Stubaicup -day 1

For the first time I travelled to Austria to attend the Stubaicup. Even though the forecast didn't look very promising in advanc, once more this valley proved to have its own micro-claimate:  a bit of blue sky in the morning and thus even some weak thermals to prolong the (test) flights.

sunrise at my hotel: Thalerhof in Telfes

Elfer (left) Kreuzjoch/ Schlick2000 (right)

Quite some manufacturers are present and I had prepared in advance a list of possible wings I wanted to try if they would be available in 'L'. Unfortunately the Corona crisis can also be felt here as some brands didn't receive (yet) all gliders in all sizes. Among them Niviuk, where I wanted to test their Ikuma2. And also 777 didn't bring the Rook3 to Neustift. I could talk a little with the guy from this brand and he hopes that the 'L'-prototype will arrive from Sri Lanke within the next 5-6 weeks. Until I have not flown this glider I will not make a final desicion about a replacement of the Rook2 (resp Maestro).
 

Elfer launch

I have to say that the organisation is close to perfect: good information, lots of helpers on launch. I could setup, then walk to launch where the wing would be spread out and when ready to go the helpers would stop all other take-offs for a moment so there would be no incidents. I think this is especially important, as almost everybody is testing new wings and is concentrated on a good launch. LZ is HUGE, so even 10 ore more pilots landing at the same time shouldn't be a problem - provided everybody uses a bit of common sense ;-)

Today I flew 2 wings:
- Skyman CrossCountry2 (L)
- Sup'Air Leaf2 (L)

CrossCountry2

After a flight of little more than 12 minutes it's very hard to say a lot about a glider:
launching (zero head wind/ even a touch of tailwind) was easy! Some thermals permited a little climb, which felt good. The only thing I didn't like on the CrossCountry2: the split A-lines are attached so high up, that I'm unable to reach them with my (damaged) left arm... But Markus meant that this is something that could be fixed if I ever wanted to buy this wing.

Leaf2

Same as above; the flight lasted just 2 minutes longer ;-)  The Leaf2 has very long lines, at least much longer than on the CrossCountry2. Easy launch in almost no head wind. Grabing the split A-lines was no problem, but the brake handles are too small. Turning in the weak thermals felt comfortable as well. Packing the glider in the (too small) bag Sup'Air provided is a bit of a hassle.