The pilot with the least amount of air time gets to write the article, or so they implied on the way back from our nine day, fun filled, trip to Mexico. We (Juan, Mondie, Dave, Mike and I) met at SFO for our red-eye flight to Guadalajara ("Guad"). Mike and I received an unexpected seat assignment in first class. Could this be some kind of "sign" we wondered? We arrived in Guad, ahead of schedule, and picked up our gliders and suitcases. Well, all of us except Mike, whose suitcase was not to be found. What was that we said about a "sign?" (Mike's bag was eventually delivered to our B&B the following day.)
An artist from Austria, and his American wife (who is also an artist), run the Los Dos B&B in Jocotepec ("Joco"). Their property was like an oasis -- a lush retreat above the nearby agricultural village, with a view of the largest (albeit receding) lake in Mexico, Lake Chapala. Phyllis and Georg make you feel like you're part of their family. From Joco, you can either make the one-hour drive to Tapalpa each morning or fly the local site, San Juan. Whichever you choose, you must be back in time to fly San Marcos in the afternoon.
Mondie remembered, "One of the things that really stands out for me is the fact you can go cross county flying anywhere and everywhere, if you want to. You keep flying the best you can, while exploring all new territory. When it looks like you can't make it any further, you find the best option to land. Those spot landing contests we do at Ed Levin pay off."
San Juan is almost impossible to find without a guide and it has a somewhat tricky launch for PGs, due to the fact that it is small and not well cleared, which makes it easy to snag your lines and not much fun for no-wind launches. The launch faces east and is at 6,000' (1,600' vertical). If you can stay up, there is a long ridge you can work. If you sink out, there is no shortage of plowed fields and beaches on which to land. When we flew at San Juan, it was only marginally soarable for most of us. However, Dave's favorite flight of the trip was at this site. Dave said, "The flight I enjoyed the most was the second flight at San Juan, mostly because I had to work so hard to get up." Dave is too modest. Actually, Dave (LZ? I don't need no stinking LZ!) either top-landed (at Tapalpa) or went XC on almost every flight. At San Juan, he explored the ridges to the north and south, before landing at the enclosed soccer field next to our B&B (renamed "Bingham International"). San Juan was the scene of Mondie's favorite flight, as well, "The flight I would have to say I enjoyed the most was at San Juan, with its crosswind launch, and many obstacles (hay) that would inevitably get caught up in your lines. You work the ridge down as far as you can, with an LZ always within gliding distance."
Tapalpa is a quaint, colonial village nestled in a forested area on a high plateau. The site at Tapalpa has a large, well-groomed east-facing launch at 6,900' (2,650' vertical) which can accommodate many HGs and PGs. It overlooks corn and alfalfa fields and a huge dry lakebed. Tapalpa usually turns on by 11:00 A.M. each day and is usually launchable until about 1:00 or 2:00 P.M., when the wind starts blowing over the back. The week we were there, however, the wind direction didn't change and it was flyable all day, although the wind got quite strong from about 1:00-4:00 P.M. Eric, who we stumbled upon in Guad on our first day, hung out with us between flights. Every morning he would launch at Tapalpa and we usually wouldn't see him until dinnertime. He would get high, fly away and catch a bus or hitchhike back to our hotel (the Villa San Jose) in Tapalpa, just in time for happy hour. There is a designated LZ at this site (a large green field, surrounded by huge power lines) and numerous other fields along the ridge. PGs and HGs have had great XC flights from this site, heading either north or south along the ridge. It is even possible to fly from Tapalpa to Joco on a good day.
Last, but certainly not least, is the west-facing site at San Marcos. Most of us had our best flights at this site. There is an incredible glass-off that starts at about 4:00 or 5:00 P.M. and continues until after dark. You launch in the late afternoon, get high, cross over the back of the mountain and then head down the valley, in smooth and abundant lift, as far as you can go. We heard rumors that pilots have stayed aloft until midnight from this site.
We got to launch early on the last day and witnessed some amazing dust devils and "maize monsters" (tolvaneras) from the fields and dry lakebed below. Juan said his favorite flight was his last flight from San Marcos, "Because I got up to 13,000' MSL (7000' above launch and 9,000' above the designated LZ) at San Marcos. I crossed the huge valley to the huge mountain then back across the valley to over the range to Joco. I landed down the hill from the B&B and had cold beers with great friends in the LZ."
Mike adds, "My most memorable flight was at San Marcos on Friday afternoon, our last flight of the trip. The wind was direction was perfect when we arrived, straight up the west face of the ridge, but it was blowing too strong for any of us to launch. The wind speed was about 20-MPH, with strong thermal gusts. I took a nap in the shade and, by about 4:00 P.M., the wind had dropped off to a launchable level. I had a clean take-off and started going up immediately in near glass-off conditions. Within five minutes, I found a fat thermal that took me up from 7,000' to 13,350'. Although I couldn't climb any higher, I was in zero sink with about a 15-MPH tail wind, I went on glide toward Joco, 9.5 miles to the southeast. I arrived over town with 9,000' (4,000' AGL), which gave me a glide of better than 12.5 to 1. The air was warm and the only sounds were the wind and the church bells. My plan was to land in an open field by the lakeshore. However, Dave pleaded with me, and the others who made it to town, to land at Bingham International. I was the last to land. By that time there were dozens of kids between five and ten years old in the field. They ran toward me as I approached then scattered as they realized I was coming in fast (due to the steep turns close to the ground required after clearing the trees on the approach end of the field). The kids mobbed me as soon as I was on the ground. They were thrilled and delighted by these flying machines and wanted to get a closer look. Some of the bolder ones asked the usual questions, "Where did you come from? How does it fly? Were you scared?" Within two minutes of landing, I had a cold beer in hand, courtesy of our driver Russ."
I must admit that it is a great feeling to have so much altitude and to be able to see so far in every direction. My fears about going XC had no merit at this site because, looking down from above, you can see the entire landscape before you. It's just like looking at a road map. We all arrived at Bingham International with thousands of feet of altitude to spare. We could have doubled our distance, I thought, but it was worth it to hear the squeals of delight from the children below.
Of course we had some memorable non-flying experiences, as well. Juan fondly remembers, "Dinner for five, with all we could possibly eat and drink (beers included), for about $11." Dave said, "I think the most memorable non-flying experience was our evening at the posh restaurant with the half bottle of Carlo Rossi and the 40% discount. The strange looks from the very upper class ladies with their expensive hair-do's and clothes enhanced the evening with our boisterous flying talk and enthusiasm. The picture of the three males sitting in the gutter with the empty Carlo bottle should almost be a classic." Let me elaborate. The previous evening we went to a very casual restaurant that only served soft drinks and beer (see Juan's comment, above). Dave picked up a couple of bottles of wine at a nearby liquor store for those of us with a taste for vino. When we got to the restaurant, they had no corkscrew. After several failed attempts to remove the corks, using every utensil the kitchen had to offer us, Dave left and returned with a smile and a four-liter bottle of Carlo Rossi, complete with a screw-on cap. Surprisingly (or not), we couldn't finish the Carlo that night, so we took it with us when we went out the following night. We poked our heads into a restaurant in the nearby town of Ajijic, but we thought it might be too fancy for us. As we were standing in the doorway, trying to make up our minds, the maitre 'd told us that everything on the menu was 40% off. Of course, we stayed and enjoyed the rest of our bottle of Carlo, which complimented the upscale cuisine.
Here's how Mike described his most memorable non-flying experience, the Festival of the Lord of the Mountains: "The town of Joco had its biggest fiesta of the year a few days after we arrived. There were carnival rides set up in the Town Square and booths with games, food and drinks lining the main street. The festival culminated with a castillo, an elaborate display of fireworks. The castillo is a fifty-foot wooden pole containing numerous pinwheels of various sizes, some five or six feet in diameter. These pinwheels are made of strips of bamboo tied with string. We watched as the makeshift wheels were attached to the pole as it lay cradled in the horizontal position. Several men worked quickly, adding more wheels and splicing the paper fuses. When they were done, the pole was raised on end. At this point the castillo looked like an engineer's nightmare. It was listing several degrees to one side. The wheels were rickety, lopsided and held together with string. The whole apparatus looked like it was going to fall over. With no noticeable signal, the crowd that had been milling around the castillo moved back, leaving a large clearing. We took cover near some trees, just in case. Again with no signal, the fuse was lit and we were treated to several minutes of spectacular, noisy and colorful fireworks. The wheels started spinning, whistling and spewing sparks. Chunks of burning debris flew off and landed in the cleared area where young boys raced to stamp it out. The grand finale came with the lighting of the fuse that led to a wheel mounted at the top of the castillo. The wheel spun for several seconds than shot straight up into the air several hundred feet. No one seemed the least concerned that the burned-out wheel was falling back to the plaza, where it landed without hitting anyone. This homemade, makeshift, fireworks display was far more entertaining than any of the antiseptic, commercial mortal blast pyrotechnic shows I have seen."
The castillo remains in Mondie's memories as well. She recalls, "Non-flying, hands down, was catching the fireworks and all the children racing to stomp out the flames. Other then that, I enjoyed the town of Tapalpa. This was what I think of when I think of Mexico, the small town, the stores and the people. And Anti-Gravity Boy . . . He was incredible to watch, with his long flights, incredible luck and the fact that, even though he had some of the greatest flights, he was still fun to be with. Such a gentleman, well-mannered, never bragged and was always curious about how other people flights were."
Other earthly activities included checking out some interesting trikes and ultralights at an airport near Guad. We spent one day looking for a site at Colima, which we never found. Apparently you can fly from there, as well as from the nearby volcanoes. In addition, the locals told us that they love to fly at Jalapa, near Puerto Vallarta, only three hours away. One night we sat outside our B&B and watched a total eclipse of the moon. And, on the way back to the airport, we stopped at a terrific shopping area at Tlaquepaque. This is definitely the place to buy souvenirs. They have everything from high-end stores selling fine home furnishings, arts and crafts to street vendors selling snacks and trinkets. (Ask Dave about getting his "rock" through customs!)
The sky was sunny and clear, with a few cummies, every day. Daytime temperatures were in the upper 70˚s and it got down to the low 50˚s at night. It is flyable in this area all year, but the best time to visit is during the winter, as summer is the rainy season and it tends to OD on an almost daily basis. The roads to launch are accessible if you have a rugged 2WD. Hiring a driver will help you get the most enjoyment out of your flying experience. The hotels and restaurants are clean and inexpensive. (If you don't eat meat, plan on eating a lot of tortillas and cheese.) English is not spoken by most of the locals, but communicating is really not a problem. Everyone we met treated us very warmly. Thinking about a trip to warm climate next winter? Go to Mexico and viva la vida loca!
An artist from Austria, and his American wife (who is also an artist), run the Los Dos B&B in Jocotepec ("Joco"). Their property was like an oasis -- a lush retreat above the nearby agricultural village, with a view of the largest (albeit receding) lake in Mexico, Lake Chapala. Phyllis and Georg make you feel like you're part of their family. From Joco, you can either make the one-hour drive to Tapalpa each morning or fly the local site, San Juan. Whichever you choose, you must be back in time to fly San Marcos in the afternoon.
Mondie remembered, "One of the things that really stands out for me is the fact you can go cross county flying anywhere and everywhere, if you want to. You keep flying the best you can, while exploring all new territory. When it looks like you can't make it any further, you find the best option to land. Those spot landing contests we do at Ed Levin pay off."
San Juan is almost impossible to find without a guide and it has a somewhat tricky launch for PGs, due to the fact that it is small and not well cleared, which makes it easy to snag your lines and not much fun for no-wind launches. The launch faces east and is at 6,000' (1,600' vertical). If you can stay up, there is a long ridge you can work. If you sink out, there is no shortage of plowed fields and beaches on which to land. When we flew at San Juan, it was only marginally soarable for most of us. However, Dave's favorite flight of the trip was at this site. Dave said, "The flight I enjoyed the most was the second flight at San Juan, mostly because I had to work so hard to get up." Dave is too modest. Actually, Dave (LZ? I don't need no stinking LZ!) either top-landed (at Tapalpa) or went XC on almost every flight. At San Juan, he explored the ridges to the north and south, before landing at the enclosed soccer field next to our B&B (renamed "Bingham International"). San Juan was the scene of Mondie's favorite flight, as well, "The flight I would have to say I enjoyed the most was at San Juan, with its crosswind launch, and many obstacles (hay) that would inevitably get caught up in your lines. You work the ridge down as far as you can, with an LZ always within gliding distance."
Tapalpa is a quaint, colonial village nestled in a forested area on a high plateau. The site at Tapalpa has a large, well-groomed east-facing launch at 6,900' (2,650' vertical) which can accommodate many HGs and PGs. It overlooks corn and alfalfa fields and a huge dry lakebed. Tapalpa usually turns on by 11:00 A.M. each day and is usually launchable until about 1:00 or 2:00 P.M., when the wind starts blowing over the back. The week we were there, however, the wind direction didn't change and it was flyable all day, although the wind got quite strong from about 1:00-4:00 P.M. Eric, who we stumbled upon in Guad on our first day, hung out with us between flights. Every morning he would launch at Tapalpa and we usually wouldn't see him until dinnertime. He would get high, fly away and catch a bus or hitchhike back to our hotel (the Villa San Jose) in Tapalpa, just in time for happy hour. There is a designated LZ at this site (a large green field, surrounded by huge power lines) and numerous other fields along the ridge. PGs and HGs have had great XC flights from this site, heading either north or south along the ridge. It is even possible to fly from Tapalpa to Joco on a good day.
Last, but certainly not least, is the west-facing site at San Marcos. Most of us had our best flights at this site. There is an incredible glass-off that starts at about 4:00 or 5:00 P.M. and continues until after dark. You launch in the late afternoon, get high, cross over the back of the mountain and then head down the valley, in smooth and abundant lift, as far as you can go. We heard rumors that pilots have stayed aloft until midnight from this site.
We got to launch early on the last day and witnessed some amazing dust devils and "maize monsters" (tolvaneras) from the fields and dry lakebed below. Juan said his favorite flight was his last flight from San Marcos, "Because I got up to 13,000' MSL (7000' above launch and 9,000' above the designated LZ) at San Marcos. I crossed the huge valley to the huge mountain then back across the valley to over the range to Joco. I landed down the hill from the B&B and had cold beers with great friends in the LZ."
Mike adds, "My most memorable flight was at San Marcos on Friday afternoon, our last flight of the trip. The wind was direction was perfect when we arrived, straight up the west face of the ridge, but it was blowing too strong for any of us to launch. The wind speed was about 20-MPH, with strong thermal gusts. I took a nap in the shade and, by about 4:00 P.M., the wind had dropped off to a launchable level. I had a clean take-off and started going up immediately in near glass-off conditions. Within five minutes, I found a fat thermal that took me up from 7,000' to 13,350'. Although I couldn't climb any higher, I was in zero sink with about a 15-MPH tail wind, I went on glide toward Joco, 9.5 miles to the southeast. I arrived over town with 9,000' (4,000' AGL), which gave me a glide of better than 12.5 to 1. The air was warm and the only sounds were the wind and the church bells. My plan was to land in an open field by the lakeshore. However, Dave pleaded with me, and the others who made it to town, to land at Bingham International. I was the last to land. By that time there were dozens of kids between five and ten years old in the field. They ran toward me as I approached then scattered as they realized I was coming in fast (due to the steep turns close to the ground required after clearing the trees on the approach end of the field). The kids mobbed me as soon as I was on the ground. They were thrilled and delighted by these flying machines and wanted to get a closer look. Some of the bolder ones asked the usual questions, "Where did you come from? How does it fly? Were you scared?" Within two minutes of landing, I had a cold beer in hand, courtesy of our driver Russ."
I must admit that it is a great feeling to have so much altitude and to be able to see so far in every direction. My fears about going XC had no merit at this site because, looking down from above, you can see the entire landscape before you. It's just like looking at a road map. We all arrived at Bingham International with thousands of feet of altitude to spare. We could have doubled our distance, I thought, but it was worth it to hear the squeals of delight from the children below.
Of course we had some memorable non-flying experiences, as well. Juan fondly remembers, "Dinner for five, with all we could possibly eat and drink (beers included), for about $11." Dave said, "I think the most memorable non-flying experience was our evening at the posh restaurant with the half bottle of Carlo Rossi and the 40% discount. The strange looks from the very upper class ladies with their expensive hair-do's and clothes enhanced the evening with our boisterous flying talk and enthusiasm. The picture of the three males sitting in the gutter with the empty Carlo bottle should almost be a classic." Let me elaborate. The previous evening we went to a very casual restaurant that only served soft drinks and beer (see Juan's comment, above). Dave picked up a couple of bottles of wine at a nearby liquor store for those of us with a taste for vino. When we got to the restaurant, they had no corkscrew. After several failed attempts to remove the corks, using every utensil the kitchen had to offer us, Dave left and returned with a smile and a four-liter bottle of Carlo Rossi, complete with a screw-on cap. Surprisingly (or not), we couldn't finish the Carlo that night, so we took it with us when we went out the following night. We poked our heads into a restaurant in the nearby town of Ajijic, but we thought it might be too fancy for us. As we were standing in the doorway, trying to make up our minds, the maitre 'd told us that everything on the menu was 40% off. Of course, we stayed and enjoyed the rest of our bottle of Carlo, which complimented the upscale cuisine.
Here's how Mike described his most memorable non-flying experience, the Festival of the Lord of the Mountains: "The town of Joco had its biggest fiesta of the year a few days after we arrived. There were carnival rides set up in the Town Square and booths with games, food and drinks lining the main street. The festival culminated with a castillo, an elaborate display of fireworks. The castillo is a fifty-foot wooden pole containing numerous pinwheels of various sizes, some five or six feet in diameter. These pinwheels are made of strips of bamboo tied with string. We watched as the makeshift wheels were attached to the pole as it lay cradled in the horizontal position. Several men worked quickly, adding more wheels and splicing the paper fuses. When they were done, the pole was raised on end. At this point the castillo looked like an engineer's nightmare. It was listing several degrees to one side. The wheels were rickety, lopsided and held together with string. The whole apparatus looked like it was going to fall over. With no noticeable signal, the crowd that had been milling around the castillo moved back, leaving a large clearing. We took cover near some trees, just in case. Again with no signal, the fuse was lit and we were treated to several minutes of spectacular, noisy and colorful fireworks. The wheels started spinning, whistling and spewing sparks. Chunks of burning debris flew off and landed in the cleared area where young boys raced to stamp it out. The grand finale came with the lighting of the fuse that led to a wheel mounted at the top of the castillo. The wheel spun for several seconds than shot straight up into the air several hundred feet. No one seemed the least concerned that the burned-out wheel was falling back to the plaza, where it landed without hitting anyone. This homemade, makeshift, fireworks display was far more entertaining than any of the antiseptic, commercial mortal blast pyrotechnic shows I have seen."
The castillo remains in Mondie's memories as well. She recalls, "Non-flying, hands down, was catching the fireworks and all the children racing to stomp out the flames. Other then that, I enjoyed the town of Tapalpa. This was what I think of when I think of Mexico, the small town, the stores and the people. And Anti-Gravity Boy . . . He was incredible to watch, with his long flights, incredible luck and the fact that, even though he had some of the greatest flights, he was still fun to be with. Such a gentleman, well-mannered, never bragged and was always curious about how other people flights were."
Other earthly activities included checking out some interesting trikes and ultralights at an airport near Guad. We spent one day looking for a site at Colima, which we never found. Apparently you can fly from there, as well as from the nearby volcanoes. In addition, the locals told us that they love to fly at Jalapa, near Puerto Vallarta, only three hours away. One night we sat outside our B&B and watched a total eclipse of the moon. And, on the way back to the airport, we stopped at a terrific shopping area at Tlaquepaque. This is definitely the place to buy souvenirs. They have everything from high-end stores selling fine home furnishings, arts and crafts to street vendors selling snacks and trinkets. (Ask Dave about getting his "rock" through customs!)
The sky was sunny and clear, with a few cummies, every day. Daytime temperatures were in the upper 70˚s and it got down to the low 50˚s at night. It is flyable in this area all year, but the best time to visit is during the winter, as summer is the rainy season and it tends to OD on an almost daily basis. The roads to launch are accessible if you have a rugged 2WD. Hiring a driver will help you get the most enjoyment out of your flying experience. The hotels and restaurants are clean and inexpensive. (If you don't eat meat, plan on eating a lot of tortillas and cheese.) English is not spoken by most of the locals, but communicating is really not a problem. Everyone we met treated us very warmly. Thinking about a trip to warm climate next winter? Go to Mexico and viva la vida loca!
