Meduno

We woke up to a cloudless sky here in Fogliano Redipuglia. But unfortuately there was some 'Bora' in the forecast, so Gemona and Ljiac were out of question. Instead we decided to head for Meduno (protected from 'Bora'), but knowing, that it could be cloudy there. When we arrived at launch, the sky was almost overcast, but with some immagination the sun could be seen. Within about 1 hour the sky cleared up and some nice thermals develloped, so I was able to make a nice flight :-))

Ossiachersee/ Gerlitzen: 'Dual Tandem SIV' -2 (with Xandi)

2nd day here at Gerlitzen for SIV-trainig with Xandi. Same program. 3 flights on the tandem glider, 1 flight on my 777 Rook2. Like yesterday, the clouds on top have been very 'reluctant' to clear away, so the first flight was from 'Kanzelhöhe', the others from the top.

Top::waiting for the clouds to clear away... (Xandi on the Icaro)

I can only stress the efficiency of this kind of 'Dual Tandem'-training, especially with such an excellent trainer/ teacher/ instructor as Xandi!

So after 2 very intense/ interesting/ instructive days at Gerlitzen I drove to Italy in the evening. Here I hope to make some flights with Marco as my guide.

Ossiachersee/ Gerlitzen: 'Dual Tandem SIV' -1 (with Xandi)

After my accident in 2012 (where I had lost  consciousness while spiralling) I didn't dare participate in any SIV for fear of blacking-out again. But in a recent XCMag edition I had read an article about a 'special' kind of SIV here at Annenheim (Ossiachersee/ Gerlitzen): let's call it 'Dual Tandem SIV'.
The SIV is done on a tandem glider with the instructor flying on the second seat. It's an especially selected glider, which behaves as close as possible to a mono glider.
So first of all: should I black-out, then there is the instructor who can take over and land the glider safely; second: it is extremely efficient way for training, as the instructor sits right behind me and can see/ feel in real time, what I'm doing (wrong).
So at short notice I have been able to secure a place with Xandi (Alexander Meschuh) from  X-ART Paragliding for 2 days of training.

Unfortunately no flying yesterday (Wed) due to too many clouds :-((
Even today it took quite a while longer than we had anticipated until the clouds had cleared away before we could fly from Gerlitzen (Top at 1900m). Xandi used the time to soar solo for a while in his tandem paraglider (ICARO Parus 41.5)...

It was well after noon until we could finally launch for our first flight: wingovers and spirals.
Meanwhile the wind on top had even increased more, so for the next two flights we took off from 'Kanzelhöhe'.

launch at 'Kanzelhöhe'

More wing-overs and spirals as well as flying at MNM speed for the second flight and full stall on the third flight. Here the only disadvantage of this kind of training showed: it needs lots of power in your hands to stall this (tandem) glider. More power than I actually have in my left (damaged) arm, so Xandi had to help a little bit. But all the other manouvers I've been able to fly on my own ;-)

our glider: 'ICARO Parus 41.5'

Xandi

LZ

So hopefully there will be more of the same tomorrow...

Bischling

When I got up, the sky was completely clear and soon the first gliders could be seen flying from Bischling (Werfenweng, Zaglau-AT). So -at least for me- I found myself unusually early on the way to the gondola ;-)
Excellent visibility/ views from the top!

Pano looking east over (SE-) launch: Tennengebirge

Pano looking west over (W-) launch: Hochkönig, Werfenweng

SE-launch

Bischling is also a very convenient PG-site: very short walks from the gondola to the different launches, although LZ is a little further from the gondola (as compared to Tannheim). Last time I was here in May'09 with Arnie F.
Wind blowing in straight, sometimes already a bit gusty; punchy/ small thermals and then (same as yesterday) the sun got blocked by clouds...

Tennengebirge

Zaglau: gondola station on the left; LZ middle of pix; Werfenweng upper right corner.

So I drove SE across the 'Tauerngebirge' towards Villiach/ Ossiachersee for my 'appointment' tomorrow...

(Finally) on the road again... Alp Scheidegg/ Neunerköpfle

After almost 4 months without paragliding, I finally was able to restart again last friday (on 'Alp Scheidegg') with some ground handling.

Alp Scheidegg

Yesterday I headed for Austria (an my way to Italy). First stop: Tannheim ('Neunerköpfle'), a site perfectly suited for paragliding: gondola, TO 2 min walk, LZ/ parking less than 5 mins from gondola ;-)

Neunerköpfle: parawaiting

It took about 1 hour of parawaiting until the sky had cleared up and thermals permitted climbing. Unfortunately this window didn't last too long and after I had packed up it even started to rain a little bit. But anyway, it has been a nice flight after this long 'break'.