Fly high!

Hey bro,

I bet you are already teaching the angels some silly aerobatics, happy that you are not bound to gravity anymore. Not that you ever were ;)

We saw the eagle waving his feather tips at us, and we knew it was your last good-bye.

Guido, I will always share every moment in the air with you.

Guido

No words can describe our loss, this darkness – at least it is raining today in Munich, so my tears blend into the grey sky. One of the finest, most talented pilots in the world, one of my friends for half of my life, the sunshine of the flying community, left this world on his final flight yesterday. Guido died when he tried to emergency land his BD5-J south of Gnadenwald in Inntal in the afternoon of the 1st of May 2013.

It was not a stunt flight, not a daring manouvre, no weather problem - Guido simply wanted to fly the plane back to Salzburg when he experienced a technical problem. Knowing him, knowing the plane, and knowing the area, it seems to me that he tried until the last moment to cope with the technical problem and to make sure that noone else gets hurt. He could have bailed out of the jet with his parachute, with the possibility of the plane crashing uncontrollably and hurting other people. Instead Guido chose to steer it into an empty field where he crashed and died. Not a lack of competence – he was one with his wings and he knew every single field in that area. A lack of luck in that very moment caused his death.

Guido, you physically managed to not hurt anybody else, but you left your family, your loved ones, your friends and the whole world inside and out of aviation in mere shock and pain beyond words. Everybody adored you, not just for your aviation skills but also for your shining personality. And you were as modest as can be. You were aware that you lived your dream and appreciated it. Your legend will live on with anybody who´s life has been touched by your inspiring enthusiasm, freedom and love for anything that flies!

Little brother, I know you have good company in the eternal sky. Some day we will race together again!

Mexico D.F., Timezone GMT -5

 I enjoyed another very short working trip to Mexico City, meeting friends from the Valle competition. Perfect temperature and sunshine makes it easy to like this place.
On the photo you see Nopal, the edible cactus. Very tasty and superhealthy - I always bring some home to cook it for my best friends and family.
Meanwhile, spring finally turned on in Europe as well, but a lot of cable cars up to the mountains are closed at the moment. Im off to work until the first week of May anyway.

Official DHV certification for Moyes RX3, 3,5 and 4!

Today on the DHV homepage: The DHV certification for Moyes RX 3, 3,5 and 4 is completed! A great glider has the German Gütesiegel - now I just need some flying weather (and less snow). In Trent Brown´s words, "How good was Forbes?"

Bassano for the Europeans?

After having set up and packed up three days in the clouds, most of us left Bassano when it started raining heavily again on day 4. Take offs and landing fields looked like mud pools, and low cloud base, cold temperatures and a lot of humidity would limit the flying conditions for the last day.
The remaining 13 pilots, two rigid wing and 11 flex pilots, flew a short task between Rubbio and Possagno. With a base of just 1300m, the crossings must have been difficult. Christian Ciech got furthest, followed by Davide Guiducci and Suan Selenati. Uli Eysel and Norbert Kirchner were the only German pilots left in the comp.
Interesting news is that the Bassano organizers are thinking about putting on the next European championships in hang gliding. Since there was no bid yet, they should be able to be successful with their offer, even if they can´t organize a pre-europeans in time.

Bassano Day 4

 Two different air masses were moving around our area, a cold front in the west and a warm front in the east, we are in the occlusion. We could see blue sky and sunshine in the west at Schio, and dark low clouds and rain two our east at Crespano. Again they sent all (remaining 30) paraglider and hangglider (10) pilots up to Rubbio launch because they saw a possibility for some lift around 2pm. This morning Didier Mathurin told me the same, his XC Skies saw a chance to fly between 3 and 5pm, but there was also the possibility of rain or even storms later during the day in the mountain area. Out in the flatlands in front of us to the south it looked better.
No one except two Aeros pilots who had to do some measurements on their gliders with Primoz set up their wings. As soon as there was some sun in the plains, all the rain from the last three days started to evaporate and formed low clouds. Base moved up, so we were waiting in the cloud most of the time until they decided to cancel the day at 1.20pm. There will be an information at 3pm what they expect for tomorrow and if there will be a task or not. At the moment it is raining again at the goal field at Garden Relais.
I went to Murano yesterday and had a look at the colourful glass works that this Venetian island is famous for. Also I found a church where I didn´t have to pay for having a look around. A nice painting of Tintoretto and one Bellini, several huge frescoes and other paintings, and we were the only people in the church. I always liked the idea to see the art in the place it had been created for, but lately they adapted the concept of Florence to just charge for every little bit you want to see.
In the evening, the organizers offered live music and free pasta in the exhibition tent. Just around the tent you had to cross quite some pools and mud wholes ;)

Bassano Day 3 - here comes the rain again

As usual, the day started with sunshine and a clear view of the mountains. But you could only see this beautiful picture if you got up at 6am, after that, the fog rises, the clouds thicken and hide the mountains. The prediction is for rain again today, let´s see what the organizers think of the forecast - Right, they just cancelled today as they expect the rain to start in a couple of hours, going on for the whole day. They see a slight chance for tomorrow and for sure a task on Monday. 

Bassano Day 2 - in the clouds

The positive news of the day first: There was no rain until 4.30pm. We went up to launch, this time only to the ramp which is lower than the campeggia take off. We set up the gliders in the thick clouds and waited for them to rise. They didn´t, they rather got thicker and lowered their base, so the day was cancelled around 1pm. Sightseeing in Venice instead.
The pizzas with French fries are still a strange sight for me ;) I preferred gnocchi with porcini mushrooms in a creamy sauce, very recommendable at Antica Abbazzia!