg's Posts
Noted pilot and author, also good buddy , Greg Hammerton , has yet again written something nice about us. Thankyou Greg. Follow the link to read his article.
PWC Portugal 2010
We hosted a big international field.
Fantastic people and excellent pilots.
Claudio and Nuno Virgilio ,our home team heros,Viva Portugal.
Alex and Adrian from the UK
Felipe , an Australian Brazilian
Wesley , an Australian American
Xiangping, Chinese Lady
PWC page >
Unlimited XC Potential
Posted 18June2010
On 16June2010, Portuguese Pilot Nuno Virgilio, took off from Serra da Estrela and landed near Vidigueira for a flight near 250Kms (it might be 247Kms or 248Kms).
Possibly new Portuguese XC record. Actual record belongs to Pedro Moreira with 229,5Kms also from Serra da Estrela - Vale de Amoreira.
http://www.xcportugal.com/modules.php?name=leonardo&op(shrinked URL)amp;sortOrder=LINEAR_DISTANCE
Portugal boasts 7 flights of over 200km in 2009.
Locals are extremely excited about XC prospects for 2010.
See details of flights in the Gallery page >
Also at Paragliding Forum >
Another Happy Pilot
I don't know which was better; the flying or the food! Your house is a wonderful place to retreat to. It was a great relax-and-recharge holiday! Thanks Arnold and Marié. I look forward to visiting you again. Tracy Hamerton, United Kingdom
Favourite summer flying moment
This article appeared in the October 2009 edition of Windsock magazine
After Watts and Atwell knocked the stuffing out of the summer, there were only fairy farts left for the rest of us. I tried to get away from the Dyke the next weekend, but it seems she only likes the boys to be able to drag their feet through the bush. I was sure there was some xc happening, somewhere, just out of reach, and there was a restless place in my head, like that worry you get when you think there might have just been a sexual innuendo thrown your way but you hadn't caught it.
I moaned about my lack of performance to my friends, Carlo and Nancy. They nodded sagely; they understood. They knew just the thing for it. "Come to a show in the Lewes castle," they said. "You'll love it." Was this supposed to help my flying, I wondered?
At the show there was some wine. A man with red rooster strapped rather lower than his waist demanded that he was the Grande Gallo, the great lover. After making a big fuss over him the heroine glanced down, saying "There seems to be a small chicken climbing up your leg."
I had another glass. Aah. It was an allegory, I realised, it was all 'bout the summer in the UK: it was a cock-up. The thermals had already been stolen. After I'd had some wine, I knew where to find them. I had to leave the land of the little chicken, and go to the land of the Big Chicken (peri-peri). It wash all suddenly show clear. The cluesh led south, towards the shun ...
Rapid scene change. Blue tile sign above stage: Land of Big Chicken. Actors appear in strange clothes, with shiny round hats on, bright boots, and ... um ... harnesses. See Greg dangling from the empty sky stage, right? See cumulus cloud, on a long long pole, high up. See the sun, the big bright shiny sun, left on the stage, again.
Aah! We are in Portugal. And there, centrestage, is the thermal thief! See him grin wickedly. His name is Arnold Marx. He has a new flying lodge in the Serra da Estrela mountains. You wouldn't think he was wicked, the way he welcomes you, the way he is always smiling, the way his wife Marie feeds you. But he has a stash in his shed.
There are thermals there in every colour you can imagine. Some are bigger than a house! And every day (after a leisurely breakfast) he sets them free to race around the sky. True as Bob. He's got a whole warehouse full of them. Thermals firing off every day. They're going to waste, man! He doesn't even fly sometimes, he's too busy improving his lodge. It's criminal.
And now I'm back in the UK. What? There's like a few scenes missing there, yeah? Ahh well, there are always the pictures, for those who struggle with imagination. Like an actor who has forgotten his lines, or had too many of them, I try to make sense of where I am.
 |
 |
|
| A near
miss close to the ground in Portugal |
Six paragliders high
and far apart in the UK |
The scene of the crime. But I know where the thermals are! Don't let him get away with it. Demand your thermals back from arnold@paraglideportugal.com or go and collect them yourself.
More whine, anyone?
Greg Hamerton
28 May 2011 Flying season starts
2 October 2011 Flying season ends
Quick Index
All articles posted in news
- XC Fever 2011
- Nordic Open
- XC Open
- Flybubble
- Azinha League
- PWC
- Another Happy Pilot
- Favourite summer moment
- Unlimited XC Potential
- September News
- Gregs Posts