Ultralight Flying
Doing a little research, I came across the Angeles City Flying Club (ACFC). The pilots of these brightly colored, light aircraft were do a few stunt tricks, aerial dive-bombing with flour bombs and also offer rides to those interested in getting a taste of the wind on their face hundreds of feet up in the air with nothing between them and the ground and the seat they were strapped to.
Usually the ACFC operates from its home base, Woodland Airpark located near Magalang at the foot of Mt. Arayat about 18Km north east of Clark International Airport. The club has an 8.5 hectare facility with a café overlooking the airfield, a swimming pool and some overnight accommodation for those who want to immerse themselves totally in the flying experience. The club has a 650 meter grass airstrip/runway, 3 massive hangers accommodating over 25 different aircraft, an excellent maintenance facility and plenty of room for other recreational activities.
Club members who hold a current license can rent from a variety of planes; walk-in guests are welcomed and can take a Trial Introduction Flights (TIF), for either 10 minutes hovering around the nearby Arayat area. Would-be aviators can also take a longer flight (approximately 25 minutes) over lahar fields, tropical rain forest and the nearby Candaba Swamp wildlife and bird refuge. The instructor will even hand over the controls and let his guest pilot take a shot at keeping the plane straight and level. The Club is open during most of the daylight hours every day but Wednesday. The club offers comprehensive flight training all the way to certification (about 30 hours of flying time) at a surprisingly affordable rate.
For my flight from Clark International Airport during the Balloon Fiesta, we were going to explore the area around the airport which was fine by me. Getting into the ultralight was akin to sitting down in a flying go-kart, as ultralights are essentially just that. We strapped on mega-seatbelts, donned ginormous helmets and made sure our intercom setup was working. Once the engine fired (it sounded like a big lawnmower), we taxied out to the runway. Given that the 3,200-meter long twin runways at Clark were designed for the contingency of the Space Shuttle overflying its usual California landing strip, being in a tiny aluminum and fabric get up on that huge slice of tarmac felt a bit like being on a skateboard on EDSA. As we started our take-off roll, the motor screamed up to red line, and we managed to lift off surprisingly quickly within a few hundred meters.
As the Air Show proceedings continued below on the mammoth airfield, I remembered that a few months back, the new Airbus Industrie's A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, had made a pit stop there on its inaugural flight around the world. Up in the air, the whole of Crow Valley, where USAF used to hold target practice, stretched up to the Pinatubo caldera. History buffs have an open-book opportunity from up here; down below I saw the old Japanese runway where the first missions that put the word 'Kamikazi' into the historic lexicon departed. Dizon Farms grows kalamansi there now. Clark Air Base, now a free port zone, was America's biggest Air Force base outside of the US for almost a century, employing up to 15,000 at its peak, before Pinatubo's eruption and contract negotiation turned the land back into Pinoy hands in 1991. It was the place where 200 Japanese Zeros dramatically kick-started the war in the Pacific as they decimated the US Army Air Force's Asian forces the day after Pearl Harbor.
There are several different setups for ultralight airplanes. Some have fiberglass cowlings and one-in-front-of-the-other (tandem) set ups. Our plane was a side-by-side configuration with seats mounted onto a pretty basic frame, with a taut fabric-covered wing. I was excited to try it, as the fact that you could get up in the air and surf the breeze in this simple contraption seemed to defy logic. In another aircraft, my over-excited, over-confident lawyer friend was not really allowed to touch the joystick (as most people should not, if it’s their first time, I reckon). She came back a bit disappointed as she was told to sit on her hands but my pilot was kind enough to let me take the controls as we banked into our landing. Just like with scuba-diving, good flight instructors can probably discern between dangerous hubris and cautious capableness and I would like to think I have the latter, but I was amazed I was given the chance to swing the plane into a turn, hovering above Fields Avenue in Angeles, as the runway got bigger and bigger. I was struck with the fact that on one hand, it’s probably like learning how to drive; the more you do it, the more it becomes second nature! On the other hand, I couldn't shake off the fact that a little mess up would surely result in tumbling straight down to terra firma, which would seem even more than firma from a fall that high. As with our take-off, I was surprised at how short a runway length was needed to land the ultralight. We touched down, smooth as butter. It must have taken a week to wipe the perma-grin off my face.
Getting There and Getting Up in the Air
A car, a good set of directions (which the kind folk at ACFC can always help you with) and a road map are probably the best options for getting to the facilities, but there are always members heading up from Manila that might be coaxed into coughing up a backseat for those interested. Commuting is not that difficult as well, with all kinds of transpo options heading northward to Pampanga. Hotels can give advice on comfy Coaster vans, or the dozen or so bus lines that can drop you off on their way to Northern Luzon. Woodland Airpark is located in Sta. Maria Magalang, in Pamanga Province. If coming from Manila, exit off the Northern Luzon Expressway at the Sta. Iñes (the last exit) and head north east towards Mt. Arayat. Drive time is about 2 hours from Manila and much less from Angeles. Contact ACFC at their cell number +63 (918) 920 3039 or at the Club’s land line at +63 (45) 865 1356, or get the full scoop at www.angelesflying.com.
Trail Introduction Flight around nearby Arayat area: Php 1550
25-minute flight over lahar fields and Candaba Swamp: Php 2550
Jeepney Tours Manila has an Ultralight Flying Adventure Tour which will take you from Manila to Pampanga onboard a jumbo air-conditioned jeepney. This tour includes the ultralight flying experience, lunch at Abe’s Farm and a spa treatment from Nurture Spa.
Jeepney Tours Manila
Hop-On, Hop-Off Travel Tours, Inc.
(63 2) 638 6644 / 994 6636
info@jeepneytours.com
www.jeepneytours.com
Jeepney Tours can also customize packages to make your trip more memorable. Call the Jeepney Tours office for details.
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