2007 Powered Paragliding Convention (New Site)

Big Cypress Reservation, FL, USA

Location: West of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. at an open field on Indian land.

Basic Description: A new site has been chosen for the convention, about 3 miles farther east of the previous site. It is bigger and more open while getting farther away from aircraft traffic around Big Cypress airport. This large field has been reserved by the Powered Paragators in the Florida Everglades. There are miles of flyable terrain in all directions with lots of landing options. Our hats off to Carlos, Ouri and the club that is putting together this enormous effort together. The National PPG Convention is our sport's showcase, a place where pilots can come see, touch, learn and more importantly, fly the latest offerings.

Weather: Hot and muggy in the summer with rain many afternoons. Beautiful in the winter with highs typically in the lower 70's. 

Comments: Beware fire ants and Alligators. The fire ant hills are little rises of grass and if you stand on one the ants will crawl up your leg and all bite at once. Nasty creatures, I don't know how they do that.

Landowner: Indian Reservation. 

Permission: Not likely. The Florida Powered Paragators worked this out for the 2007 convention and permission will be unlikely outside that event or events held by their group.

Sensitive Areas: Houses to the west and a national preserve to the south. 

Airspace: You launch in G airspace and climb into E airspace 1200 feet above. There is a bunch of charted wildlife area to the south that's off-limits if you're less than 2000' AGL. 

The Big Cypress airport was a big concern at the previous site but no more. It's now an easily avoidable 5.5 miles west of the field and airplane traffic should generally remain above 800 feet although we obviously have to always remain on the scan. There is some pretty fast moving traffic coming through occasionally. 

If the winds are out of the west they will be landing to the west so expect the final approach (the fantail on the Google map) to be active. If the winds are easterly, departures will be coming our way but should generally above 1000' unless they're cruising low.

The only no-fly areas are quite a few miles away but, if you're going on a fly-about, take a look at the off-limits areas highlighted at right in red shading. 

Spot 1, inside the shaded magenta line, is where G airspace tops out at 700' with overlying E. 

Spot 2 is outside that circle so the G airspace tops out at 1200' with E above. You only need a mile visibility to fly in G airspace here.

Spot 3 is in the surface area of class E airspace for this airport. We can't fly there at all.

Spot 4 is the wilderness area boundary.

Spot 5 is an alert area. We can fly here but there is intense student training going on in this particular one. 

The dashed line on the bottom picture shows the airplane pattern for aircraft landing east and the blue pattern when they're landing west. Patterns for the airport are all to the left meaning that airplanes operating from there are supposed to make all turns to the left while in the pattern.