Description:
Due to its unique geographic location, Bahia offers the best weather conditions in the World for long cross country flights in the period between mid-August and mid-October. During this peak season, the cloud bases are typically between 10,000 to 14,000 feet ASL, which is the kind of weather I experienced. Some years there are more blue days, but on those the thermals tops can be even higher, up to 16,000 feet ASL. The thermals typically produce between 5 and 8 knots lift, but it is not unusual to find 10 knots or more. My best one was a 14 knot boomer! Because of the closeness to the Equator (LEM’s latitude is 12° South), the wind in the convective layer is almost always from the East, with the strength anywhere from 5 to 25 knots. The average maximum daily temperature in September is around 34 °C, while the relative humidity is usually between 10 and 30%, making the heat quite bearable.
The rest of the year is also flyable; however, during the rainy season which lasts from mid-October until April, the cloud bases are lower and isolated CB’s develop every afternoon. On the flip side, the lift is generally stronger than during the dry season and the thermals are spaced closer together, allowing for some very fast and fun flying.
During the peak mid-August to mid-October season the days with non-soarable weather are extremely rare, although I did experience one day with overcast skies that didn’t clear until late in the afternoon.
The terrain around LEM is a plateau at around 2,500 feet ASL, generally flat with many cultivated fields suitable for out-landing. About 60 km West of LEM lies the border between Bahia and the neighboring Tocantins province. Once inside Tocantins, the terrain drops to about 1,500 feet ASL and becomes mildly undulating and covered with dwarf trees and wild shrubbery. In Tocantins there are very few places to land and not many roads for retrieval. However, the weather in Tocantins tends to be somewhat better than in Bahia, so a good strategy seems to be to first go West and cross about 20 km into Tocantins before turning North or South for the second leg of the triangle. You can then continue flying inside Tocantis, parallel to the Tocantins-Bahia border in excellent weather, but still close enough to the landable terrain in Bahia. The last leg-and-a-half is flown in Bahia.
Please note that landscapes only work for their respective version of Condor. Condor 2 landscapes can be used on Condor 3 if and only if installed and converted with Condor Updater.
In order to offer a comfortable download, simultaneous downloads are limited. Please turn off download managers, they are not supported and will be blocked.
Condor Updater is a tool dedicated to the installation of Condor 2 & 3 landscapes and goodies. It’s the preferred (and the easiest!) way to download and install landscapes. You can download it from here.
Should you need help for manual download and install, consult this page.
on February 4th, 2019.
