Flying Area of "BUNYOLA"
The
flying area of BUNYOLA is named after "Sa Comuna de Bunyola". The
launching pad was built in cooperation with the Paragliding Club "Vol Mediterrani".
On its opening day, april the 24, 1994, Rafel Borràs had a magnificent
flight reaching the village of BINISSALEM. This is the newest flying area
in MALLORCA. It is located on a cliff crag with a nearby access road, and
has a launching area with an elevation of 1,770 feet (540 m). There is
a 1,120-foot-drop (340 m) from the pad to the landing field. The take off
is directed towards the south. The nearest village is BUNYOLA.
Access: take the old road from PALMA to BUNYOLA.
Entering the village of BUNYOLA, at the 8.5 km mark you will see the access
road on the right side (open from 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM). This takes you
up to "Sa Comuna". After 2.8 miles (4,5 km), there is a burned area with
three lone pine trees on the left side of the trail, and the stone and
dirt launching pad in on the right side. We normally set up the gliders
on a rocky area underneath the three pine trees. It is necessary to park
the cars by the ditch on the side of the road.
Take
off: the 20-foot-long by 8-foot-wide (6 x 2,5m)
launching pad is made of stone and dirt, and is large enough to make possible
the take off with no wind. Normally we wait for a thermal which is created
from the curves of the road on the right side of the pad (a good sign is
the waiving of the pines trees). Then we go for it.
Flying: we usually go to this area when there is
no wind or when there is a little south wind. The thermals during windy
days are normally swept away, making the flying conditions difficult and
poor. On the other hand, in absence of wind, the thermals are steady and
powerful. Under this conditions it is really easy to reach 3,000 feet (1.000
m) and occasionally 5,000 feet (1.600 m) in altitude. At that level you
can see "ES PORT DE SÒLLER" which in on the other side of "Sa Serra
de Tramuntana" mountains.
"Sa ruta Clàssica-The classic route" heads towards "ES PORT
DE POLLENÇA". By following "Sa pre-Serra", a little mountain range
located just in front of and parallel to "Serra de Tramuntana", some local
pilots have reached "ES PORT DE POLLENÇA" on the north side of the
island. It is possible to fly as far as "Es Far de Capdepera" (Capdepera
lighthouse).
Landing:
to get to the landing field take the old road from PALMA to BUNYOLA. The
access road is at the 7,9 km mark, just passed a powerplant. After 0.5
miles (800 m.) there is a property called "Es Cocons" where the landing
field in located. The plot is very small, downhill and surrounded by trees
and power lines. This forces the pilot to make a really precise landing.
It is essential to use a dragchute, (in MALLORCA all the pilots use one).
The
landing field is 1 mile (1.600 m) away from the launching area. If the
thermal conditions are not good, you must make sure you are at a gliding
distance to reach the landing field, because the appropriate alternate
fields are even farther away. We recommend this flying area only to advanced
pilots.
Enrique Sancho & Jaume Martorell "Jimmy"
