The First Rocky Point Fly-in!
in
Puerto Penasco, Mexico


From left to right
Jeanie Peters, Al Bright, Bob Peters (me), Bill Rowe, Mo Sheldon and Mike Willett
(Click here for a bigger view)

 

Cinco de Mayo weekend 2003.  Five PPG pilots from Phoenix and Tucson headed South to test my ability to get a group into Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco, Mexico) to fly the beach with me.  Our rig and camper became the Bob MoBill (Bob Mobile) when Jeanie and I picked up Mo Sheldon and Bill Rowe at Mo's house in Mesa, AZ.  Friday afternoon, we met the Tucson flyers in Gila Bend, AZ at the A&W for burgers and a drink before continuing on our way to Ajo, AZ to pick up Mexican Insurance.  It's a short drive from Ajo through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Forest to the Mexican border.  As usual, the border officers waved me through, but when they saw the trikes in Mike's trailer, they pulled him over.  I think Al and Mike were a little nervous, but after showing the officials our PPG/ASC credentials and information from the Puerto Penasco Airport  Comandante (See How to Fly Rocky Point Mexico) they waved them on, too.  One made a call on his cell phone, so I'm pretty sure they called the airport using the number on our credentials.

We pulled in to the La Jolla de Cortez RV Park an hour before sunset.  The winds were a smooth 10-12 knots.  The tide was out leaving a perfectly flat area hundreds of yards long with several ideal spots for the trikes to launch on.  Both Al and Mike took very little time to get airborne.  Bill and Mo launched from 50 feet in front of the RV park.  Everyone got in the air but me.  When I prepared to launch, I turned my wing over and promptly filled it with nice, clean seashell sand.  By the time I got the sand out, it was to late to launch.  Bummer.  But, it was fun to watch everyone else enjoy what I'd been experiencing for the last two months.  As usual, there was a crowd of RVer's and locals for us to entertain.

Saturday morning, we all jumped in Mike's Cherokee and took a short tour of Puerto Penasco while we waited for JR's cafe on Calle 13 to open.  After breakfast we gathered our equipment and headed back to the beach, 200 feet away from our rigs.  The wind was smooth and strong.  Around 12 knots.  Not so good for trikes on soft sand since the tide was in, offering a sloping, angled take off  from the beach.  Al had no problem, but Mike wasn't able to launch for reasons I've now forgotten.  Mo, Bill and I all got airborne, too.  I caught up with Al on his trike and followed him to Cholla Bay and back.

 

 

 

At mid day we loaded up Mike's Taxi and drove round the point to Old Towne.  We had a great lunch on the top of a restaurant with a super view of the bay overlooking the main drag lined with tourist shops.  Al and his big heart.  He couldn't say no to children peddling everything from gum to bobble-head toy puppies.  After he bought from one kid, the word must have gotten out about what a push-over he is, because he ended up with a small collection of weird Mexican paraphernalia on the table in front of him before we left.  This must have endeared him to the women sitting around.  I noticed he got quite a few smiles.  He's also a music lover.  He got everyone to pitch in to pay some Mariachis to sing La Bamba for us.
(Click the picture for a bigger view).

 

 

 

 

The winds were even stronger when we returned to the beach.  A solid 15 knots.  We hung out visiting under a white plapa in the shade on the beach hoping for it to settle down.  It didn't, so after consuming a cold watermelon we decided to do some kiting.  The wind was weaker up next to the RV seawall and gave us a place to lay out the wing.  It wasn't long before we were flying each other in Mo's kiting harness and my Silex Large.  The wall was lined with people enjoying the show.
(Click the picture for a bigger view).

 

 

 

 

Powered paragliders must be real babe magnets.  Because after watching some of Mo's antics, some girls asked if they could have a ride!  Mo was happy to oblige, but it took both Bill and myself to pull two people into the air.  We'd pull them up and they would slowly settle back to the beach.  "Hey, Mo!  Nice motor!"

I can just hear the safety critics screaming now.

Was it safe?  Sorta.  Probably not.  I wouldn't try it in the States.  You had to be there.
(Click the picture for a bigger view).

 

We waited around until nearly sunset before we launched again.  Man, what a rodeo!  You had to kite the wing fast, or get drug 50 feet before you got the wing back under control.  Not ideal conditions.  If not for the smoothness of beach air, nearly impossible.  (At least for me.)  This was not typical weather for Rocky Point.  Normally the wind is 5-10 knots all day.  A weather front North of us was pumping things up.  Again, everyone got in the air but Mike.  He popped a bolt on his suspension on his first try and had to sit the evening out.  Bum luck.  The wind was so strong, you could, with medium brake pressure, park anywhere you wanted from the ground to as high as you wanted to go and still be able to penetrate.  We flew until it was almost too dark to land.  What a ride!

Click on these thumbnails for AVI movies of the flight.

    
Bob                        Al

At low tide the launch area for PPG trikes is perfect.  That's sand not water.
Click the picture for a bigger view.

Sunday morning was a total blow-out.  We thought the wind was strong the night before.  We were wrong.  Now the wind was 15-18 knots.  Still steady, but none of us opted to try launching.  Finally, everyone but Jeanie and I, loaded up and headed back North.  Hasta La Vista Baby!
Special thanks to Mike Willett for some of these photos

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