Flying in a garden chair (sorry - in italian only)

Here you can find the story of Larry Walters, who fullfilled his dream of flying by attaching ballons to a garden chair - beautifully told (in Italian) by my friend Marco, who is currently cruising around the world. (If you are able to read Italian, his blog is a source of inspiration and knowledge.)

AIR14 - the pilot's view

This summer a big air show (called AIR14) was held at Payerne. A SWISS A330 also participated; here is the video (in case it's not working properly), which shows the view from the cockpit of the A330.

 

Adventurers of the year: traversing North America’s most rugged wilderness with paragliders (article in National Geographic)

all pictures © National Geographic !

Read here:   

Adventurers of the year (article in National Geographic Magazine)

Santa Elisabetta (Belice)

Yesterday (for the first time this year) I met my Italian friend Ennio. Actually we had wanted to fly in Piossasco, but as the shuttle was not operating there, he took me to a site called 'Santa Elisabetta' (a little NW of Torino, Piemonte, Italy). We met (Pier)Andrea (Patrucco) the local 'No.1' in this region.

Ennio, Andrea

Unfortunately the sky was much more cloudy than predicted, because it would have needed only a little sun to make the thermals strong enough to be able to stay up.
But I could clearly see that this site (even from this lower take-off called 'Belice') has really good potential for cool flights.
The launch has been recently enlarged/ improved and as you can see in the pix it could be called a perfect PG (and HG) launch: large, grassy, no stones, ideal exposure against the wind, ideal slope, paved road to launch, parking just 20m above launch - what else does one need?

TO 'Belice', Ennio

Ennio landing at LZ 'Salto'

The 'Salto' LZ is a little small for HGs and has a (good visible) powerline going across at its northern end. But more than big enough for PGs - but still people manage to hang themselves into the powerlines...

Oli

My friend Oli sent me this selfie during a flight he made last week; I'm very impressed about his level of acro-flying.

AirDesign RISE-2 (XL)

After several talks/ mails with Martin from AirDesign (AD), I have finally decided to order this wing.
Tipping the scales was the promise to build a special riser, which will allow me to reach the A-lines with my damaged left shoulder.
It will look something like this: (left: original, right: modification)

For making 'B-ears' (Big ears by using the outer B-line) and B-stall (should I consider this necessary) there are some ideas how this could be eventually achieved - you just have to talk to André from Flugsau!

In therms of colour I have choosen the following:

The reason for this is, that I hope this colourscheme will make for good visibility of the wing in flight, especially as there are no other options than 'white' for the undersail.

more info about this wing can be found here.

Italy -6: Gröden (Seceda), Speikboden

As already yesterday there have been more than 200 pilots flying in Canazei/ Col Rodella, I decided to avoid this site and drove to Val Garden (St.Ulrich/ Ortisei) and rode the cablecar up to Seceda.

Seceda (seen from St.Ulrich/ Ortisei

looking West towards St.Ulrich/ Ortisei

Seceda: launch, looking South towards Langkofel (Canazei)

Langkofel

But I didn't fly this day, as I just didn't feel like it :-((

So for the last day of flying on this trip I drove to Sand in Taufers and its world class XC-site: Speikboden.
Here I made just a short flight, as the autumn thermals have been small, pretty strong and sharp edged. But this is certainly a site worth coming back!

launch

Ahrntal

Pano looking South: the whole range of the 'Dolomiti'

Sand in Taufers

Pano looking North: Ahrntal

Italy -5: Sillian/ Canazei: testing AirDesign Rise-2 (XL)

Finally I had a chance to get my hands on an AirDesign Rise-2 in XL. As always it's very hard to find XL-gliders with a max weight of 145kg.
People always tell me to
a) fly a small tandem: > too slow, as I'm then in the very lower weight range;
b) fly a glider over-weight: > too fast on TO and Ldg; too much sink in weak conditions/ flatland.
The AD Rise-2 XL goes up to 145kgs and is even certified EN/ LTF B; other XL gliders have normally just a load test (up to 8g).
Alternatives would have been Triple 7 Rook or SOL Ellus five, both with loadtest only, smaller sizes are EN/ LTF B.

The first flight I could make in Sillian - I know it's in Austria and not in Italy ;-)
More of an extend sled ride, but I could clearly see, that the glider is easy to launch and turns well in weak thermals.

Ground handling in Toblach

Sillian (Petersberg)

Then I moved to Canazei, where this weekend was a testival. But with the exception of AirDesign, no other manufacturer present, had anything available in my weight range.
As the day was predicted to be good, 'millions' of pilots flocked to Col Rodella for flying; I don't think I've ever seen so many pilots in a single place. 

Col Rodella

AIrDesign Rise-2; note the so called (red) 'C-ball'

Col Rodella (middle); Langkofel (right)

Piz Boé (left), Marmolada (center)

Rosengarten/ Catinaccio; Langkofel (far right)

Marmolada

My flight can be found here here. I didn't fly to the Marmolada today, but attempted a flight towards SW (Predazzo). This was by far the longest (3h36min) and farthest (54km) this year :-))

I'm very happy with the Rise-2: it launched well, behaved very benign.
BUT: at the moment I will not buy it, as with my left hand (due to the damaged shoulder) I cannot reach the A-, or B-lines (for big ears or B-stall)...
I have talked to the manufacturer (Martin from AD) and there are a few options to remedy this problem.
First of all I'll undergo treatment of my left shoulder in November, which should improve its range of movement; then there is the possibility of modifying my harness in such a way that the attachment points for the risers are lowered; another option is to attach shorter risers.
Maybe with a combination of all three, I'll manage to reach the A-and B-lines...

Italy -4 -flying

Finally the weather allowed 3 (!) days flying in a row:
SUN: Gemona with Nicole and Arduino;
MON: Buzet (HR) with Nicole;
TUE: Lijac (SI) with Nicole.
On all 3 days cloud base has been pretty low, so I just flew locally - but at least I flew :-))

While in Gemona Nicole was flying tandem, in Buzet and Lijac she was testflying the Ozone ENZO-2  (much to the 'disappointment' of the Italian Importer of Niviuk, the wing she had been flying at the Europeans in Serbia). But apparently at the moment ENZO-2 sets the standard, to which all other comp gliders are to be compared; so no big surprise, she wanted to try this wing...

Gemona di Friuli

(Buzet)

Buzet: Nicole / ENZO-2

Buzet: Nicole / Ozone ENZO-2

Buzet (HR)

(Lijac)

Lijac (SI)

Lijac (SI) LZ in center of Picture

Italy -3 -Food

Besides 'gelati', there is of course other excellent food to be found in Italy...

 

Some of the best pizza (at least in my oppinion) can be found at the Pizzeria 'alla Croce' in Semonzo del Grappa.
In Gemona my friend Arduino invited my to the 'Osteria Ivana e Secondo' in Manazzons.

Not only the food (diversi antipasti e tatar) but also the vine, 'Roncus', Val di Miez, 2008, (a 'rosso' from the region) was excellent!

With Nicole a few days later I dined at Ristorante 'al Ponte'  in Gradisca d'Isonzo, also well worth a visit!

Italy -2 prayer

Found on the side of the church in Semonzo, where the road heads up to Mte.Grappa and the TOs.

Italy -1

As for the last few years I headed to Italy, primarily in order to meet my friend Masa with his group of Japanese Pilots. This year we met in Bassano, where on the first day (TUE, 2.9.) we had a really good flying day. For the first time I could launch almost on top of Mte Grappa; the launch is called 'Panarotta'.

Panarotta looking NE/ E towards Mte Dolada

Ristorante/ Albergo 'Vecchio Forno' in Alpago

Unfortunately the next 2 days it was mostly overcast, which permitted no flights or only sledrides, be it in Bassano or Alpago/ Dolada.

But of course the weather couldn't prevent the almost daily trip to the gelateria in Semonzo ;-)

Ebenalp, Arosa

Unfortunately the lousy weather continues and offers only a few opportunities for flying: a day here, a day there. Everbody (not only the PG pilots) are longing for a period with stable high pressure...

Ebenalp

Arosa: Piz Kesch on lh side/ Palü, Bernina on rh side

conclusion / acknowledgments

Conclusion

It has been a great trip, maybe a bit over-ambitously planned ("weniger wäre mehr"). Except one rainy day (when we visited Crater Lake NP) we always had excellent travel weather. Flying weather unfortunately has not been all to good: many days with 'bad' winds (mostly wrong direction or too strong), which made flying impossible or allowed just short flights. But still we managed to visit 25 different sites and fly 22 of them. But the 'big' XC flights we (of course) had hoped for, haven't been possible...

Acknowledgments

My formost thanks go to Ruth for 'letting' me do this trip. I know that it was not easy for her, therefore I really appreciate it all the more.
Thanks also to Judy for 'letting' Stacy do this trip with me.
My thanks also go to Andy and Stacy, who have been great travel companions. Without them and their assisstance, this trip would not have been possible and/ or only half the fun. I especially appreciated their helping me with small things, which due to my accident in 3/2012, have become difficult to do for me: from carrying my pack/ bagagge to closing zippers on my overall. Thanks also to Jim who offered his assistance on many occasions.
Not to forget: all the great and helpful people/ pilots we've met during these 4 weeks: Lennie, Jeff and Zac in Chelan; Chuck & Mara in Sun Valley; Pine and Pete in Glenwood; Tom in Wolcott - just to name a few.

our actual route/ all sites visited

Here you can find the actual route we have travelled and all the sites we have visited.