A weekend of everything that flies

Sky diver jumps with the Philippine flag

The 18th Philippine International Hot Air Ballon Fiesta is supposed to be  "A weekend of everything that flies".  
So together with a bunch of my paragliding pilot friends off we went to the Omni aviation grounds at Clark in Pampanga.  

We left Manila at 3:30 a.m. so we could get to the grounds at 5:00 am in time to watch the pilots set up their gears.

A hang glider sets up his gear

When we got there the pilots from Malaysia were in full force with their paramotors and all ready to fly.

Malaysian pilots being interviewed

The festival opened with the singing of the Philippine National Anthem and of course complete with a sky diver carrying the Philippine flag.

While the hot air balloons were being inflated the pilots with their paramotors started to take off.  

Fly high!

Tandem paramotor flights are not available in the Philippines so when I was asked if i wanted to try a tandem flight I couldn't refuse!

It was so cool to have that paramotor attached to your wing and be able to take off from the ground instead of a ridge for a change.  I had two cameras (Go Pro Hero) on me.  One tied to my shoe that took this picture.  The other Go Pro was on a mono pad which you see me holding to take a video of the flight.The highlight of the air show for me was watching the Breitling Jet team. They put on a spectacular show.  It was like a magical dance in the sky. The routine was so precise.

 

I imagine that these pilots put in so many hours perfecting this grand performance.

The Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta runs until the weekend. It's a must see if you want to see everything that flies!