Arosa

As the wx fcst was promising excellent conditions, I decided to go to Arosa. But I left my car in Chur as I was hoping to be able to fly away from Arosa...

Just as I was arriving on the Weisshorn, Markus was getting ready to launch his new Advance Epsilon 8. Unfortunately my E8, which I have been triying to sell, was too large for him :-((
(But just 2 days ago the wing could finally be sold.) 

I found some nice thermals near the 'Tschuggen', which got me to >3100m, so I could fly back to launch and take some pictures.

Back to 'Tschuggen' to gain again some hight and then I flew towards 'Langwies (Seta)' where, as usual, some strong thermals could be found. Here already the first pilots, which had launched in 'Fanas', could be seen heading towards Chur. So I decided to follow (or at least try)...

At 'Montalin' (above Chur) I had to decide where to head:
- west, thereby crossing towards Calanda and then direction Flims/ Disentis,
- north towards Landquart/ Fanas
or
- turning around to 'Langwies' and eventually back to Arosa.

crossing towards Calanda

I decided to go for the first option, but I lost too much altidude during the crossing and arrived rather low on the other side. Furthermore I misjudged the valley wind completely: it was blowing much harder than I had expected (thus no thermals on the other side), so that was to be the end of this flight..

Chur, looking towards launch (Weisshorn)

I landed on the 'Rossboden' (wind upon landing > 25kmh), just a few minutes of walking to the bus station, which took me back to my car.
Not really the flight I had hoped to make, but what else could I expect when I misjudged the situation...

Fanas

On the last day of this excellent flying week I visited 'Fanas'.
Unfortuntely a strong westwind bringing the next front was forecast; and above 2500m its influence could be clearly felt :-((  
That was also the reason, why only a few pilots came to fly this site today; but still a nice flight here in the 'Prättigau' valley.

Fanas -Eggli: HG / PG launch (not as free of snow as some said it would be...)

near 'Chrüz', looking back to launch (almost center of pix)

'Chrüz', looking towards 'Klosters' (right side)

Klosters, Gotschna

temporary LZ in Klosters (upper part of this large field)

Arosa at its best

For the last days I stayed in Arosa enjoying the excellent flying conditions. All 3 days permitted good flights with a max altitude of 3380m as well as excellent visibility :-))
This is the time of the year (from end of Febuary until the gondola up to the Weisshorn closes at the end of the winter season) when Arosa normally offers the the best conditions: (mostly) easy take-offs in almost every direction, abundant thermals, high ceilings, easy landing... Even XC is possible.

Of course I was not alone: many fellow pilots came to fly here as well.
A special highlight for me: my friend Oli had 2 days off and came to visit and fly with me.

Erich

Marlies

Looking South on WED: Palü, Bernina, Rosegg

Looking South on THUR: Palü, Bernina, Rosegg

 I was flying the 777 Rook2 and I'm still extremely happy with this gliders TO caracteristics, performance and agility: It's a pure joy to fly it!

Pano from 'Seta (above 'Langwies') looking towards Arosa

Meanwhile, the remains of the 'Posthotel', which had been destroyed by a fire around XMas have almost been cleared away; but I wonder how long it will take until a new project is approved and finally built. (The 'Carmenna Hotel', which had been destroyed by a fire many years ago (7?) is still not rebuilt...)

Morocco -4

Meanwhile, my visit to Moroc draws slowly to an end. It has, as usual, offered many experiences and flights in different regions. After Aguergour we changed to the coast south of Agadir, where we flew at 'Aglou', 'Legzira' and 'Nigel's place'.

Aglou

Legzira

In 'Sidi Ifni' we didn't fly as the status of the site is unclear...

Unfortunately due the very damp and rather cool weather I fell ill (fever/ influenza) and was out for some days (or not very motivated at all) and didn't recover completey until the end of the trip.
For 1 night we changed to 'Tafraoute/ Idikel' an inland site: nice, warm (!) weather and little wind, so we made our best flights there (Hmax 2940m).

Idikel

The next day flying was possible at 'Col du Kerdous' (but I renounced, as launch was a bit too far from the road for me).
Back to our 'base' Aftas Trip at Mirleft, we tried to fly again at 'Aglou', but wind -direction and -speed have not been optimal, so only some groundhandling for me. Only late in the afternoon, I was able to make a (short) flight at 'Legzira-Felsentor'. Here conditions have been perfect for soaring. so perfect actually that too many people have been flying in the rather small space available...

Legzira

Legzira-Felsentor

On the last day 'Chergui', a wind coming from the Sahara started to blow, which prevented any further flying, so we headed back to Marrakesh. Unfortunatley Khalla's Landcruiser broke down shortly before reaching the city, so we had to wait for a replacement car, while his had to be towed for repairs.

Morocco -3: Sorry!

For the last week internet connection has been lousy to non-existent! Sorry, that I couldn't post at all, even now it is very weak, so you'll have to be patient...

Tafraoute - Idikel

Morocco -2: Aguergour

Aguergour is Marrakesh's primary flying site, about 1.5hrs drive from the city. This site had been closed for quite a while (also when I had been here the last time in 2015). And as the weather on the coast further south didn't permit flying (due to high winds), lots of (foreign and local) pilots flocked to this site for the weekend.

'our' fully loaded Landcruiser

Unfortunately a pilot of our group had an accident when he attempted to make an outlanding :-((
Luckily he broke 'only' his left foot (at first it looked much worse, but then in the hospital in RAK they found nothing else; nevertheless he will be repatriated to Switzerland by REGA (Swiss Air rescue guard), where he'll undergo surgery. We wish him all the best and a quick and complete recovery!!

Aguergour

Pano on launch looking East towards the Atlas mountains

For 2 nights we stayed in a nice Riad named 'Dar Zitoune' about halfway between LZ and launch.

The owner's French is flawless, furthermore he is a PG pilot himself; the food has been excellent.
We flew here on Sat, Sun ond Mon. Monday after flying we moved south to Agadir. But it is not decided yet, where exactly we'll be flying tomorrow, as there are different options according to the latest wx fcst.

Morocco -1: Flight, Marrakesh

Pyrenees (looking SE, towards the Mediteranean)

Nice, relaxed flight with 'Edelweiss Air' with excellent inflight service from ZRH to RAK. 'Edelweiss' is the charter branch of 'Swiss', but tends to offer better inflight service than 'Swiss'.

old time just never seem to die ;-)

Before March 2002, the company from with 'Swiss' emerged was called 'Swissair'. I had worked for 'Swissair' from 1982 until it went bancrupt in 2002, (and then for 'Swiss') but here in RAK the message, that now the company is just called 'Swiss' doesn't seem to have arrived yet (after 15 years)...                       ;-)

RAK - new terminal

Dinner on the place 'Jemna el Fna'

Kobo - XCSoar - XCTracer

Last week I could pick up my 'custom-built' Kobo-Touch in Essen. My friend Hartmut had added a bluetooth-module and modified it in such a way, that it is now running XCSoar. The data for XCSoar (v6.8.6) come from my XCTracer, which connects automatically via BT.

Kobo (mini) with BT-module

Actually I would have preferred to use TopHat as software, which has certain advantages over XCSoar, as it is modified for HG-/ PG-use, but Hartmut could not never get it to run properly, especially connecting via BT to my XCTracer. 

PWC Superfinal 2016 in Governador Valadares (BRA)

...for 9 task she was leading the overall ranking; on the 10th (and last) task she came in second after Seiko Fukuoka Naville and this unfortunately resulted in 2nd overall place for the PWC superfinal.
Anyway: congratulations to Nicole Fedele for a great competiton!

Videos of the competiton can be found here.

la Palma: Campanarios/ el Gallo

Also the last 2 days of this week of flying here on la Palma have been very good.
Yesterday (in Campanarios) I didn't feel so motivated and landed already after 50mins of flying :-((

Campanarios: Hartmut getting ready

Later in the afternoon at my little 'Finca', my neighbours told me that there was oil under my car (Fiat Panda 4x4). Apparently while driving up to Campanarios I must have hit a stone/ rock somewhere. It was not leaking very much, but I called Hartmut to have a look at it. He meant, that it probably would be safe to drive it for another day... But during the night I decided not to take any risks and in the morning informed the rental agency. They offered to exchange the car here at my 'finca' during the day. So for flying today, Hartmut and Gaby took me to 'el Gallo' (before they headed to the airport for their return flight), where I lauched just before the clouds started to prevent a flight from 1300m.
For the first 20min I didn't find almost no lift at all and was already down on the ridge above the LZ. For another 20mins I had to scratch around without gaining much height. Fortunately then the thermals became stronger/ more organized and a nice flight was finally possible. I flew almost to Fuencaliente/ los Canarios, where I had to turn around as conditions became rather 'strange': at times strong sink and also much more wind. I landed after 2h10' in Puerto Naos and took a cab back to my house (where I found the replacement car already waiting).

NOT my Finca -unfortunately ;-)

Puerto Naos (looking North)

Puerto Naos

Tomorrow there will be no more flying as my flight leaves at 1330. But it has been a very good week with lots of nice flight.

777 Rook2

Flying the 777 Rook2 is a real pleasure and not once I felt uncomfortable! Especially launches in nil wind are pretty easy.

Many thanks to Hartmut and Gaby for the great company and all the assistance/ driving/ retrieving!

Last -but not least- my thanks go to Ruth!!

la Palma: el Gallo

At first I didn't feel like flying today; only after I had talked to Roger and he had confirmed the wind situation at the landing in Puerto Naos (light SW) I changed my mind. Luckily I did!!

In the beginning I couldn't find the actual launch, as last time I've flown from here has been in 2004. The launch we had used then cannot be used anymore, as the trees have grown too tall in the meantime. But an alternative site has been designated: though rather flat for a nil-wind launch, but its quite large and free of obstacles; furthermore it's now just below the road and does not require an uphill hike anymore...

'el Gallo' (looking towards Puerto Tazacorte) Bernd launching

Hartmut

I had a very good launch (for me!) considering the flat terrain and little wind. Although the sky was almost overcast, the longer I flew the better it became: I made it south to Fuencaliente / los Canarios. 

Fuencaliente

Here I had to turn around, as I could see the windgenerators at the southern tip of the island indicating a NE-wind with an estimated speed of 20-25kmh.
Coming back to Puerto Naos I decided to cut the flight short as suddenly the wind here had turned south with 10-20kmh and I was not sure if it wouldn't increase even further.

For sunset and dinner we then visited 'Balcon Taburiente': first course on the terrace, after the sun had set and it became quickly colder, we could change to a table inside. The food was excellent (the view anyway!) and the prices moderate.

Sunset over Puerto Tazacorte