Calima days in the Canaries…

…and the calima is back… Winds blowing from Africa bringing hot, dry air with lot’s of sand covering the islands.

This can be perfectly seen on this satelite image by Copernicus EU (I’m not flying that high yet lol…)

But I was “lucky” enough to be flying these days and to get above the calima layer to get get some “fresh air” and some better views. I have to admit the view from above was pretty impressive. Well, this layer reached almost 6.000-7.000 feet and mostly causes some breathing issues to the part of the population.

I’ll share it with you in the next image.

Stay safe, safe flying and Merry Christmas!

Calima in Tenerife
Calima in Tenerife

Today’s office views

September started with pretty good views; almost blue skies and good visibility.

Here comes one shot from today’s flight around La Gomera with Tenerife’s Teide in the background.

Quite impressive today, when 5 islands could have been seen: Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palma, El Hierro and on our way back Gran Canaria as well.

By the way. This is the post number 100 on my blog :-D.

Safe flying!

La Gomera & Tenerife
La Gomera & Tenerife

The “Death Grip”

It’s been a while since my last post… In the coming weeks I’ll post some updates about the news from the last months… 🙂

If you ever wondered what the expression “Death Grip” means, here is the visual answer for this :-). When I took this image, this expression just came through my mind, so here it comes!

However, in aviation this means that the pilot is squeezing the yoke very hard while flying the airplane. This happens to a lots of pilots, especially when you fly a plane for the first time, or you don’t feel very comfortable.

Happy Halloween everyone!

The Death Grip
The “Death Grip”
Happy Halloween, Tenerife!
Happy Halloween, Tenerife!

Flying above calima

First, what is actually calima. Calima is (mostly) hot, dust and sand laden wind blowing from Sahara from easterly direction. This wind causes a lot of respiratory problems, brings dust, the visibility drops and sometimes this causes problems in the aviation (like in the year 2020, when the airports around the islands had to be closed during several days).

I was flying today (again) around Tenerife and as we wanted to stay above this calima layer and get some better visibility, we have climbed up to 6.500 feet where we broke out of the sand and were flying above it in the nice, clean air…

You can see it in the next photographs.

All the best, and stay safe!

Sunset flying around Tenerife

Flying at sunset is magic. The almost setting sun illuminates the landscape at a different angle, and makes it unique.

Here are some images of Tenerife made just couple of moments before sunset.

I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as I’ve enjoyed the views when they were taken.

Safe flights and happy landings!

Stan

In the right place at the right time…

Yes. When you are in the right place at the right time… Even if you pass along the same place 2 or 3 times, the view will never be the same.

Once you’ll find clear blue skies, the other time a bunch of clouds…

Evening the sun illuminates the countryside on a different way and so was it in this case.

When just passing ‘around the corner’ above the most westerly situated point of the island called ‘Punta de Teno’ I was lucky enough to capture and immortalize this moment with my iPhone…

A bit of editing and voilà… Now I can share it with the whole world, instead of trying to explain by words what I’ve seen on that particular moment… One image is worth a thousand words, isn’t it?😍😍😅🙏🏻

Aerial view of Punta de Teno

My 2nd helicopter flight

Yes! This was my second helicopter flight ever… The first one was back in 2001 in Fuerteventura, the second one (and hopefully not the last one 🙂 ) now in Tenerife.

I was wishing to repeat this experience since a long time and finaly, now in the summer time, the right moment came to take off up into the skies as a passenger and to enjoy the views and the ride.

The only company offering helicopter scenic flights in Tenerife is Helidream, from their heliport in Costa Adeje (ICAO code GCAD), operating a Bell 206 Ranger (reg. EC-LYP). There are different routes available; from 15 minutes local flight up to 1 hour island trip,  or charter flights and much more…

I chose the longest option; to do it right, sit back, not to fly, look around, enjoy the views and to take pictures.

After a short passenger safety briefing we were ready to go.

Helidream's Bell 206 Ranger

Helidream’s Bell 206 Ranger

We had again (as on all my helicopter flights till now, lol) good weather conditions and the wind was calm, so we had a very nice ride with no turbulence.

I’ve flown a lots of times around Tenerife, but none of those flight were identical, and so was it also in this case.

Pilot's views from the helicopter

Pilot’s views from the helicopter

The helicopter was maintaining lower altitude, which offers a closer look on what’s going under us. I’ve seen places that I haven’t seen before. Just because my PA28 has wings and you can’t look under the plane. When I was flying the Cessna, I could also see much better below us.

I definitely enjoyed the heli experience and I think at some point I should try to take a flight lesson in the future to taste how it flies….

Enjoy some of the pictures taken during the flight; as always it’s hard to choose only a few of them.

Safe flights! 🙂

Los Cristianos as seen from the helicopter

Los Cristianos as seen from the helicopter

Flying above the north part of the island

Flying above the north part of the island

Selfie with Pico del Teide :-)

Selfie with Pico del Teide 🙂

Pico del Teide & the sea of clouds

Pico del Teide & the sea of clouds

Playa del Duque, Costa Adeje

Playa del Duque, Costa Adeje

Pico del Teide...

Pico del Teide…

Flying westbound

Flying westbound

Playa de Fañabé, Tenerife

Playa de Fañabé, Tenerife

Santiago del Teide

Santiago del Teide