Ultralight flight over erupting volcano

First shot is of the ultralight. Second sequence shows the active, hot lava beds. Clouds, smoke, sulfur dioxide everywhere. Note clouds on the ground on left in that sequence. They were flowing uphill along the ground. Second sequence shows rain clouds combining with smoke that was continually appearing and dissolving all around us. We had to fly through one suflur cloud that suddenly materialized in front of us - tasted terrible. The lava was flowing through a channel just like a river in its bed, and it was moving as fast as flowing water. The lava beds were extensive and hot. We got caught in a thermal and were ascending at over 1,000 meters a minute. Not what we wanted to do in an ultralight. Pulled to the left and were promptly thrown down toward the lava by the force of the sheer. The only time I got really scared as we were not that high above the lava at that point already. We were able to find a small break in the clouds and ran for home. My pilot said he had been flying since 1960 and that was the eerist ride he ever had. I told him it was eerie yes, but it was also so awesome I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The whole world, earth and sky, was surreal. It looked like we were glimpsing Pele's trailing gown while she flitted among the lava flows playing in her fields. What a sight and what a ride.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• ultralight
• volcano
• Pele
• flying
• sacred
• sites
• x
• sports

[JuniorShaman]

Very nice footage! Hmm, not many volcanoes around here.. Its good we have youtube... ;D

-Peace & Love-

[ekabhakti1]

Thanks for the comment. If you ever want to go see one from an ultralight I can recommend a great pilot. And what a ride.

-Blessings-

[volcanochaser]

Great videos with the ultralight. How high were you from the ground? A friend and I were just there at one of the edges of the a'a flows Oct 6. The channels are up high, so we could not see them.

[ekabhakti1]

Thanks. At some times we were pretty low, maybe 100 feet. At one point a thermal was boosting us at over 1,000 meters a minute. When Mark pulled us out of it the sheer pushed us down much quicker and lower than I would have liked. At that point I told him I thought we could go home because I had enough footage. He said he thought we should make just 1 more run. I agreed, hoping I wouldn't regret that decision. Well, that is the last sequence you see in the River of Lava video. He was right.

[Sagebrusher07]

Wow! What an experience. Was there alot of other air traffic?

[ekabhakti1]

Thanks. No other traffic. The atmospheric conditions that day were very unusual. It was almost like flying through water. There were clounds constantly forming and dissolving around us at all levels. It was sort of like watching water suddenly condense on a glass, only it would happen right in front of us which caused us to fly through a sulfur dioxide cloud once. The vog was so dense they almost closed Volcano National Park for the first time in its history because the air was so toxic.

[xlentertainment]

did you find any lift there?

[RainJetSprinklers]

I know him.

[MDHmodder]

are you that guy?

[RainJetSprinklers]

Never play with gun powder because you never know when it's going to explode!