tx Aglou / Nid d'Aigle

Wed (27.11.) after a 6.5hr drive with a coffee stop and a lunch break we reached Aglou. We are staying (most probably) for the rest of the trip at 'Nid d'Aigle'.

Some of our group elected to fly, but the wind has been just too weak for more than a top to bottom sledder.

For those who (like me) have not been here for some years, the place has completely changed.

Nigel has sold his place to the (new) owners of Nid d'Aigle, who have completely renovated the place: it's much bigger now and very well maintained, as well as offering good services. 

Rmk: for me it has become just too big and I would have preferred to stay at a 'smaller', less crowded place...

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Thur (28.11.) The present weather pattern unfortunately produces a strong 'off-shore' wind, so in the morning we have visited nearby 'Tiznit', where I had my bumbag reoaired and also visited the barber shop. Ever since I come to Tiznit, I have visited the same barber and always he seem to remember me ;-)

Later we stopped at Aglou and Aglou-Nord, where Peter made briefings, as I'm the only one in this group who has been to Maroc before.

Sand formations at Aglou Nord

Later in the afternoon the wind finally turned around and stayed 'onshore' for a while, permitting all of us to take advantage of this wind for some flying :-)

Nid d'Aigle (after dinner)

Aguergour -2

Tue (26.11.) Good flying conditions for the whole day. I made 2 flight, the first lasting only 25min - I launched a bit too early... The second then much better (lasting > 1hr) and climbing about 200m above launch in very smooth conditions. Lots of people flying: solo pilots as well as many tandems. Launching for the second flight I got some help from Peter, as the windspeed was just at my limit (Thanks!).

'ready for departure'...

launch

LZ

In the evening we've been served another nice dinner (Couscous) at Relais Esmeralda. This was already our final day here in Aguergour: tomorrow after breakfast we'll be heading South to Nid d'Aigle.

Aguergour -1

Wind: still 'wrong', but much less so

the dying wind allowed for some groundhandling....

Mon (25.11.) In the morning the Sherghi has been still blowing; only dying down in the early afternoon. This allowed for a short flight after lunch later in the afternoon: very weak thermals with only a little altitude gain (= more or less a 26min-sledder)...

Lunch

Maroc - Aguergour: Wind!

Sun (24.11.) 'Sherghi' (or 'Chergui') (a continental easterly or southeasterly wind which blows on the southernmost part of Morocco, a hot and dry wind coming from the Sahara Desert): blowing (in gusts) > 60kmh, so no flying. A part of the group elected to drive back to Marrakesh for a visit, I (together with Christoph and Arev) stayed at our hotel. After noon Christoph and I strolled into 'downtown' for a lunch and exchanging some CHF into the local currency Dirham (MAD); 1CHF = 11MAD (approx).

Another excellent dinner at our hotel :-))

The wind should slowly die down and there is a chance/ hope for a flight tomorrow in the afternoon...

Maroc (23.11. - 7. 12. 24)

 

Sat (23.11.) Leaving 'snowy' and cool home for Marrakesh (RAK) (Maroc); day temperature in the city: around 30°C :-) The flight with Edelweiss Air has been uneventful, offering some great views over the French Alps. Unfortunately I have not been able to figure out our exact route, as no inflight display has been available on this aircraft.

approaching RAK

The trip is organized by Peter Enz, with whom I have travelled several times over the past 25 years (Maroc and la Palma); one of the drivers is Khalla, who is always working for Peter and the other Moustapha (Khalla's cousin). The group consists of 8 pilots (including Peter and the 2 drivers; so 5 person per car, which is optimal. After having done all the 'official stuff' at RAK, the 2 landcruisers have been loaded and we drove 1.25hrs to a village called 'Lalla Takeroust', about 20' drive from the TO at Aguergour. Here we've been served a late dinner: an excellent chicken and vegetable tajine..

Relais Esmeralda, our stay for the next neghts

chicken and vegetable Tajine

Arosa -'Novemberhoch'

Also for the next 2 weeks, the high pressure has been dominating, at least on the weekends, when the cable car in Arosa has been running.

Pano on Weisshorn looking NE

Sat, 9.11. A flight to Chur with some weak thermals at the Weisshorn. In Chur (again) rather windy (20/ g27).

Sun, 10.11. flyable, but I had problems launching (the last attempt resulted in a big 'line mess'); in addition, after having watched 2 'not so nice' launches, I decided not to fly...

...it took quite some time to untangle this mess - not as easy and quick as some youtube videos make you believe.
- thank you Andy for your help!

the bears at the bear sanctuary also seemed to enjoy the nice conditions

Sat, 16.11. First flight to Arosa, landing in Isla. Surprisingly good thermal above Tschuggen, which allowed for an altitude gain of about 250m :-)

some slopes already being prepared for winter..

'Miramunt'

Second flight to Chur in rather strange conditions. Until about 200m/ gnd there has been a pronoinced valley wind (around 20+kmh); but the wind turbine at Trimmis was turning only very slowly and as I got  closer to landing, it actually stopped and was slowly turning to indicate SW-Wind...

Montalin

coming back from Chur: full moon over 'Obersee' in Arosa

Sun, 17.11. I've been on the Weisshorn, but didn't like the wind, so I didn't fly...

Arosa

Pano on Weisshorn looking NE-E-SE

Sat/ Sun (2./3.11.) Until the start of the winter skiing season the cable car to Weisshorn is running every weekend ('Novemberhoch') and with this excellent wx I went to Arosa to take advantage of this opportunity. On both days I could make a flight with my recently modified Leeloo 2L.

Sat: I had wanted to fly to Chur; when I had arrived on Weisshorn, the wind there has been almost nil. When I finally launched (I had 2*RTOs) - thanks to Steph and Björn for their help in untangling my lines! - and arrived over Maladers, my Skytraxx showed a wind of NE 25/ G31 in Chur. Therefore I decided to land in Maladers.

my LZ in Maladers

...getting a bit too close for comfort to this tree ...

I wanted to catch a ride down to Chur in order to take the train back up to Arosa. Marlies and Fabienne have seen me standing there, stopped and took me all the way to my appartement in Arosa - MANY THANKS!

Sun: the temp has been a bit more promising than the day before, so it has been possible to climb about 100m above launch :-) But again 1*RTO :-( - with Andy (Schlegel's) help I was quickly ready for a second attempt - thanks a lot!

About the wing: I haven't done any manoeuvres on those 2 flights, but the performance when flying (1/2) accelerated seems to be really great...

Hirzer: Klammeben

Pano on launch (Klammeben, 2065m)

Sun, (27.10.) Last time I have flown here more than 20 years ago (together with Andrea Rö in Sept'04); glider at that time XIX Form3. As this has been the first decent day after a long period of wet weather, there was still too much humidity in the air, so cloudbase has been just at take-off level (Klammeben). But some weak thernmals permitted extending the flight to almost 40'; more would have been possible, but as I have been travelling with Ruth I just flew, as long as she was riding the cable car back to Serfaus,

great autumn colors

looking back to launch (at cloudbase)

Prenn (1400m/ middle station of cable car)

looking East into Passeier Valley

Polar lights in Arosa

The webcam on the Weisshorn in Arosa has recently been upgraded and is now taken also night pictures in excellent quality: here of the rare polar lights on 10.10.24.

 

Scheidegg - GndHandling with Leeloo 2L (modified risers)

A short trip to Alp Scheidegg - between Föhn and warm front...

Here I mentioned, that I had returned the 2-liner Leeloo to Michael. Meanwhile he has further modified the wing and that by now he is rather satisfied with the glider. He also made a modification to the risers, so that it should be easier for me to hold a collapse or make big ears. The 'deal' now is that I will keep the glider over the winter and fly it in 'calm' conditions, hoping that with some more flights I'll get used to the performance of this wing. In March'25 I'll be seeing Michael in Levico (iCamp) and then I'll decide if I'm keeping the wing. I know I've said this already twice before ;-)

modified risers ('blue ball' on outer baby-A)

As I was only ground handling today, I have not been able to try this modification, but it looks like a good improvement.

At first no wind at all, then finally the west wind set in and for a while ground handling has been possible. I had just finished packing up when it started to rain...