Sunrise at Paso de Cortes is a sight to behold as the majestic snow-capped Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl peaks come into view. We have to hurry, there are only few hours left before the window closes into a fog, rain and even hail-filled afternoon. After a quick breakfast prepared by Joaquin, Baruc and Ruben head out to pre-flight Salvatierra. We had just suffered a fatal crash of Budapest,  now laid to rest, so this is extra significant. We had to quickly put together a new ESC and prop, hoping now that the motor will hold for the few minutes of climbout that is needed to establish a steady climb to target.

Many checks in progress, the "permanent" site of our plume experiments comes into focus, the sun is up. Iztaccihuatl on the left, Popo on the right, both provide ample opportunities to test with the generous support of CENAPRED.

Time, however, is always short. A few checks later we finalized the various modes of flight,  launch! launch! launch!

And off we went...with an ability to successfully fly at 4000+ m; but the stock X8 will need many mods...may be a new design by an enterprising soul?

...stay tuned as we update with results from flights in the near future!