Paragliding - Spinoasa: Dust Plumes & Dust Devil Close By

   • Dust Devil 600m away. Time to land? #...  

Strange but beautiful day to fly. Took off at 4 PM, not hoping for much and ended up with an amazing short flight.

The weather felt light, but shortly after takeoff I found myself in a thermal full of dry corn debris from the ground, felt a bit strange, but used it anyway.

As I went higher, a strange mist became visible all around me, almost like the eye of a hurricane. Found out later on that it was a dust cloud brought by the wind from Asia this time (usually it's Sahara and it's reddish).

As I was enjoying my flight, at 600m to my left I saw what I thought to be a tractor on the dark fields, stirring dust. It was pretty late and windy, never occurred to me it could be anything else. But as I looked again and watched more carefully, it was a full blown dust devil leaving traces behind it as it went by.

It was way closer than it seems on video.

Decided to go for landing straight away, as I wish to fly another day and I have seen dust devils before right where I was flying. I didn't want to meet one up close and personal considering my flight experience. 600m was enough.

Enjoy the eerie views!