I left home on Sun, 31.Aug, but got 'stopped' in front of the Gotthard tunnel for close to an hour :-(( Later the driving to Regello (between Florence and Arezzo) has been easy (being Sunday, just very little lorries).
After checking-in at Agriturismo i Millepini, I drove to the LZ for Massanera/ Regello, hoping to meet some local pilots - but no luck.
i Millepini looking W-NW
LZ in Regello
nice tagliata...
Mon, 01.9. The fcst called for quite some wind; which in the end had not been correct... and being the first day after the 'Ferragosto' (general summer holiday in Italy), nobody showed up for flying
I checked out the launches of Massanera and Montrago/ Praticino. Flying would have been possible, but there has been no way how I could have gotten my car back down from the mountain(s) :-(
Massanera - looking West
Montrago/ Praticino
Montrago/ Praticino
Later I drove to San Vinceno a Torri, where Luciano (which I had met in 1978,while studing Italian in Florence for 2 month) had invited me for dinner together with his son.
Tue (2.9.) Heavy rain with thunder and lightning in the morning (causing even a power outage for about 30'). I drove to Norma (South of Rome). As I had hoped, the wx improved, but it remaind too windy for a flight here. Maybe tomorrow morning before driving to Gioia dei Marsi... where I'll be joining then the iCamp in the late afternoon.
Artena
Norma
'Antica Norba' not only the Incas knew how to cut stones...
Tuesday evening (5.8.) I arrived in Fiesch -starting with a nice fondue for dinner, a treat I can only indulge when I'm alone, as Ruth is intolerant to most dairy products. It has been very difficlt to find a halfway reasonably priced accommodation, as due to a running event this week hotels have been mostly sold out, so also my 'usual' accommodation at Niederwald - I ended up in Bellwald: a nice place, everything allright - just a bit pricey.
Wed (6.8.) I hadn't slept well (due to backpain I had to take some medication); and carrying my pack didn't help either - so more pain killers. All this meant, that I didn't feel all to well in flight; so I landed after about 45' at Niederwald, where I had parked my car.
...but at least I got high enough to see the Aletsch-glacier ;-)
Thu (7.8.) The day looked much better with clear skies and some nice clouds.
...view from the balcony of my room: Kühboden / Eggishorn
I had a nice flight (lasting close to 2 hrs) going East to about 'Baschi' and landing at Niederwald. (Rob, whom I met on launch, had a great flight and landed Flims: congrats!)
...crossing to Bellwald...
Fri (8.8.) I woke up to a completely blue sky - and it remaind without any clouds while I have been flying.
'Weisshorn' at sunrise
For quite a while launch has been occupied by cows, but by the time thermals finally started to devellop, they had moved away. Today it has taken my about 30' to break through 2800m, later going East has not been too difficult - even in the absence of any clouds. I turned around short of Sidelhorn and could glide all the way back to Niederwald without a single 360 and still arriving with about 500m to spare ;-)
Fri (11.7.) At 0900 I met Gudrun & Michael, Martina & Thomas at the departure station of the Grubigstein gondola, which has taken us in 2 sections from 1000m to 2030m.
just unboxed: Michaels harness (finally!)
Wind conditions proved rather difficult and at first we have chosen a 'wrong' launch site.
nice launch (E), but the wind came from 'every' direction, but seldom from straight in...
So we had to hike back up to the godola station and the even higher to a (SE) launch) :-(
SE launch at Marienbergbahn, where we have found steadier wind conditions
Gudrun, Michael and Thomas had taken along brand new Leeloos in order to check them out. Inflight, the air has also been 'strange': Martina and Gudrun reported bumpy conditions with lots of sink at times, I basically had a smooth ride and could even climb a bit. But with their reports in mind I didn't push it very far.
Michael
looking back to Grubihstein. We launched from the top left slope
huge LZ (between the two tracks in the middle of pix)
Later we went up again, hoping to launch direction NW, but the wind has been too strong/ gusty, so we just watched a local pilot launching (but it has not been a good launch...). Back to Lermoos by gondola.
NW/ N-(cliff) launch (very short and no room for errors due to the cables of the gondola immediatly behind
The local tandem pilot recommened 'Almkopf' at Bichelbach, resched by gondola and a 30' hike - so I didn't join the rest, which turned out to have been a good desicion, as also there the wind hs been too strong. At dinner, Michael announced that we should go to Tannheim/ Neunerköpfle, tomorrow, as there the launch direction (W/ NW) should be more suited to the prevailing wind.
Sat (12.7.) We met at 0900 at Tannheim and rode to launch: quite a large number of Leeloo pilots had gathered ;-) In the beginning, due to lots of clouds, thermals had been weak and it has been hard to get above 1900m, but as the day wore on and the clouds partly disappeared, conditions improved. I only made a flight in the morning, as I didn't feel too well...
Neunerköpfle West launch
I think the last time I've gotten applause for a landing has been in the late 90's, when landing Balair holiday charter flights ;-)
10.7. Around 0800 I had left home driving to Tannheim (AT), (about 3 hours) on my way to a 'Leeloo-Treff' in Lermoos the next two days (Fri/ Sat). Lermoos is probably best known as a Turnpoint in the XAlps Race, just to the East of the 'Zugspitze'.
Tannheim is a convenient PG-site with the landing/ parking close to the gondola station and 2 launches (East / West) not far from the gondola as well. Unfortunately the North launch is not available for solo pilots :-(
Overview: LZ in front of parking; Neunerköpfle; the forest lane on top is the North launch
North launch
West-launch
As there had been quite some more clouds than I had anticipated, my first flight has been more or less only an extended 'sledder'; for the second flight the sun had burned off a bit of humidity and I have been able to climb to cloudbase at 2350m. For mid-June, it felt rather cool...
Pano looking East: Haldensee (left); West launch (at 2 o'clock of gondola station)
The last days of June we (Ruth and I) have spent in Arosa in order to get away from the 30°+C temperatures in Fehraltorf. Most days we had dinner in Medergen enjoying the great sunsets
I also tried to fly from Weisshorn twice, but on both occasions the wind situation has not been suitable for me :-( - but nice views.
'Scheisshorn' ;-)
5.7. Finally conditions permitted to make a flight. Originally I had planned to go to Ebenalp and when I had made this desicion, the webcam on launch had shown a clear, blue and cloudless sky. But already halfway there I could see, that the area had become cloud-covered, so I changed my mind and drove to Schänis/ Hüsliberg, perfectly on-time for the next shuttle to launch :-) Quite some pilots had shown up and the shuttle was running continously, bringing pilots and students. But it took quite some waiting before conditions finally turned on.
catching the glider after a not so perfect spiral-exit
But the wait had been well worth while: smooth thermals up to 2100+m and great views. I landed after 1.5hrs. Michael would have like my launch ;-)
Thr (19.6.) very hot; very high pressure; big inversion/ very stable >> almost no thermals :-(
Eddie made a nice flight with my LeelooX and he rather liked the wing ;-) He has been lucky, as he has been the only one in the morning to catch some thermals and he could even topland. I on the other hand flew afterwards in less than 5mins top to bottom...
'Whitter' - Edie's dog
Gyrn Moelfre. Pano looking South; LZ in middle of pix
Eddie getting ready to launch my LeelooX
Luckily there has been a flight school present, so we could ride with them to launch. Eddie's second flight (on his own wing) lasted also only a few minutes; he flew then again more with the same result ;-)
Only later in the afternoon the inversion began to break and Eddie made another nice flight. I also made a second flight, but no thermals, just ridge soaring, which became 'boring' after a while...
Gyrn Moelfre (lower) launch (toplandable)
huge LZ
Later we had dinner at a local inn together with a couple of local pilots. Afterwards I drove to a hotel in Shrewsbury, as Dave (a local instructor and friend of Eddie), had recommended to fly a site called 'Wrekin' the next day - but with a chance of max 50:50 due to wind.
Fri (20.6.) Already when I left the hotel, I could feel that the wind speed was rather fast. I met by 0900 Eddie at the parking for Wrekin; he had already walked up to launch and reported strong wind: barely launchable (but apparently a very nice launch). As the fcst for Saturday looked very bleak, we settled the open accounts while having a cup of tea; I also booked a ferry passage to Calais. Then we said good-bye and I drove to Dover (420km/ 5hrs) with almost no hold-ups (contrary to the opposite direction...) While waiting to embark I had organized a hotel in Calais, so I could start the drive home (about 850km/ 9.5hrs) well rested...
White cliffs of Dover
Sat (21.6.) ...already the longest day of the year :-(
Uneventful drive back home, as there have been only a few lorries/ trucks on the road.
Conclusion: of course many would call it a 'write-off' with only 8 flights on 4 sites in 12 days - especially compared to last year (UK'24 blog starts here). But I don't think so, as I feel I have improved my reverse- / cobra-launch technique quite a bit thanks to Eddie's inputs. The thermal flying here is also quite different to what I'm normally used to: with working altitudes of sometimes barely more than100 meters, one has to 'milk' the first available thermal, otherwise it's 'game over' and back up to launch. Also here Eddie has given me valuable inputs/ advice; and anyway: it's fun and very interesting to hang out with him as he started paragliding also in the late 80's and being also an instructor, tandem pilot and 'paraguide' in India (several months each year) he has an very wide range of experience.
Total distance driven: just a little more than 4300km ;-)
