![Beautiful Iquique Image](../images/img35_Flying over "El Cerro," The Dragon.jpg)
Dates
Instructional Days - Wednesday, Nov. 10th (arrival) to Tuesday, Nov. 16th (departure) - (P-1 to P-4 level)
Iquique Days - Wednesday, Nov. 17th (arrival) to Thursday, Nov. 25th (departure) - (P-2 to P-4 level)
Pure XC Days - Friday, Nov 26th (arrival) to Monday, Nov. 29th (departure) - (P-4 level)
Organizers
Tour Leaders
Guaranteed flyable days!!!
Get a refund if you can’t fly everyday due to weather conditions!
Early payment discounts!!!
Check our discounted payment schedule down below.
Tour Descriptions
This year we divided the tour into 3 different segments that offer specific styles of flying at different sites. The tour is designed for you to choose the segments you like best.
Instructional Days (7 days, 6 nights)
This package trip is focusing on P1- P4 pilots who would like to improve ground handling, launching, landing, and flying skills. The first 4 days of this tour will focus on intensive basic training with many instructors available to help you adapt to Iquique’s unique high wind launching conditions. This is a perfect opportunity for pilots who fly less than 30 hours per year or for any level of pilot who would like to improve basic skills. We will be focusing on kiting and launching to ensure that low airtime pilots will gain good control and knowledge, and advanced pilots will get pointers that will take them from good to great! Most visiting pilots are humbled when they arrive to Iquique and find that they don’t have as good of kiting or launching skills as they thought they did. So if you aren’t sure you have those skills, you need to join this trip! We will also be coaching you throughout the flights and will have instructors at launch and landing. With radio communication we will also help you stay in the air longer by pointing out where the thermals and ridge lift are, and we will have at least a 1:3 instructor to pilot ratio to allow more individual attention throughout the first 3 days. Then for the remaining 4 days we will have at least a 1:5 instructor to pilot ratio to provide assistance for the remaining tour week.
Iquique Days (9 days, 8 nights)
This 9 day long tour in Iquique will be focused on novice (P2) to advanced (P4) level pilots who would like to log some airtime and work on thermaling, launching and kiting skills on their own. Novice (P2) pilots are required to attend the Instructional Days before joining the Iquique Days. All pilots attending this week are required to have good launching, flying, and landings skills. If you do not have good high wind launching skills then we expect you to sign up for the Instructional Days. Iquique and the surrounding flying sites are superb training grounds for less experienced pilots but will also satisfy the advanced level pilot who would like to improve overall skills. Less experienced pilots will be able to log many hours of airtime plus practice in the moderate wind conditions at the dunes. More advanced pilots will be able to fly until they are exhausted and hungry! The conditions are excellent for fine-tuning thermaling skills, flying small out and return XC flights up and down the ridge, working on top landing skills, and perfecting your kiting skills at the world famous Palo Buque flying site!
Pure XC Days - (4 days, 3 nights)
We will be continuing our tour in Iquique and Northern Chile and will be focusing on advanced level pilots who are seeking miles! We will be flying at Patillos, Chipana, Cabo Paquica, La Mina, or Pisagua depending on the best XC conditions for the day. We will focus on XC flying and racking up miles! All flights will be lead by Todd and Luis, and radio contact will be mandatory. We will use our local knowledge to guide you past the many difficult crossings found along the North Chilean Coast Range. Pilots will be able to fly in the thermal/dynamic conditions along the coastal range for many miles and will be able to log XC flights everyday. Flights up to 206 km are possible! Pilots for this week need to have experience in strong thermal conditions and turbulence since we will be flying during the stronger, mid day conditions. If intermediate pilots would like to fly there first cross country flights then we recommend they attend the “Instructional Days” and/or “Iquique Days” first to build up skills and then continue into the more advanced XC flying. Iquique is probably the most consistent flying site in the world, and we will be flying everyday! All pilots attending this week “ONLY” need to be advanced rated P-4 pilots. And even for advanced P-4 pilots we recommend attending at least a few of the Iquique Days prior to the Pure XC Days in order to get used to the unique launching and flying conditions. For pilots without USHPA signoffs in RS (Ridge Soaring), TUR (Turbulence), and X-C (Cross Country), please contact us. Good, high wind launching skills are very important for this week!
Commentaries
Iquique is located in the northern part of Chile along the Pacific Ocean, 120 miles south of the Peruvian border. The city has a population of 250,000 and is thriving due to the duty free zone and mining in this northern part of Chile. This area is also known as the Atacama Desert, which is why the flying conditions are so consistent. It NEVER RAINS, and the winds are always coming from the Pacific Ocean, generating incredible lift along the 300 mile range between Iquique and Antofagasta. The ridge varies between 1,500 and 4,000 feet altitude and XC flights can be done in both directions quite easily. In November, the breeze normally starts blowing at 10 AM, and lift lasts until 7 PM. There are several takeoffs near Iquique and all of them allow pilots to reach beach landings while flying above the city and the dunes. There are many other launches to the South and to the North.
Palo Buque, a site just outside of Iquique, became famous when the SAT Team shot their first video here. The launch is at the “bottom” of a 3,000 foot sand ridge! Yes, depending on the wind, you only need to kite your glider up 30 feet or so and then you can soar all the way up to the top of the ridge to start an XC flight back to Iquique, practice top landing, ski in the sand, or just enjoy the beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean!
Patillos is the classic cross country site where we get special permission to fly past the airport all the way back to Iquique! This site allows pilots to fly a 35-mile XC flight back to Cavancha Beach and the Choza Bamboo restaurant and bar! The thermal/dynamic flying conditions in Iquique are so consistent at this time of the year that this flight is possible almost everyday! After a hard day of flying it doesn’t get much better then to dine out at one of Iquique’s many restaurants to feast on Chile’s reputable sea food and pisco sour.
Accommodations
We will be staying in the four-star Terrado Club Hotel, www.chile-hotels.com. Everyone will have a “double room” with private bathroom for themselves. Each apartment style “double room” has 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, a big living room, a kitchenette, and outside balcony overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The hotel is incredibly nice, and is a short walk from one of our morning/mid-day LZ’s. A top buffet breakfast is included every morning to make sure you are powered up for a full day of flying!
The Price Includes
- 1st class accommodation (1 double room for each person, 2 rooms per apartment – breakfast included)
- Transfers to and from the Airport on arrival and departure days
- Transport from Iquique to Antofagasta and/or Antofagasta to Iquique if applicable
- Transport to and from all flying sites
- Daily weather updates
- Site information and flying tips
- Launching supervision
- Radio communication with guides and drivers during flights
- Flight retrieval back to launch site
- Flight retrievals
- Free DVD movie of the trip
- Free T-shirt
Prices
- Instructional Days - (7 days, 6 nights) $ 1,690
- Iquique days - (9 days, 8 nights) $ 1,690
- Pure XC days - (4 days, 3 nights) $ 990
- Per day rate any week $ 280
- Extra cost for single room apartment per night $ 40
Discounts and payment options
For either partial or total advance payment the following range of discounts will be applied proportionally to the received amount.
Before July 10th 15 %
Before August 10th 10 %
Before September 10th 5 %
Late bookings after October 10th add 5 %
We accept cash, checks, credit cards, and PayPal.
Refunds
We are so confident with this site’s reliability at this time of the year, that we will refund each grounded pilot $250 per day if 50% of the group (including guides), are unable to fly for an entire day due to weather conditions.
Requirements
P1 certification, VHF radio, certified equipment, reserve parachute and helmet, and a good attitude because we are going fly heaps and have lots of fun!
Bookings or Questions
Click here to Send a message to Luis or Todd
Guide Information
Click here to See Guide Bios
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