Surfer's Paradise.....

Sorry to disappoint you guys, this was not a trip to Gold Coast, Australia (I miss Gold Coast.....). Baler, around 60 NM north east of Clark, is known to be a surfer’s haven in the Philippines. Usual summer haze blanketed the entire north Luzon, but the satellite weather image was clear of thick clouds and winds were within limits of the aircraft. We flew one of Omni's new aircraft RP-C8832, and the new engine gave us a good climb performance (700 fpm at 70 knots, full fuel, 2 pax on-board).






Despite the calm air that morning, I didn't want to relax until we've passed the inversion layer. Wind shear is a potential hazard when penetrating inversion layers. After reaching our crusing altitude, I trimmed the aircraft and started to enjoy the scenery.





Sierra Madre was covered with low clouds, but the route to Baler was clear of clouds. Baler's traffic pattern doesn't have landmarks to help you judge when to turn, I used the 45 second technique and landed on runway 05.




The waves were not big that morning, despite this few kids managed to surf. Surfing lessons in Baler will cost you around 80USD for 2 sessions. I love to try surfing one of these days, but I don't even know how to balance myself on a skateboard hehehe..




We departed from Runway 05, flew over the peach and headed to Dingalan. From Baler to Dingalan, I was constantly looking for fishermen below whilst nursing the engine. The rugged terrain on the east coast of the Philippines doesn't offer any good landing sites. It was a usual mid-day flight back to Omni, thermals tossed our light aircraft left and right. Clark tower gave us runway 20, a perfect treat coming from the North.