Wind Direction:
Macher is a fairly small site in the south of
the island. It's around 800 ft top to bottom and the landing area
which is shown above is about a 1/4 of a mile in front of the
hill. It's an easy glide even for beginners. The landing area
does slope downwards slightly making it difficult to judge your
flare. Most people overshoot and land in the next field down which
has some fairly big rocks lying around. It's best to set up your
approach a little further back than you would expect. The rigging
area is huge at the top and it's easy to top land. The take-off
area is also large with a choice of directions from SE to S.
This site can often be very rough and dangerous.
Just in front of take-off there are strips of black gravel which
heat up in the sun and kick off very small punchy thermals. These
are usually broken up due to the strong winds that develop on
this hill. The result is very rough air which can pitch you in
towards the hill. Be warned. Flying close to the hill on this
site could be very hazardous. You will find that in the landing
field the wind can be very light, 4-5 miles per hour while at
the top it's blowing around 30 mph (50kph). Personally I've given
up flying this site. So have some of the local pilots who have
had enough of being thrashed in the rough stuff that it produces.
Having said all that, you could be lucky and have a nice smooth
day. It hasn't happened to me yet though. Beginners should fly
this site early in the morning or nearly sunset to fly this site
to get any smooth air.
Access to the top is via a dirt road. Take the
road to La Asomada from the roundabout at the foot of the hill.
You'll see the dirt road on the left about 1/2 a kilometre up
the road.
Hazards include:
Very rough air
Very strong wind at take off
Electricity pylons and cables at the bottom of the hill
The landing field has a slight down slope
Can often be very crowded
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