What happens when you fly into the smoke column above a burning field looking for lift?

Рет қаралды 107,238

4 ай бұрын

Raw GoPro video, no music except for the vario:-)
I was flying 3000 feet above the valley floor outside Roldanillo where a field was being burned. I was looking for lift but didn't anticipate the amount of ash. Happily none of it was still burning and once I was on the ground it easily came out of my wing cells. Turbulence was reasonable but at one point the lift became so strong that I worried that I would get sucked up into the cloud.
This is a long 5 minute video so skip the first 2 minutes if you just want to see the ash and stronger lift.
I am flying a Maestro 2 Light at 65% weight range. My harness is a Skywalk X Range 3.
Vario showed showed 7.45 m/s max lift (1467 feet/min)
www.paraglidingforum.com/leon...
www.xcontest.org/world/en/fli...
XContest gives a lower max climb, same vario
Would I do it again? It was messy but effective. I gained 2500+ feet in less than 3 minutes and easily made the valley crossing.

Пікірлер: 162

@stevet.3630 4 ай бұрын

Best moment: „maybe that wasn‘t such a good idea“

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Hey I suggested people skip the first two minutes so they wouldn’t hear that! I never realized how much I talk to myself until I had to GoPro :-)

@rule1dontgosplat 4 ай бұрын

Flying over a big fire only to have my wing catch fire would be like a Final Destination kind of ending.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

And then you would be reluctant to throw your reserve and have it be burned as well!

@rule1dontgosplat 4 ай бұрын

exactly! then you're just waiting to go splat, which violates Rule 1. @@FlyPhiGuy

@ralphjohnson4041 4 ай бұрын

Very possible. I’ve often had burning straw stuck on the leading edge of my sailplane when in stubble fires. You had to side slip to get it off. Not easy on a paraglider.

@mach58 3 ай бұрын

Ha ha ha! Google "paragliding in toxic smoke" and ole mate is number two. Hopefully Charles Darwin's theory will weed this behavior out.

@TNT_FPV 3 ай бұрын

@@FlyPhiGuy but some how you survive and land in the burning gator farm to be eaten by a burning gator 🐊🔥🔥

@dr.m7612 3 ай бұрын

An ember can start a fire over a mile from where it’s lifted…I was extremely nervous that one was going to ignite your chute. Glad you’re okay.

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for your kind thoughts. I’m also quite happy that it ended well :-) Thanks for watching

@user-tt3kx1vj3n 4 ай бұрын

Wooow, so much ash! One day i flew about 50 km using thermals like this, but they were without ash. Maybe small ones, just a little bit. Major reason why i won't to lift in smoke - smell of smoke. My wing still smelling for a long time, even after years... You're lucky to make this experience, it's awesome!

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Wow, you got quite a bit of lift of these that day! Nice!

@kenpeterson2334 4 ай бұрын

whoa!! glad the ash didnt burn the wing. nice recovery at 4;40

@nerokcubreva 4 ай бұрын

its not hot

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Ken. I missed your company, it would have been great flying with you.

@kenpeterson2334 4 ай бұрын

@@FlyPhiGuy next year for sure!

@Skank_and_Gutterboy 3 ай бұрын

I would expect whatever combustible products in it to burn out and be cooled down before it reaches that height, but I don't claim to be some kind of ash expert, either.

@sheadford 4 ай бұрын

Handy tip, possibly. I've found a couple of times that the fire acts as a trigger for a 'real' thermal just upwind. Much nicer than fannying around in that messy smokey dirty stuff.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Thanks! While I'll be generally reluctant to try this again, if I do, I'll try the upwind side for cleaner lift.

@techbluestuff 4 ай бұрын

'no music except for the vario:-)' hahaha love it!

@bermchasin 3 ай бұрын

legit thought he had CBAT playing

@sergemarlon 3 ай бұрын

What is that beeping for?

@jemez_mtn 4 ай бұрын

Paragliding looks pretty fun, but being a fixed-wing pilot the thought of these being at 3000' like giant fly traps scares the hell out of me.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Understood but but being able to carry everything you need to fly in a 32lb pack is pretty sweet

@keyboard5494 3 ай бұрын

Thank you for this adventure. It was breathtaking 😁

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@jacquecilliers 4 ай бұрын

That's pretty cool... It looked well turbulent... Good flying

@alistairclark6814 4 ай бұрын

Artificial thermal! 👍

@robertofpviccione 4 ай бұрын

You're an excellent paragliding pilot! Compliments. Amazing video, extremely interesting. 👍💪

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot! Glad you enjoyed it.

@BraydonBlanchette 4 ай бұрын

Beep beep beep (or whatever made that noise), I was grooving with it

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

All of us fly with variometers which indicate us going up in altitude by the beeping sound. The more frantic the beep, the faster you are going up. Silence means that gravity is still working and you are sinking.

@dwightmagnuson4298 3 ай бұрын

30 years ago flying hang gliders off a mountain launch we treasured lift like this. That vario brought it all back. Thanks.

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

Very cool! Thanks for watching

@asksteevs 4 ай бұрын

Man this is pretty amazing footage. Kind of a reversed "light speed" effect with dark "stars" over a white "void". Beautiful down there! Also loving the Maestro. Those risers are amazing. I fly an Allegro with the same risers. Great stuff.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

I agree the risers are fantastic! On most flights if I’m not thermalling , I’m on those risers. Other than getting ash in my eyes, it was visually pretty neat

@utahballoonflights2716 4 ай бұрын

One of them good ol cancer thermals. I sure wouldn’t. Even the guys that get paid to fly powered AC in and around wildfires don’t like getting over the main convection column. Mostly due to the higher risk and the stinky stink

@bluedot7817 3 ай бұрын

My old man flew as an aircract contoller above wild fires. Says the plumes do get thick. Fortunately he, didn't end up with a smokers voice, he has a bad cough though ohhhh, that could explain it. Thanks for posting this just solved a family mystery.

@condorenvy 4 ай бұрын

High pucker factor! Damn!

@chrisstevens4680 4 ай бұрын

Woah…..no way josé! There was plenty of clouds with black bottoms with lift under them! Thanks for posting. Ps pleeeeeze don’t take your hands off the brakes when it is getting lively!!

@josiahbrubaker3611 4 ай бұрын

I've heard some horror stories about crazy thermals above those fires. I think best to avoid them. Interesting video and thanks for sharing though.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

I have heard the same but (poorly) assumed that 3k AGL would be enough to buffer me. Next time I'll skirt it rather than cross it.:-)

@Skank_and_Gutterboy 3 ай бұрын

That's what I was wondering, this seems kinda sketchy! Haha.

@danko6582 3 ай бұрын

I did this a couple of weeks ago in an open ultralight. You smell smoke, feel turbulence, and get lots of free velocity. It felt more like airspeed than lift, which means I didn't take full advantage of it.

@the_arm_bar 3 ай бұрын

Yikes all i can think about is hot embers getting stuck in the wing and burning up. Ur braver than me man haha

@markwallace1251 4 ай бұрын

Excellent 😎

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Thanks ✌️

@iainferguson1684 4 ай бұрын

I had a similar experience in the last day of the SRS Comp. Ash and bits of burnt vegetation are a real problem. The gain in lift was not much over just finding birds and other gliders to get lift.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

In this case the lift was pretty good but in general I think you right, the debris isn’t worth it

@sza1985 4 ай бұрын

Tried this a few times. If the fire is still on, it can be quite nasty, hard to keep the wing open. Stay away from those. Another thing is, usually in front of the smoke is the best lift. So, try approaching the thermal from the windward side of the smoke. And finally, don't try this in big mountains. It's hard to get out of it. It often ODs.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Thanks. That's helpful.

@sannyassi73 3 ай бұрын

Seems like if I'm going gliding in flat areas- just make a giant fire! Who needs those pesky hills/mountains to climb when you have fire!

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

Think of all the time you will save searching for a thermal!

@RobWhittlestone 3 ай бұрын

And he's still up there....

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

For a few moments, I was worried about the same thing😂 Thanks for watching

@lololala4164 4 ай бұрын

perfect !

@williamcapps6120 4 ай бұрын

I usually dodge fire related thermals because of how rough they are but I've never seen burnt bits at 3k... Not sure if that's better or worse than flying through a cloud of spiders at 3k.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Spiders or ash, a difficult and unpleasant choice Let’s hope we avoid them both:-) Take care and fly safely

@3MinutesofAviation 4 ай бұрын

Interesting stuff! May I feature this a sequence of this video in one of my next episodes? Of course with a link back to your original video. All the best to you!

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Sure.

@daily-traveler 4 ай бұрын

와. 정말 멋져요.

@eheheheheheheheh 3 ай бұрын

how dificult can be cleaning a wing after fly? this guy: hold my beer

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

Funny enough, it shook out quite easily. That said, it was a funny comment.😂

@billS-c3n 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for doing this for science. I've always been curious to ride up to a pyrocu down there. Seeing all that crap in the air, I'm not curious anymore. There's so much lift and easy flying in valle de cauca anyway. No need to go into this. But yeah, It's cool you did it so I don't have to.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! I’m a bit less curious now myself:-)

@YoannMabit 4 ай бұрын

Who said that Thermals are invisible? 🙃

@peterreisinger1594 3 ай бұрын

Ha nem félted az ernyődet, a felszálló pernye könnyen kárt tehet benne.

@Kurikost_ 3 ай бұрын

an instructor told me..never ever fly over fire..the glider will colapse.

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

I suspect it depends how low you are and the heat of the fire but it’s probably good advice to be safe

@Mediamarked 3 ай бұрын

That's a weird smoke detector you have with you.

@limyrob1383 3 ай бұрын

Looks like the ash in the smoke is seeding the could for rain? Interesting.

@oggyoggy1299 3 ай бұрын

@monostripeexplosiveexplora2374 2 ай бұрын

Gliders have given up using industrial thermals by and large due to some people becoming unconcious or impaired.

@taitgeordie 3 ай бұрын

Hey, I think I was there that day :) I was a bit behind you in the flats and not finding much of anything so I kept an eye on you and 1 other glider out that way - that smoke was tempting, glad I didn't follow you

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

As you can see from the video, you probably made the smarter choice :-) See you next year for more fantastic flying

@jasontrindade5166 3 ай бұрын

crazy

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

But in a good way😂

@mikecoupe7095 4 ай бұрын

Be careful. At the worlds some years ago Chrigel hit 20m/sec and Yassen threw his reserve. Now banned in all comps.

@headdown1 4 ай бұрын

Lot of debris hitting the wing. Hope none of it was still hot. Looked rough.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Happily none was burning. It was a little rough but not terrible turbulence. The strong lift was intimidating.

@headdown1 4 ай бұрын

@@FlyPhiGuy I have about 50 paramotor flights and 800 skydives. Paragliding wings seems so terribly fragile in turbulence compared to a skydive canopy which just cuts through even rogh turbulence like a very stable knife. To say nothing of a paramotor harness feeling like it is slopping off your body compared to a snug skydive harness. This took some getting used to, and I was not that fond of turbulence with a spinning propeller behind me. I did have a reserve that I never needed.

@oldglider 4 ай бұрын

Don't worry that there might be a glowing or hot part?? This could damage your glider.

@entelin 4 ай бұрын

There's no worry of hot air or live embers at that altitude. However, fire thermals can be rather violent and sharp edged, I hate them.

@thatGUYbehindthemask 3 ай бұрын

Making the best of a bad situation i see.

@aerovision73 4 ай бұрын

Comment faire le plein de globules 👍

@marklundeberg7006 4 ай бұрын

Interesting how much altitude did you gain over those few minutes?

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

I gained 2500+ feet in less than 3 minutes and all the ash I could eat:-) Friends followed 10 minutes later and got nothing.

@antoniocazorzi9486 4 ай бұрын

Why are you not turning and trying to center it?

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Initially I was planning on turning and climbing but there was a lot of debris and the lift was strong so I decided to just fly straight through I gained 2500 feet in 3 minutes

@spdaltid 4 ай бұрын

Think I'd be giving it a miss.

@triggerfish999 4 ай бұрын

Is there a risk of hot embers igniting your canopy?

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

There is that risk but I was 3000 feet above the ground so I thought it was a low risk. Happily, none of it was hot

@doroundrainer 4 ай бұрын

excellent training for your lungs - no need for cigarettes or joints...

@JustAircrafts 4 ай бұрын

Fantastic video, bro! I want to use it in a video for my channel; is it okay? We'll give you credit in the video.and my description includes a connection to your original video. Regards

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Sure, go ahead

@Planehype 4 ай бұрын

Nice Capture! can i use this as part of my series for a video? you will be credited in the description and video❤👍

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Yeah sure!

@dymanoid 4 ай бұрын

What's the point in flying on C's without pushing the bar?

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

If I’m not thermaling, I find the Cs are pretty effective to manage pitch on or off bar. These risers are beautiful but I suspect every pilot has a different approach

@cloudpandarism2627 4 ай бұрын

so now i know what i definitely never try. cheers for checking mark. i shall change your name to evel markniefel. 😆that looked so sketchy. like flying into a volcano with all those particles floating around

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

I expected it to be similar to a dust devil which we have in my home state. They are dangerous close to the ground and a thermal source when you are higher. I don't consider myself a risk taker but rather I think I am safe-ish.:-)

@cloudpandarism2627 4 ай бұрын

@@FlyPhiGuy i am sure its well calculated. but me as beginner pilot should probably focus on getting down safe rather than getting higher up risky. good lesson to learn here brother! reminds me of the muppet pilots around my are saying they will use a second paramotor on ground as blower to make a reverse launch possible on zero wind days... first i thought they are joking. but they actually tried. needless to say they limped home with broken frame and props right?

@danko6582 3 ай бұрын

I'm not a paraglider (skydiver and pilot) but I'm not sure I like the idea of a paraglider wing in heavily turbulent air. I enjoyed the video of you doing it though.

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

Fair enough! If I'm low, I'm not much of a fan of turbulent air myself:-) Thanks for watching.

@FlyingScot 4 ай бұрын

Any small holes in canopy from potential smoldering ash?

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

None thankfully. The biggest issue was ash in my eyes. A full face visor or ski goggles would have been handy

@WuTangChillaBee 4 ай бұрын

You know this isnt a sport where you can learn from too many mistakes. Youre supposed to learn such simple things early in your career and dont test them 😊

@MikeJTPG 4 ай бұрын

Very useful video as the ash point, however obvious, didn’t occur to me. I think I’ll continue to avoid brush fires because of this vid, so really appreciate the share. Did smoky climb make a big difference to your XC?

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

@@MikeJTPG Funny enough, it didn't end helping me. I was finishing up my flight and the valley was lifty. I ended up needing to use decent techniques to get down and land. Like you, I really didn't expect the large ash pieces. I expected smaller smoke particulate.

@shelbyseelbach9568 3 ай бұрын

Stupid is as stupid does.

@michaelrcolton 4 ай бұрын

There is a power plant not far from here that always has tall plumes of steam, I'm sure I could climb in it, but.... well, you know...

@crytilz 4 ай бұрын

but... what? do ittttt

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

I think it's a sugar cane factory and a gaggle of us tried it and didn't get much. Light lift combined with the very sweet smell of sugar cane:-)

@michaelrcolton 4 ай бұрын

@@FlyPhiGuy Sorry, by "here", I meant, near my home. But that does sound interesting!

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

@@michaelrcolton My mistake, I figured you were in Colombia with me:-) Be safe-ish!

@jamesordwayultralightpilot 4 ай бұрын

I've done it by accident in my plane. Scared the shit out of me and gave me 100ft of lift in about 3 seconds.

@EatsLikeADuck 4 ай бұрын

Uh oh. It was a cannabis grow being burned-off.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Well I have experienced that but in Oregon not Colombia😂

@Linrox 3 ай бұрын

Yea, There was a few possibilities of what could of happened. Turbulence, Harness damaged, wing catching fire, Smoke inhalation (really bad if your asthmatic). None of it good. Just a stupid Idea.

@RCunleashed 3 ай бұрын

IM EVERYWHERE!!!

@chloehood6355 4 ай бұрын

Your eyes water.

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

The absolute truth! Goggles would have been smart

@fxefxe9538 4 ай бұрын

Whats the beeping noise?

@drewmortenson 4 ай бұрын

altimeter, the tone and frequency of beeps indicates vertical motion

@YoannMabit 4 ай бұрын

Fire alarm

@kABUSE1 4 ай бұрын

@@YoannMabithahahaha

@lanthanumlanthanium6373 4 ай бұрын

Cancer happens.

@markmcgoveran6811 4 ай бұрын

Aside from flaming Ash you have a carbon monoxide problem to think about.

@NGC1433 4 ай бұрын

Well, without even watching - I know. Your wing stinks for the rest of the season! :D

@stevesmith2171 3 ай бұрын

Did you hand your beer to someone before doing this?

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

I didn't but a beer might have made it more enjoyable:-)

@L4WNY.. 3 ай бұрын

Firstly, how did you get up there?! Secondly, what's all that beeping?! And thirdly, how do I get to do this???! 🙏😝

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

First, we typically run off a hill or mountain and that’s what I did for this flight. Second, that’s our instrument that tells us if we’re going up so most of us enjoy that beeping sound because it keeps us off the ground. :-) West, contact a Paragliding club in your country or region. While it may not be mainstream, it’s popular enough that you should be able to find a club in a school near you. Good luck and land softly :-)

@L4WNY.. 3 ай бұрын

@@FlyPhiGuy ☺️ I'm on Ebay now checking out Paragliding/Paramotor equipment 🥰

@whiteshade112 3 ай бұрын

That looks pretty awful, ngl. I dont even like some of the normal thermals without the ash and rough inconsistent edges. 😂

@SimonAmazingClarke 4 ай бұрын

Interesting but raggy lift.

@Hyperious_in_the_air 4 ай бұрын

using an external combustion engine for lift is cheating! lol

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

Hahhaha Good one!

@cathywhiteside3016 3 ай бұрын

This look pretty sketchy but if you take me on a fun trip, I won’t tell your wife!

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

Deal! 2025 Colombia!

@ScreamingElectron 3 ай бұрын

That was awesome man. Fuck the ash! Only thing I'd be worried about is embers!

@mindfulmunchkin1215 4 ай бұрын

Darwin award?

@FlyPhiGuy 4 ай бұрын

I was worried about the same. Given how high I was over the fire I thought it would be both cleaner air and the thermal would be smoother.

@theodorosandreou5179 4 ай бұрын

lets face the reality. you were low you wouldnt make it to the solar farm . Brave to be smoked !!!! i did not bother .

@turkeyphant 3 ай бұрын

Lol don't do this in Colombia...

@kocot. 3 ай бұрын

it's not like you're the first one to attempt it, there is definitely enough evidences of this being a bad idea to not do it, especially since it's really unnecessary in this region

@EmptiedPockets 3 ай бұрын

My god that beeping is annoying.

@FlyPhiGuy 3 ай бұрын

The beeping is our instrument that tells us we are going up so for most free flyers, we love that sound, but I can appreciate that some may not :-) thanks for watching