Best practices for paratrike in Gran Canaria. Flying is one of the dreams most pursued by man. In 1843, William Henson, an English inventor, registered the first patent of an aircraft equipped with engines, propellers, and fitted with a fixed wing, which is now known as the aeroplane; but it was necessary to wait until December 17, 1903, to see the man fly. On this date, Orville Wright became the first person to fly on an aircraft heavier than air, propelled by its own means.
Since then, aviation has not stopped evolving, adding at each stage of its evolution many factors that have influenced its change and improvement, but one of them has always been present in the final formula: The meteorology that has been, is and will be a determining factor to be taken into account for any device that does have to cross the skies.
Nowadays there are many ways to observe and predict meteorological phenomena in a given period, a given locality or region. From observing the meteorological advice son television or newspaper to advanced meteorological maps prepared mainly at airports, which are specially designed to be used in the world of aviation, which entails advanced knowledge of aeronautical meteorology.
Aeronautical map check for low altitude flights:
METAR: It is the name of the key corresponding to a routine meteorological aerodrome report. The METAR reports are disseminated at one or half hour intervals.
A METAR EXAMPLE:
METAR GCLP 141200Z 21009K 6000 NSC 24/10 Q1008
GCLP ICAO indicator of the GCLP aerodrome: Gran Canaria.
141200Z Day and time of observation 141200Z: day 14 of the month at 1200 UTC.
21009K Direction and average wind speed in 10 minutes: 210º and 9 kt.
6000 Predominant horizontal visibility: 6,000 meters
NSC Cloudiness above 1 500 m (5 000 ft) or above the CAVOK reference height of the aerodrome and there is no cloud of type CB or TCU.
24/10 Temperature and dew point 24/10: temperature + 24ºC, dew point + 10ºC.
Q1008 Pressure reduced to the mean sea level, according to the atmosphere ICAO (or QNH), 1,008 hPa (hectopascals).
SIGNIFICANT LOW-LEVEL TIME MAPS (SIGWX 150 / SFC) or BAJA COTA: The Valencia Meteorological Surveillance Offices (LEVA) and Las Palmas (GCGC) are responsible in Spain for preparing and issuing the Significant Map for flights to the low height. Horizontal limits: latitude 35ºN to 45ºN; length 10ºW to 05ºE (Peninsula and Balearic Islands) and latitude 26º30’N to 30º30’N; length 12º00’W to 20º00’W (Canary Islands) Vertical limits: from surface to FL150 It is disseminated every six hours and will collect the forecast meteorological conditions from 3 hours before to 3 hours after the validity time indicated on the map, except fronts , pressure centers, altitude of the 0ºC isotherm and sea state, which will be given at the validity time indicated on the map.
Example of BAJA COTA Map:
Control of warnings about adverse weather phenomena
These notices are disseminated by AEmet state meteorological agency and can be checked daily on the following page. http://www.aemet.es/es/eltiempo/prediccion/avisos
The advices are catalogued by colours:
- No risk GREEN
- risk YELLOW
- Important risk ORANGE
- Extreme risk RED
Control of local wind conditions for paratrike in Gran Canaria:
For this type of information we can use all the media previously seen; as other of them that are on the rise today as different websites that offer the possibility of both observing the wind data instantly and its forecast for the next days.
However, Aemet also has a network of real wind check points distributed throughout Spain. Here you have the link to see the Maspalomas.
http://www.aemet.es/es/eltiempo/observacion/ultimosdatos?k=coo&l=C689E&w=0&datos=img&x=h17&f=vel_viento
Real-time check
One of the means by which we can check the weather conditions in real time in different parts of the planet Earth is through the use of webcams. Here we leave a link to a website that you can use to observe both webcams distributed in different parts of the World, and also for the forecast of different meteorological phenomena.
https://www.windy.com
Finally, to guarantee a paratrike or paramotor flight with total safety; At Sky Rebels, we make a final visual check from the flight field to confirm if the weather and wind conditions are suitable for the flight. This includes monitoring the movement of clouds, observing the variation of wind through the control of windsocks and checking the state of meteorology on the coast.
As you can see, in Sky Rebels we leave nothing to chance. So, your paratrike flight experience (paramotor, motorized paragliding) over Maspalomas (Gran Canaria) is not only unforgettable but also totally safe. We will wait for you!
Do you have any doubt about the flight in a paratrike in Gran Canariar? Do you want to know more about our experiences in Maspalomas? Leave us your comment!
