Scotland : Golf (alone), sightseeing and boating with Ruth

As this is in principle a paragliding blog, I make just one post regarding my/ our trip to Scotland.

On May, 9. I departed by car via Essen (DE) - IJmuiden (NL), from where I took the overnight ferry to Newcastle (UK), to Scotland.

The first part of the trip I'm alone, golfing in the Inverness region: Strathlene, Buckpool, Hopeman, Kinloss, Dufftown. One more round of golf this Sunday near St.Andrews: Lundin Ladies with Ron. In Cullen I had the pleasure to stay with Alastair's mum, in Nairn, Fiona & Jim were most generous hosts - many thanks again to all of you!

GC Hopeman, H12

On Monday (19.5.) I will pick up Ruth at EDI airport and we will tour a part of the west of Scotland for 12 days: Arran Island, Isle of Mull, Isle of Skye, Loch Ness and the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.
On 28.5. we'll be at Falkirk getting our boat for 10 days of cruising on the Grand and Clyde&Forth canals to Glasgow, Edinburgh and back. Ruth will fly home from MAN on 10.6., I'll be driving home and expect to be back on 11. or 12.June... (and on 23.June I'll be departing for the 'ultimate' PG trip in the US with Andy and Stacy.)

But you can find pictures of this trip here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/taggi/collections/72157644648199452/

Arosa -2

Again a few days in Arosa with 2 flights; on Saturay the 'Föhn' was simply too strong to permit a PG-flight. On both days I was able to climb above 3000m with excellent visibility on Friday.

3040m: looking towards 'Bernina'

Kiwi + Pax: 'Medergerflue' (left), 'Tiejer Flue' (right)

Arosa

Arosa -1

Finally 2 good days with great flights in Arosa! Even though that in the beginning (both flights) it was much harder 'work' than expected (weak thermals). Also the thermals didn't get much above 2700m. On the 2nd flight (FRI), on the 'Seta' (above 'Langwies') there was finally a real good thermal which took me from 1920m to 2750m with good climb rates :-)

Arosa (seen from above Langwies)

looking towards the Bernina group (on the horizon)

Medergen

Abdalajis

Finally! After not having been able to fly so far this year in Arosa and now being here already 4 days, I have been able to fly in 'la Capilla'. It was a nice flight, not really good -too much clouds and rather windy (25+kmh).

...and much windier higher up...

Austria: TMZ planned ?? (Transponder Mandatory Zone)

There are rumors that Austria is planning so called TMZ's (Transponder Mandatory Zones) applying to ALL aircraft (including HG, PG, Sailplanes).

There is also a petition in the internet against this.
If you want to sign the petition, follow this link (in German).

Here is some info (in German only -sorry).

Durch eine Weisung des Bundesministeriums für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie (bmvit) an die Austro Control (ACG) ist bekannt geworden, dass in Österreich eine generelle Transponderpflicht im Luftraum E ab 5500FT bzw. ab 7500FT geplant ist.Bisher waren Paragleiter, Hängegleiter und Segelflieger von dieser Transponderpflicht explizit ausgenommen. Das Ministerium argumentiert, dass mit der Einführung von SERA (Standardised European Rules of the Air) dies in Österreich notwendig geworden ist. Das deutsche Verkehrsministerium sieht diese Notwendigkeit nicht und wird trotz Einführung von SERA eine Ausnahme für Para-, Hängegleiter und Segelflieger vorsehen.
Wird diese Verordnung wie geplant umgesetzt, ist dies quasi der Tot für den Streckenflug mit Para- und Hängegleitern in Österreich. Der Betrieb eines Transponders ist für Para- und Hängegleiter aus rechtlichen, technischen und finanziellen Gründen praktisch unmöglich. Wir fordern daher:
„Keine generelle Transponderpflicht für Para- und Hängegleiter in Österreich!“ (nach dem Vorbild der Bundesrepublik Deutschland)
Eine Durchführung der RedBull X-Alps 2015 wäre mit diesen Beschränkungen wahrscheinlich nur mit umfangreichen Ausnahmegenehmigungen oder gar nicht durchführbar. Das Inkrafttreten der neuen Luftraumstruktur ist für Anfang 2015 geplant.

Anfänglicher Petitionstext (wurde am 02.Feb.2014 durch den oben angeführten Text korrigiert)
Konkret geht es nicht um die Transponderpflicht selbst, es geht um das ABSENKEN von Luftraumuntergrenzen des kontrollierten Luftraums, denn in einen kontrollierten Luftraum darf man OHNE Transponder nicht einfliegen. Die Transponderpflicht entsteht implizit durch das Absenken der Lufträume, eine Transponderpdlicht per se ist nicht geplant.
Die Austro Control plant, für ganz Österreich die Luftraumgrenzen abzusenken und somit wird eine Transponderpflicht für jedens Luftfahrzeug einzuführen. Transponder sind jene Signalgeräte, mithilfe derer Flugzeuge im Luftraum geortet und identifiziert werden können. Bislang waren hauptsächlich Verkehrsmaschinen mit solchen Geräten ausgestattet. Die nun angedachte Ausweitung des kontrollierten Luftraumes passiert vor dem Hintergrund der von Brüssel betriebenen Harmonisierung der europäischen Lufträume und soll auch für jene Gebiete gelten, die der nicht-gewerblichen Fliegerei bisher frei zur Verfügung standen. Jedes Fluggerät, das höher als 5500 Fuß (rund 1700 Meter) aufsteigt, müsste demnach mit Transponder ausgerüstet sein.
Erfasst wären damit auch Drachenflieger und Paragleiter. "Einen Transponder mitzuführen, ist für sie aber schon rein logistisch kaum bzw. technisch und gesetzlich UNmöglich". Auch die Segelflieger könnten ein Problem bekommen. "Erstens kosten diese Geräte zwischen 1200 und 2000 Euro, zweitens brauchen sie nicht wenig Strom, den es an Bord eines Segelflugzeugs nicht gibt", sagt Gaisbacher. Sein Fazit: "Die Austro Control macht sich das Leben mit dieser Vorgangsweise möglichst einfach. Es gäbe andere Wege, den EU-Vorgaben gerecht zu werden."
Möglicher Kompromiss

Bei der Austro Control bestätigt man, dass die Ausweitung der Luftraumgrenzen und somit der Transponderpflicht ins Auge gefasst würde. "Allerdings laufen derzeit Verhandlungen mit den Betroffenen, denen wir nicht vorgreifen wollen", sagt ein Sprecher. Solche Gespräche haben etwa in Innsbruck bereits dazu geführt, dass die Höhe, ab der Transponder künftig allgemein verpflichtend sind, auf 12.500 Fuß (rund 3800 Meter) angehoben werden soll.

In Deutschland ist es so geregelt, dass Hänge und Paragleiter von der Transponderpflicht ausgenommen sind. Warum so etwas dann in Österreich einführen?!

There is also a petition in the internet against this.
If you want to sign the petition, follow this link (in German).

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DHV has also published some info concerning this subject: see here .

Happy Landings!

What an amazing year! 

My thanks go to all who have helped me get back into the air.

Special thanks to Ruth for accepting that I cannot be without it, even though I 'promised' in march'12 after my accident, that I wouldn't fly any more. But who have guessed that my recovery would be so well and complete - it couldn't to be even dreamed of at that time.

Many happy landings to all of you!

And thanks for dropping in on my blog.

Arosa -Isla

Snow Art

WOW!!

The link to the story (and more pictures) can be found 

here.

© TagesAnzeiger 27.12.13

Arosa -Wind

Beautiful day: sunshine, fresh snow, but a little (too) windy (for me)...

Pano from 'Arosa Weisshorn' looking SW towards 'Aroser Rothorn' (rt), 'Piz Ela' (lt)

Season's Greetings!

My best wishes to you all, may you have great and safe flights!

BRgds

Taggi

Chasing Summits

Flying in Pakistan/ Karakorum

"Chasing Summits"

Unfortunately, I couldn't upload the video -you'll have to use this link here.

Arosa

Finally, a (short) winter flight. Just a sled ride from Arosa to Chur (25min) - but better than nothing  ;-)
Unfortunately later this evening the conditions have not been good enough for me for a 'full moon flight' (wind direction on launch and limited landing space near the not yet completely frozen lake in Arosa...)

Arosa Weisshorn, looking West

 

 Weisshorn

 looking towards Chur/ Calanda

Chur, the old city center (cathedral)

She did it again! PG: New women WR: 376.5km

 

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

Category: Feminine
  
Type of record : Straight distance 

Course/location : Quixada - Barras (Brazil)

Performance : 376.5 km 

 

Pilot : Nicole Fedele (Italy)

 

Paraglider : Peak 3 / Niviuk Date: 07.11.2013

Current record : 336.4 km (20.11.2012 - Seiko Fukuoka, France)

“After four years of attempts, hopes and frustrations, ups and downs, my day has finally arrived! On 7th November I set a new feminine free distance World Record in a straight line: 376.5km from Quixada takeoff to Barras in Piaui region.
Quixada is a very special place that can put yourself in a state of mental stress because bad days are often more than happy ones and it is not always easy to keep your motivation high when you bomb 7 out of 8 times like it happened to me. Waiting for a good day is sometimes also very frustrating when it seems that that day will never arrive! Patience is very important and this year in Brazil I trained a lot, believe me!

On 7th November conditions did not look so good early in the morning so I spent some time on the takeoff hanging around, talking with other pilots, and waiting for a good window. Then at around 8:00 am I took off and left the hill after a few minutes together with other 5/6 pilots.  The first part, that is usually very tricky, was easier than expected and I started to think that probably it was not such a bad day.

We flew to Madalena and we arrived there quite quickly, afterwards we started to spread out a little bit and I flew further to Monsenhor Tobosa with my husband. In the area of Nova Russas the sky was all blue and my only mate bombed out.  For the rest of the flight I flew alone, I just met some urubus from time to time. In the area of Piripiri I had a couple of low saves and I lost a lot of time climbing in some very smooth thermals. After crossing Piripiri, I started to feel the smell of success… in the Morning I put the waypoint of Barras on my GPS and now I was really focused on it. I landed at 5:15 pm in the middle of the town after communicating my intention to the retrieve car that was following me.

My glider, the Peak 3, behaved perfectly: it climbs well and it is easy to handle also in the rough and not well organized thermals of Quixada...”


(Text copied from: http://www.niviuk.com/news.asp?news=382)

How a fly flies

or the direct link:

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_dickinson_how_a_fly_flies.html

Spain (Malaga) -8: last day: (again) no flight

So my visit to Malaga -Valle de Abdalajis- is (already) almost over: I'll be flying home tomorrow.
Today -as was to be expected by the forecasts- turned out to be another beautiful day with mild temperatures, blue skies and unfortunately also with almost no wind at all. So even by driving around the whole afternoon: first to Loja, then to la Capilla and finally to Poniente I was unable to make a flight.
Only in la Capilla a few Pilots with high performance gliders (Ozone EnZo and so) managed to stay up for longer...

Poniente -intermediate LZ

But all in all it was a very pleasant stay here in Andalucia: meeting old friends (Giacco, Rolfito), making some new ones (José, Pepe, Raffa), visiting some amazing places (Cordoba, Setenil) and getting away from the cold and rain/ snow at home.

Spain (Malaga) -7: Abdalajis (no flight)

Very strange day today: in the morning it was overcast and it looked as it would be raining later in the day. Then slowly the clouds were replaced by blue sky and it turned into a nice day.
But where to fly? The winds were weak from 'nowhere': so I started in 'Levante' - no luck; then I drove over to 'Poniente': almost no wind again...

'Poniente', looking NW

So I decided to head for 'la capilla': here many cars/ pilots were waiting. Again very little wind. Some pilots with high-end gliders managed to stay up, the 'rest of us' (para)waited or sunk out. While waiting, I could see, that 2 gliders had managed to climb out in 'Poniente...

la Capilla

Spain (Malaga) - 6: Algodonales (no flight)

Already a few days ago Rolfito (www.andalusien-erleben.com/) had offered to drive me to Algodonales on Friday. In 'Algo' (as we call it) it's quite a drive from the village/ LZ to the TO's, so it's preferable to have a driver, even though it would possible to top land in the right conditions. 
On the way there we passed the 'Sierra de Aguas' and the 'Sierra de la Nieve' and crossed over the 'Puerta dos Ventos' (1190m/asl)

Puerta dos Ventos: looking West towards Ronda

Puerta dos Ventos: looking East towards la Capilla (in background)

In Algo we found lots of pilots on the east TO waiting for conditions to turn on.

But the wind slowly turned south and then south-west. So instead of waiting on the SW-TO, we drove into Algo to have a short lunch.

Church in Algodonales

About 2 hours later we saw some gliders flying and drove back up to launch again, but unfortunately (or luckily), the wind speed in the mean time had increased beyond my launch capabilities. After watching the other pilots flying for a few moments we realized quickly, that also in the air the wind had become very strong, that some of them were not penetrating at all anymore (if not flying backwards) and that they were trying to get down... 

So we started heading back towards Abdalajis. On the way we stopped at Setenil, a very typical Andalusian village with its narrow alleys.

Setenil

A unique feature here are the 'cave restaurants/ shops' digged into the overhang.

Setenil: "Cuevas del sol y de la Ombra"

Spain (Malaga) - 6: Valle de Abdalajis

As forecasted, the winds have switched from 'poniente' (NW, N) to 'levante' (S, SW), which made flying in Abdalajis (levante) possible. Conditions have been extremley smooth, though not very strong, so I couldn't climb very high (only about 330m above TO)...

TO is in the left turn of the road (center)

TO, top-landable

Valle de Abdalajis

Spain (Malaga) -5: Loja

Today's forecast was again for 'poniente' (NW-N), which should have been good for flying in Loja. Unfortunately the wind was way too weak, so after waiting (and hoping) 1.5hrs for the windspeed to increase, Pepe -the ferroviar, Raffa and I finall launched for a short sledder. They landed at the LZ near the highway, I made it into Loja, where my car was parked. So I picked them up there and drove to launch together with Raffa, so he could bring down the club's 'furgoneta'.
While driving up, he recommeded to have trout (a local speciality) for dinner in 'Riofrio' at the Meson Raimundo. Thanks guys for a pleasant afternoon! - even without much flying.

Now the wind should switch to 'levante' (S, SW) , so hopefuly VdA Levante and Algodonales should become flyable...

Pepe

Raffa

LZ at highway entrance

Loja

LZ in Loja

Spain (Malaga) -4: Antequera / Cordoba (no flights)

Antequera Golf

The last 2 days I didn't fly: yesterday I went golfing in Antequera. A nice course, though with Par 72 a little long and tough for me. Afterwards I drove to Teba, but the wind was a little cross and too weak, so I didn't fly there. On the way back to VdA I passed 'la Capilla': here flying would have been possible...

la Mezquita

Today then, together with Rolfito, I drove to 'Cordoba' for some sightseeing. The old cathedral (la Mezquita) is a MUST visit! It's a marvelous masterpiece of Moorisch architecture.

 

Patio of a restaurant

On the way back we saw many pilots flying at 'la Capilla', but I could 'resist' ;-)
Instead we had dinner of the terrace of his villa and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

Spain (Malaga) - 3: Loja

Actually I had planned to fly im 'Cenes de la Vega' today, as yesterday a pilot I met on 'la Capilla' told me she would notify me at what time to meet at the LZ in Cenes in order to get a ride to launch - but I never got such a message :-((

Luckily on my way to Cenes I passed 'Loja' and as I didn't have any pictures of the LZ in 'Venta del Roya' I decided to have a look there.
Here I met José from the local flying club (Club de Vuelo Libre de Loja). In his good english he gave me all the info I needed to find the meeting point in the city. He later also sent me a SMS confirming the meeting time. (José: muchas gracias por todo!)

Irma, ?, José, Miguel?

About 11 pilots rode in the club's minibus to TO, where already some pilots were flying.
It's most probably the best cared TO's I've seen here in Andalucia: all stones have been cleared away and there is space to lay out at least half a dozen gliders - top-landing is also possible due to the size of the cleared area.

It seems to be a site with lots of potential; especially with some thermal activity big flights should be possible. Today no thermals, but absolutely laminar wind.

huge LZ in 'Venta del Roya'

While the sun set over the LZ, on the of the sierra pilots were still soaring...