Merry Christmas! Frohe Weihnachten!

Merry Christmas to all my friends around the world, whereever you are. I hope you are enjoying good health, great company and good food!
I had to work for Lufthansa these days and will have a few days at home before going somewhere I dont know yet for new years eve, since I will be on standby again.
Also Im preparing to go to Australia in January to fly the Bogong Cup - and to meet Carols and Olis newborn son Luca for the first time.
All the best for the new year to you, hopefully some big flying days and always safe landings!

Frohe Weihnachten an Euch alle, ich hoffe, daß Ihr gesund seid und mit Euren Liebsten ein leckeres Weihnachtsessen genießen könnt.
Ich mußte dieses Jahr leider arbeiten über die kompletten Weihnachtstage für Lufthansa, und auch über Silvester werde ich unterwegs sein für die Firma. Keine Ahnung, wohin es geht, denn ich bin auf Reserve, also immer und für alles einsatzbereit.
Im Januar geht es dann nach Australien zum Bogong Cup - ich freue mich schon sehr, den kleinen Luca von Carol und Oli kennenzulernen.
Alles Gute für Euch für das neue Jahr, ein paar Rekordtage zum Fliegen und immer happy landings!

DHV XC

Lukas Bader and I won the inofficial international part of the DHV XC cup, where the 8 best flights worldwide count. Maybe next year they could make it official part.
Nevertheless, we had a great party in Warstein, dancing until early in the morning, with Lukas on the dancefloor all night- I still remeber the great rock n roll acrobatics he taught me at the party of the Worlds in Big Spring! Also Regina was happy that some of our national team pilots are also great dancers!
On Sunday morning, just before the XC and League award ceremony, Lukas gave a fantastic speach about flying in the German flatlands. He is running a hanggliding and paragliding school up in Berlin, where we will have the German Open again next year, which might also become the pre-pre-Worlds, as the club from Altes Lager wants to put in a bid.
I will go to Berlin this weekend to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary, after that on Saturday I will join a sports gala in Cologne, and then-finally!- have a few days off in Munich, before I have to fly again.

DHV-Jahrestagung

Bei der diesjährigen Hauptversammlung vom DHV wurden wir zunächst durch die riesigen Hallen der Warsteiner Brauerei gefahren.Nach einer langen Sitzung mit vielen Anträgen konnten wir Sportler uns dem großen Delegierten-Publikum sehr positiv darstellen, denn unser Nationalteam war mit Hans, Jörg, Lukas und mir stark vertreten. Auch der deutsche Meister Klaus-Peter Wilming war dabei, und ich hab mich gefreut, auch Regina, Primoz und Ecki endlich mal wiederzusehen.
Heute wurden dann die DHV-XC-Ehrungen vorgenommen. Leider gab es keine offizielle internationale Wertung, sonst hätte Lukas einen riesigen Pokal bekommen - er ist dieses Jahr der weltweit erfolgreichste Streckenflieger! Auch ich war glücklich über meinen 11. Platz in der Weltweit-Wertung, leider hatte ich im europäischen Vergleich 3 Punkte zu wenig um offiziell als Deutsche Streckenflugmeisterin zu gelten. Vielleicht nächstes Jahr wieder!
Schön war es, daß ich mit meinen Eltern zu Gast bei meiner Freundin Rebekka in Belecke war. Ihr Vater und sie haben den Großteil der Organisation für dieses Wochenende gestemmt und wirklich einen tollen Event aus dem diesjährigen Treffen gemacht. Nächstes Jahr hat Rudl Bürger die JHV zum Samerberg geholt.

Nagoya to Tokyo

Great, it worked, I went to Nagoya and took the highspeed train „shinkansen“ to Tokyo. Exciting to travel fast! Would be like going from Munich to Frankfurt in 1h 30mins by train. In Tokyo, Toru Goda picked me up and we now start preparing for the pilots meeting tonight that he calls „How to fly well as a small pilot“ – I hope I can give valuable information to my Japanese friends, and Im sure I can learn a lot from them as well!

Es hat funktioniert, ich habe meinen Hauptrequest mit drei Tagen frei in Nagoya bekommen und bin nun auf dem Weg nach Tokyo im „Shinkansen“, dem japanischen ICE. In eineinhalb Stunden fahren wir eine Distanz, die etwa München-Frankfurt entspricht. Die Züge fahren alle 10 Minuten und sind sehr komfortabel.
Toru Goda hat ein Pilotentreffen für heute Abend organisiert, auf dem ich einen Vortrag halten werde unter dem Thema „Wie fliegt man gut als leichter Pilot“. Ich hoffe , ich kann den japanischen Pilotinnen und Piloten interessante Informationen bieten und bin mir sicher, daß ich auch von ihnen jede Menge lernen kann. Zum Beispiel, wie man auch als leichter Mensch bequem auf einem Futon schlafen kann...

Neuseeland und zurück

Nach ein paar wunderschönen Tagen in Sydney ging es weiter nach Neuseeland. Erst auf die Südinsel zu meiner Freundin Tascha nach Christchurch. Wir hatten Glück mit dem Wetter und Tascha und Cris haben mir Dünen-Soaren beigebracht. Ein Riesenspaß, man kann ewig an den paar Meter hohen Dünen hin- und herfliegen!
Vier Tage später ging es dann nach Auckland, wo ich Phil und James besucht habe. James, Mary und ihr kleines Baby Annabelle sind gerade umgezogen in ihr neues Haus in Birkenhead im nördlichen Auckland. Wir kamen gerade recht zum Kistentragen, Bett umstellen, Schrank nach oben tragen und kochen. Ein wenig Krafttraining im Urlaub!
Heute hoffe ich, daß Thai und Austrian noch ein paar Plätze in ihren Fliegern überhaben, damit die Rückreise angenehmer wird als die Hinreise.
Sorry daß ich solange nicht geschrieben habe, aber ich hatte hier in Neuseeland nicht immer Internetzugang.

After those great days in Sydney the journey took me to New Zealand where I visited my friends Tascha and Cris in Christchurch. The weather was great and they taught me how to soar the dunes just around the corner from their home. That little Sonic was a lot of fun! So easy, you could stay in the air forever and play seagull! Tascha and Cris must be on their way to Australia now, as they will fly the next competition over there in Gulgong.
I went up to Auckland to see more friends and their new babies. So nice to be able to just sit down for a bit of time and catch up. This beautiful country is just too far away, wish we all could meet more often!
Today I have to fly back to Munich, trying to go with Thai and Austrian, and hopefully my suitcase will arrive this time.
I have to work this Sunday, my flight will take me to Nagoya and I already look forward to meeting a lot of my Japanese friends. Would be great if a lot of the Japanese female pilots would come to Monte Cucco for the next Women´s Worlds, maybe I can convince them with some photos of that incredible site!
Sorry for not having written for a while, but I didnt have wlan access most of the time.

At the factory in Botany

Today I went to the Moyes factory in Botany with Vicki. Lots of nice memories of the time when I was working with Vicki and her sister Jenny in the office. Today we worked out an interview with Attila for the "Soaring Australia" magazine, but maybe Cross Country is interested as well.
As you see, no glider in the factory because Stanwell is "on" today, so the boys went testflying for a short time, because it started raining, a front will move through today and we might even get some storms tomorrow.
Attila walked in, he had brought my harness down from Canungra in his car (so it would not get lost on the flight). And just some minutes ago Dave Seib came in, he looks a lot healthier today than through the whole competition and said that he feels much better (he even vomited during some flights, still did amazingly well and came 4th in the comp).
Feels good to be back in Sydney. Driving with Oli and Carol through Bronte and Waverley to Bondi Junction made me feel at home. Well, I guess sitting on the table with this incredible family, enjoying Molly´s fantastic chinese cooking, makes everybody feel very much at home.

In Bronte with Moyes

After Canungra I flew down to Sydney with Steve and stayed at Bronte Beach with Molly and Bill Moyes. Their Sunday Dinner is always a great familiy and friends event, catering for up to 50 people I´d say! Now I know how to prepare a genuine coleslaw. Guess one more step closer to Aussie residency ;)
Today I went shopping with Carol and Oli because their car had been stolen yesterday, right down at the kiosk of Stanwell Park while they were at the beach for about 1 hour! Olis harness, flight instruments, wallet, cards and papers were in the car. Not what you need if you expect a baby within the next few weeks. Also they only just got a new car. Should you have a spare harness and you are in the Sydney/Newcastle/Bright area, please help Oli - my harness is too small for him, but at least he can use my vario and gps.Contact him through oliverbarthelmes@gmx.de
We had a southeasterly change today, Stanwell was on and the boys went testflying, but I didnt have my harness yet. The wind will stay, but it might start raining tomorrow. With that car theft I would probably only fly around trying to spot Olis car anyway...
A few more days over here, then Im off to New Zealand to visit friends. A real holiday for a change, sounds just like what I need after all these long flights around the world.

The Worldchampion

Attila won the last day with 1000 points and went up to 2nd place, beating Steve Moyes by a few points. He went out on course early and showed everybody why he won the worlds. Attila flies very fast on his own, he is superconfident and knows the Canungra area well, so it was impossible for the second start time gaggle to catch up with him. I wonder if his daughter Yasmin will start flying one day as well?
I was the only one who took the last start time and still got to goal, because the sea breeze picked up a lot and forced most other people down.

Canungra Classic Awards

Unfortunately I cant upload photos at the moment, but I will try later. The awards were great, Jonny won 1000 $ for first place, Attila came 2nd and Steve Moyes 3rd. I ended up 8th and was pleased that I could gain another 2 places with the last flight. And very pleased that I could take another great Durand mug home ;)
At the moment Im waiting at the airport in Sydney for Steve to arrive, Kim will pick us up and tonight I may participate in the famous Moyes Sunday Dinner at Molly´s and Bill´s place in Bronte. Oli and Carol will be there as well, since Oli will soon pick up his new glider at the factory.

Coming to Japan!

I also have exciting news about my work schedule for next month- I got a flight to Nagoya and I will head out to Tokyo and bring a lot of film footage and some photos of Big Spring, the German Open and other competitions. On the 12th or 13th of November Toru Goda will set up a place for a meeting and party, and I look forward to seeing a lot of my Japanese friends out there, so we can exchange the secrets of how to fly well as a light pilot. Just today was very difficult with that strong headwind, but I made goal, and that means it is possible!

Day 6 and 7 - long flights!

Day 6

Beautiful clouds greeted us up at Beechmont takeoff this morning, promising a good task. 140 km crossing the Great Deviding Range with Killarney as the first turnpoint, then up to Warwick Airfield. When it was my turn to get into the air, the valley was in shade and it was difficult to get up. We managed to climb out, but I thought Im not high enough to cross the hills behind takeoff, so I went back. Big mistake- I did not only loose height, but also the lead gaggle with all the guns in it. All the way I was struggling, I only got to cloud base once on the way and had my harness open several times cause I thought I have to land. In the end, I made it into goal very late in the day, after a difficult fly. Four out of my team made goal, only one didnt get there!
Jonny was sick since the morning, so he „only“ came in fourth. He is still in the lead and has a few points on Steve Moyes, but quite a lot on Dave Seib on third place. Attila moved up to 4th yesterday.

Day 7

Today we found some really rough air in front of Beechmont take off and on course. The task was 98km out to Palencreek, over to Croftby and goal was Coulson. Jonny´s father tucked and he was lucky that the glider quitckly recovered. He said first he wanted to land, then he decided to go on anyway,and he made it into goal! There were about 15 in goal today, the last 25 km were really difficult, heading against a 25km/h headwind, because the sea breeze had kicked in.
Even though Jonny looked still sick, he made it in and should have won this meet for the 7th time now! And I hope that I still stay in the top 10 because then I will get another Durand Mug, the best trophy you could wish for. They are still busy with scoring now, results should be out later tonight. Attila won the day, but a few people landed just a few kms short. Even Dave Seib wasnt sure if he quite made the 400m goal radius.

Red Faces

In the evening we celebrated the old tradition of the "Red Faces Night". Nick started it long time ago, and it is still great fun. Our team plus Camo performed as Abba, singing "Mamma Mia" with new words - "yes, Ive been broken hearted, oh, since the cloud we parted, why why did I let Steve Moyes go..." And we even won the competition! The guys put a lot of effort into the guitars made from glider parts, and Yves supplied the backing music.
Am Abend hatten wir eine großartige Party, die Jungs hier sind echt fit und talentiert. Beim "Red Faces" WEttbewerb hat unser Beitrag von Abba "Mamma Mia" gewonnen. Später hat eine Pilotenband gespielt, es wurde bis spät gefeiert, entsprechend müde ging es daher heute am STart zu. Aber wir haben ja noch zwei TAge, die recht vielversprechend aussehen.

O Reilly´s

Gestern wurde wegen starken Windes abgesagt, also sind Warren, Phil, Neil, Cameron, Gary und ich raufgefahren zu oReilly´s, wo man durch die Baumwipfel laufen kann und außerdem recht zutrauliche Vögel trifft.

Since the day was canned, we went up to OReilly´s, did the tree top walk and played with the tame parrots up there. Great fun!

Day 5/6 abgesagt

Yesterday we had a very strong breeze from the south and the day was cancelled. Today we went up to Beechmont, rain was moving through and a fresh southeaster, low cloudbase, so at 13.00 the day was cancelled as well. Predictions for tomorrow look pretty good, we might get a big day.

Day 4

The Fixed Total Validity let Steve Moyes overtake Jonny Durand in the overall results yesterday. Im ranked 6th overall, quite a good result so far.
Today we went up to Tambo and the wind picked up significantly from the northwest. I considered not taking off into the 48km task, but just when it was my turn on takeoff, it calmed down a bit. The air was very rough, thermals broken, not the nicest conditions. Since I didnt want to take any risks flying into the hills in this wind, I just landed safely in a big field. One of those days that could have been cancelled for safety and fairness for everybody.
Apparently Dave Seib made the Rathdowney goal as the day winner, not many got around the first turnpoint at Hillview.

Day 3

Now we´ve already flown 3 valid and fun tasks in the first 3 days! Since we had a westerly wind yesterday, we went up to Mt Tamborine. The task was an 80km dogleg to the southwest around two turnpoints into the Rathdowney goal.
When we started, the inversion was still low and it was useful to have to wait for the 13.00 start gate. I was high and started out, seeing that Jonny, Steve Moyes, Attila and a few others hung back. They got really high and I already thought I had made a mistake, especially when they caught up on us after 50km, but later they said that they slowly got down and really struggled in the beginning of their task. Attila and Dave SEib even landed after only a few kms!
We flew only in the blue, but thermals got us up to 2000m in the late afternoon, very smooth air made it a fun flight again. At goal, the organizers were already waiting to read in the tracklogs so we could go home directly. They are doing a good job. Except that FTV thing is on again, Tim Cummings Fixed Validity always seems to steal some points and places from me. Gerolf couldnt convince him yet to drop it. WEll, at least Attila and Dave Seib will love it after the bombout yesterday.
Today it looks like another day on Mt Tamborine with a decent task. I dont know about my ranking in the task yesterday, because of the people who started with the second startgate.

Hangwaiting

Yesterday we went up to Beechmont launch and- found a tailwind for quite some time. The clouds looked great, so we waited until the wind blew into our face. And it really started!
The task was about 80 km around one turnpoint. A scenic flight with the goal at lake Moogera. I had a good run and was flying a lot with Steve Moyes. In the end, it was Jonny, Steve and me in the last thermal 12 kms out. We started gliding towards the lake, and the guys did a much better job than me. I fell behind and could see that it would be very difficult to clear the last hill before goal, especially that powerline on top of it. So I decided to turn around and land instead of scearing myself. I landed in a great field 5 km from goal and had a chat with a friendly farmer who came to see if I was alright.
Jonny and Steve were the top two of the day, there were another 5 in goal. My drivers came just before it got really dark, and we had a fast trip home. Then Gemma waited with a great surprise- she had picked up my lost suitcase in Coolangatta!!! So today I can finally wear my own clothes again. Thanks to all the people who helped me out with bits and pieces!

Canungra Classic 2007

This year we are 58 pilots at the Canungra Classic, some guys didnt turn up. I am missing Chris Jones from Sydney, also Ricky Duncan and Adam Parer from Newcastle are not here this year. Ha, neither is my suitcase! Im still walking around in borrowed clothes and borrowed equipment.
Before we went up to Tambo take off yesterday, Steve Moyes and quite a few assistants helped me to fix the new fittings for the new carbon speed bar on my Litespeed 3.5 s. Designed by Attila and Gerolf, it is a clever new improvement.
The task of 55 km sounds small, but the day started late and shuts down early, usually the seabreeze moves in and it gets pitch black at 6.30 pm already.
We flew with a decent height and very nice thermals, so it didnt take Jonny Durand long to fly the task. He won the last 6 (!) Canungra Classics and started with a win into this one as well. And always looks "as relaxed as a stoned lizard", how someone before put it. I came in 11th of the day, also a good start considering a bit of a jetlag and no gear handicap. A few Red Bulls and it all works ;)
The glider is great, it was easy to get on top of the gaggle and stay there, it flies straight and seems to have a good glide! Im so glad that Steve testflew it, because my first flight on it was the first comp day... I hope I can keep this one for the Bogong Cup as well! Its an all carbon frame, Ive never tried that before, but I like it a lot.
More photos later, now I need to get ready for the second day. The weather looks good, we might fly the whole week if we are lucky!

Storms and Rainbows

What a day of drama yesterday! I thought it was too windy to fly (and I didnt have my glider anyway), but when we got to take off, quite a few people had launched. We saw the fire brigade and were shocked when we heard that one pilot had had an accident on take off and had died. Shortly after, a helicopter landed, but not for rescue - australian television had sent their reporters! Six camera crews started filming, we were appaled, most pilots packed in horror and raced away. They aired the tragic news before people were able to contact the pilots relatives! What a cruel world this is, it made me sad and angry.
Later in the afternoon we had big storms moving through Canungra, followed by extraordinary rainbows. On the photo you see the main road of Canungra, and my main provider of internet.
Today it looks quite windy, and I wouldnt mind a quiet day to have more time to get ready and to find my lost suitcase. Jonnys sister Jemma gave me a lot of clothes to wear, even some Timezone pants, so I might be ok for today.

the Film

You find the latest film about the Texas hanggliding world championships here:

http://www.dhv.de/typo/Corinna_Schwiegersha.4623.0.html

The Trip to Down Under

4.30 am in the morning, a noisy cackeling and chit-chatting outside – these birds are colouful parrots, so enchanting to watch that I forgive them their noisy breakfast chatter. I must be in Australia again!

34 hours after I left Munich, I arrived in Brisbane, having flown though San Francisco and Sydney on the way. Unfortunately, my suitcase didnt make it, and I already got some spare stuff so I can at least run and fly the comp, because the Canungra Cup starts tomorrow already!
Neil Petersen picked me up in Brisbane and today we will head out to one of my favourite flying places. I will stay in Beechmont with the Durands who invited me – or should I say, who adopted me? Jonny Jnr and his father are the local flying legends, and Jonnys Mum Judy cooks the best vegetarian food I ever had during a comp! I really feel at home in this wonderful place that Attila once introduced me to as „Canungra, centre of the Universe!“

Vicki sent a new Litespeed 3.5 s up for me, and I hope I can testfly it today. Looks like a westerly, so we might take off from Mt Tamborine. I bet Attila, the reigning world champion, will be back to compete as well as Steve Moyes and Rick Duncan, which, including me, makes it four world champions in that comp! Not bad.

Time to leave and find an open hot spot, so I can post the latest news for you!

Um 4.30 heute morgen ging lautes Geschnatter draußen los, lauter bunte Papageien machten hier im Garten ihr Frühstück- das war so schön anzusehen, daß ich ihnen ihr Gekrächze verziehen habe. Ich muß wohl wieder in Australien sein!

34 STunden nachdem ich in München gestartet bin, kam ich über San Francisco und Sydney endlich in Queensland an, allerdings ohne meinen Koffer. Ich hoffe, er wird bald nachgeliefert, denn morgen fängt schon der Canungra Cup an, und ich wollte eigentlich nicht in K-Mart-Klamotten durch die Gegend fliegen...
Neil Petersen hat mich gestern totmüde am Flughafen eingesammelt und gleich fahren wir los nach Canungra, das Attila mir als „Centre of the Universe“ vorgestellt hat. Ich darf wieder bei den Durands übernachten, in ihrem wunderschönen Haus in Beechmont. Jonny und sein Vater sind wahre Fluglegenden hier in Australien, und meine „Gastmutter“ Judy kocht das beste vegetarische Essen, das ich mir wünschen könnte.

Vicki hat aus Sydney einen neuen Litespeed 3.5 s für mich hergeschickt, ich hoffe, ich kann ihn gleich testfliegen, wahrscheinlich von Mt Tamborine aus, denn wir haben heute Westwind. Der amtierende Weltmeister Attila wird hier mitfiegen, ebenso Steve Moyes und Rick Duncan, das macht inclusiver mir vier Weltmeister in einem Wettbewerb. Rekordverdächtig!

Jetzt muß ich nur noch internet finden...

Canungra Cup, NZ and Japan

At the moment Im still on my work trip in Sao Paulo, flying back this afternoon, then getting my gear ready to leave for Brisbane on Tuesday. Im already looking forward to flying with my friends in Canungra! After the comp, I will even have the luxury of some spare time in Oz and Nz for some travelling.
Sure I will report about the Canungra Cup every day for you.
Coming back in the beginning of November, Im trying to request for a flight to Nagoya with 2 complete days off in Japan as Im hoping to be able to meet some of the Japanese pilots to bring them some films from the worlds and the german open.
I have to pay the price for my time off soon, as I have to work on standby over Christmas and new years this year, so anything is possible then and I hope to end up somewhere nice where I know somebody.

New Film

I just saw the film from Bavarian Television, they made a great story of the Big Spring Worlds, 8 minutes, also featuring the Japanese and Ecuadorian team. They also used some air footage from Koos the Dutch. I guess Charlie will put it soon on the dhv.de homepage into the DHV TV folder so you all can watch it.

Eben lief der Film über die Texas WM auf Bayern 3 und die Redakteurin Helgret Ruff hat aus dem vorhandenen Material eine richtig gute Geschichte erzählt! Ich bin sicher, daß Charlie den Film die nächsten Tage auf dhv.de unter DHV TV posten wird, damit alle ihn sehen können, die ihn verpaßt haben oder Bayern nicht empfangen können.

BR3 WM-Film am Samstag!

Sorry daß ich solange nichts geschrieben habe, aber auch ich bin einfach nur mal Arbeiten, HoustonSaoPauloBoston, mit wenig Zeit zwischendurch. Reicht meist nur zum Auspacken, Wäsche waschen, einpacken und wieder los. Und zwischendurch habe ich zusammen mit Red Bull an den Filmberichten über Texas gearbeitet.
Heute war ein Interview mit dem Bayerischen Fernsehen, das zusammen mit einem Bericht über die WM am Samstag zwischen 16.05 und 17.30 in "Sport am Samstag" gesendet wird. Die Redakteurin Helgret Ruff ist erfahren in unserem Flugsport, entsprechend wird es sicher wieder ein sehr schöner Beitrag werden. Viel Spaß! Für alle, die BR3 nicht empfangen können, wird Charlie kurz nach der Sendung den Beitrag wie gewohnt aufs DHV-TV posten.
Achja, mehr von diesen Qualitätsfotos gibt es auf den Red Bull Photofiles wenn ihr in der Quick search links oben nur "corinna" eingebt und die Suche startet.

Sorry for not having posted any news lately, but I was flat out working for Lufthansa, HoustonSaoPauloBoston with not much time inbetween. Just enough to work on the Texas film footage with Red Bull, and I got a really good story on DVD (again in German...), I guess Charlie will post it soon on DHV-TV. A lot of the participating pilots are in it, I will let you know when it is online.
This morning I had an Interview with Bavarian Television which will be broadcasted this Saturday at 4.05-5.30 pm on BR3, for the guys who can receive that channel. The editor Helgret Ruff is very interested and experienced in producing films about the flying scene, she also made a great story about the German Open, so I expect another quality film on Saturday. I will tape it and Charlie will also publish it soon on DHV-TV so everybody can watch it.
If you like the photo, you can see more in the Red Bull Photofiles if you enter "corinna" into the quick search at the top left.

Texas Film

Here you will find a short film about the worlds in Texas- sorry, only in German:

http://www.spiegel.de/videoplayer/0,6298,20814,00.html

Auf diesem Link findet ihr einen Film über die WM in Texas, der vor Ort gedreht worden ist. In den nächsten Tagen wird Charlie auch auf DHV TV einige Updates von Texas veröffentlichen. Auf München TV lief eine schöne Reportage. Ich fahre jetzt los, um die Tapes in Heidelberg abzuliefern, danach gibts eine Woche Standby- alles ist möglich!

Coincidences

On Sunday I left for Cologne to stay with my brother, a paraglider pilot from Cologne took me with her, after having left some of my luggage with Regina and some with my parents. I dont know the city that well, but when I was dropped in Deutz, it turned out I didnt even need to. The tram doors opened and there was - smiling at me - my brothers girlfriend! She just finished her work at the exhibition centre and was on the way to him. We both couldnt believe our luck. Specially as it turned out that the way to my brothers place would have been more complicated than I expected.
We had Chinese dinner together, then I went to bed since I had to leave early the next morning. The train to Frankfurt airport left before 6am... I had to do the first aid and emergency training, which was more fun than expected - look at my first aid creation on the photo! We laughed a lot, it was a great group and a fun teacher.
The next day, while my brother went off to Venezuela, I had to fly to Houston again, where I am right now. Cloudy skies, lots of storms yesterday. Not much time though, we had a big delay in Frankfurt, so it was just enough time over here to eat, sleep and do some training, running and weights. Now Im nearly leaving again already. Looks like a fun flight with those big clouds out there...

Fun Cup

Today I signed in for the Fun Cup, ground handling a paraglider around two turnpoints and crossing some straw bails. Rebi lent me her Warsteiner glider and helped me to open it, yet I had a pretty tough run... and a lot of fun, as Lenny, young son of Andreas Schubert of Flugschule Wasserkuppe, really showed me how to ground handle paragliders!
Eventually, after a lot of sweat, I got around the parcours and for sure I will be back in Warstein next year for the Montgolfiade. Its a great way to present our sport to the wide public who usually just watches the balloons taking off. Maybe we found one or the other who might subscribe for a beginners course.
Thanks to Rebi and her family for hosting my parents and me! We will be back with them for the annual meeting of our hanggliding association which is also up here in Warstein.

Warsteiner Brewery

So this is where the famous beer originates!
Pictures taken yesterday during my flight in the dragonfly with Jürgen Rüdinger.

My friend Rebi, patiently answering a million questions a day, organizing the event here with the Skyglider Warstein team and her father.

Nightglow Warsteiner Montgolfiade

After the Balloonists returned from their trip last night, some of them set up their gear again to give the audience a great show. While music was playing, they kept turning on their heaters, letting the balloons glow in the night. After that, the fireworks started exploding to the music. We were really lucky with the weather as it stayed dry. You should have seen the traffic jam after the show... but we didnt get jammed because we followed Rebekka the local, she showed us how to escape the crowd so we could get at least a few hours of sleep in.
Still it started too early this morning, at least for my Boston jet lag taste. The sky is grey again, but the fun cup will start in an hour anyway, led by Mike Küng. Rebi offered me her paraglider, so maybe I can participate. Maybe I need a few more Red Bull before that ;)
When it is so dark like autumn, I dont feel too inspired to set up my glider, having just returned from the ultimate, hottest summer i ever experienced (Big Spring, Texas). Im wearing two Icebreaker thermal shirts, a Red Bull fleece and two Adidas jackets to stay warm, looking a bit like the Michelin man. Still some pilots walked up to me yesterday, looking at me, saying," Oh you are really very small...". Bill Moyes put it that way:"How can a skinny little bird like you fly that well?"
Anyway, action starts over here, the wind is picking up, the Balloons give way for the show of us hangglider and paraglider pilots. Even Jürgen Rüdinger is back already for more tows with his dragonfly, must have been about 40 times he pulled people up yesterday.
More pictures later.

Montgolfiade Warstein

One week after Texas, Ive already been to Bangalore and Boston, went to Bremen yesterday to see my parents and drove with them to Warstein today to see the biggest Balloon meet in Europe, a German Albuquerque - I took a lot of photos, thinking of my flatmate Mark whos father is on a retrieve crew in Albuquerque.
Even though the sky was grey, it was an overwhelming, colourful picture to see about 140 Balloons taking off. Mike Kung jumped off the helicopter and gave a great acro show, also did the Renegades. A lot of paraglider pilots were towing, and some hangglider pilots flew as well. I went up with Juergen in his Dragonfly to take some photos of the Warstein Brewery. Only today I saw about 40 Warstein Balloons, there must be hundreds of them all over the world!
Manfred Ruhmer is here, showing off great spins and loops in his Swift, beautiful to watch. Tomorrow Joerg and I will hopefully fly as well. Today I still felt a little jetlagged...
We are hosted by my young para- and hangglider friend Rebi who lives closeby in Belecke, she will hopefully soon join our national team!
Its great to see an event with lots of different kinds of flying. Tonight there will be fireworks and also glowing of the Balloons, if they make it back in time.
More photos and news tomorrow.
Ah yes, Regina and me were speeding around like hoons on that little fun cart...

New and old friends

The nicest thing about a big, international competition is to meet old friends and find new friends and go flying with them- and party with them! The team from Ecuador participated in the hanggliding world championships for the first time, and they dont only know how to fly, but also how to dance!
I was also flattered to have been asked to dance by nearly the whole Japanese team - I cant wait to visit them in Japan and hope that most of them will come over for the Europeans or pre-worlds next year to Europe.

The Irish Curse

We were a bit delayed on our flight back, since one crew member fell seriously ill. Doctor Ecki looked after her the whole flight, didnt get much rest, and finally decided it is better to get her into a hospital as soon as possible, so the plane stopped in Shannon before continuing to Frankfurt.
Last time going back after the worlds from Florida with LTU, we landed in Dublin to send a little girl to hospital... Lucky that the next worlds are in Europe!
Hans, Ecki and the British team helped me handling my glider box and all that luggage in Frankfurt, so soon after landing we were on the road. Ecki fell asleep in the car, since he didnt get a rest at all during the flight. I was happy that I always store a few cans of Red Bull in my car, so I could just go on driving until we were in Munich, where Ecki was picked up by his wife Ingrid and his two young sons Quirin and Xaver.
Rainy and stormy weather in Munich, lucky I can escape and work on the flight to Bangalore tomorrow! I love Indian food and will indulge in Samosas and Paneer Masala.
On the photo, my team leader and friend Regina Glas and Ashanta, our friend and Swiss team leader. It was nice to travel together, cook together, enjoy success together and party together in the end of the comp. I hope we will all meet again soon for more adventures and more flying.

Flying back

So geht unsere Reise wunderbar angenehm, fast märchenhaft zu Ende. Kent Robinson, ein Pilot aus Dallas, lud Ecki, Jörg, Hans, Regina, Primoz und mich ein, bei sich und seiner Frau Suzanne zu übernachten. Als wir nach fünfstündiger Fahrt bei ihm ankamen, wurde ein gemeinsames Kochen beschlossen. Kent zauberte uns frische, selbstgemachte Nudeln, dazu frisches Gemüse und einen leckeren Salat, während ich ein Steinpilzrisotto als ersten Gang zubereitete. Meine Augen glänzten, als zu den Crackern mexikanischer Oaxaca-Käse gereicht wurde. Es hat seine Vorteile, so viele Mexikaner in der Nachbarschaft zu haben!
Nach dem Essen packte Primoz sein Harmonium aus und wir stimmten ein „Happy Birthday“ für Suzanne an, denn sie hat heute Geburtstag. Die beiden werden uns wahrscheinlich im Oktober in Deutschland besuchen, dann werden wir weitere Kochrezepte austauschen.
Kent brachte uns zum Flughafen, wo wir von der Lufthansa-Belegschaft schon erwartet und herzlich willkommen geheißen wurden. Mein Drachen und unser Gepäck wurden in kürzester Zeit eingecheckt, es ist wirklich klasse, soviel Hilfsbereitschaft hier zu sehen.
Das englische Team war schon vor uns am Check-In, sie hatten bereits von meiner guten Plazierung vorgeschwärmt... Jetzt sitzte ich am Gate und warte auf die Crew, um unseren Schweizer Copiloten Patrick zu begrüßen, der mir sehr geholfen hat auf dieser Reise. Er wird uns heute nach Frankfurt fliegen.
In Frankfurt steht mein Auto, von dort aus werde ich dann mit Ecki und meiner großen Drachenkiste nach München weiterfahren.

Pilots Party

Oh yes, pilots know how to party! After a spot landing competition, shortpacking gliders, packing our suitcases, we had dinner at a church in Big Spring (lots of meat, but they even catered veggie pizza for us few funny vegetarians), and the closing and award ceremony, before going to a traditional texan dance hall.
Attila Bertok from Hungary, actually living in Australia, is the new crowned champion of hanggliding, followed by the Austrians Robert Reisinger and Gerolf Heinrichs. Lukas Bader from our team made it into the top ten as best German pilot! I was very surprised and pleased about my fifteenth place and got a lot of really moving compliments from pilots I hadnt met before, but also from the „top guys“ of our sport, guess I never blushed so often as last night. Lucky the lights were dim in the dance hall...
A cowboy band played life music, it kind of reminded me a little of Bavaria. Very unsual, but we all had a great party, dancing until they threw us all out. Ive never danced with people from so many different nationalities on one evening before, amongst the highlights were pilots from Japan, Australia, Ecuador, France, Mexico, USA, not to forget the Rock n Roll with Lukas the professional dancer – I love flying in loops through the air!
Coming back to the motel, I chickened out from the obligatory pool party, because a few nights before lots of people got hurt flying more or less voluntarily into the shallow pool. Vitor the civl official from Portugal even broke his foot and kept our team doctor Ecki occupied the whole night... next time there will be a safety committee for the pool, not just for flying!
Today we will drive to Dallas, recover from yesterday and fly out on Monday, with lots of great memories of the flying and the adventures in Texas. We met really great, welcoming people, the whole city of Big Spring seemed to be involved, we were greeted and interviewed everywhere.
Im looking forward to flying back with Lufthansa tomorrow, since Patrick, a friend of mine from Switzerland, will be the co-pilot, and also the station manager promised to help me get the hangglider box safely back to Germany. It is important to get the glider back quickly, because I already need it again in about a week for the Montgolfiade in Warstein, the biggest Balloon fly-in in Germany, and since a few years, they also invited us hangglider and paraglider pilots.
Thanks a lot to all of you for your interest and your mental support of our team and me, I will keep reporting about upcoming competitions and travels!

Finale!

Heute wurde der Tag abgesagt, nachdem es uns gestern fast im Motel überschwemmt hätte. Drachen kurzpacken, alles einpacken und vorbereiten für die Preisverleihung heute Abend und die Abreise morgen. Wir dürfen bei Kent, einem Drachenflieger aus DAllas, übernachten, bevor wir mit Lufthansa zurückfliegen.
Aber nun das Unglaubliche: Ich bin 15. geworden, zweitbester Deutscher! Ich kann es nicht fassen und freue mich maßlos, gleich werde ich mit dem TEam mit Champagner anstoßen. Wir sind 5. in der Teamwertung geworden, leider haben uns die Österreicher und Italiener noch überholt. Naja, nächstes Jahr wird es sicher knapper. Eine abenteuerliche Reise nach Texas, mit einigen Flügen bis nach New Mexico, liegt hinter uns, wir haben alles gegeben und noch mehr, das harte, disziplinierte Training hat sich für mich bezahlt gemacht! Ich melde mich morgen nach der Siegerehrung wieder.

Today was cancelled after a huge amount of rain nearly swamped us yesterday. ooops sorry I have to run take more team photos and prepare for the award ceremony. Just this much, I came 15th overall in my first open World Championships, Im incredibly happy and still cant believe that I finished second best German!
More tomorrow before we head off to Dallas and then to Frankfurt.

Task 7: 175 km to Hobbs, New Mexico

Yesterday I had a bit of a mess up before take off: a rivet of my vg clamp broke off, and I had to find something to fix it. Bobby Baileys magic blue box had plenty of screws, and Rolands strong tape did the rest. Yet the cloud cover was moving in fast, and I wanted to get into the air soon, so I had to hurry.
After a turbulent tow, Bobby dropped me right into a thermal. The waiting game in the monster gaggle again... when we left, I got low straight away and lost the front guys. Dont know where my concentration went. Christian had already landed at the startgate, and I was about to hit the deck as well, when I finally reached some sun and found a slow climb. Conditions improved a lot on course, it started becoming a race day, but some of the clouds I chose dissipated when I reached them.
Finally I made it to goal, but nearly 50 minutes after the first guys, I placed in the 60ies, but only lost a couple of places in the overall ranking. Robert Reisinger from Austria won the day, catching up to Attila to only 16 points! Yet it doesnt look good for Robert, day cancelled today for rain and storms, tomorrow we have a high chance of rain again. The British team is way in front, followed by the French and the Austrians, we are on fifth place behind Italy.
Time for me to film the funny prairie dogs and get some healthy veggies for cooking tonight.

Gestern fing der Tag gleich mit einem kleinen Desaster an: Eine Niete meiner VG-Klemme brach beim Aufbauen, und ich mußte schleunigst eine Reparaturmöglichkeit finden. Eine Wolkendecke zog heran, nervös sprang ich auf dem Flugplatz umher und fand schließlich eine passende Schraube in Bobby Baileys Blauer Kiste. Rolands festes Tape band ich als Sicherheit noch um die Klemme, es hielt recht gut.
Ich war froh, daß Bobby mich schleppte, denn die Luft war extrem turbulent. Ich war froh, als Bobby mich direkt in einer Thermik absetzte, die mich an die Wolke auf etwa 2400m trug. Danach war wieder warten im Monsterpulk angesagt und hoffen, daß die Wolkendecke, die einem großen tropischen Tiefdruckgebiet vorausging, nicht unsere komplette Thermik beendete. Kurz nach dem Startgate, auf 20km unserer 175 km Aufgabe, war ich schon sehr tief, hatte bereits den Anschluß and den großen Pulk verpaßt.
Der Tag wurde besser, je weiter wir flogen, allerdings war ich nicht besonders gut konzentriert und flog schon mal eine Wolke an, die sich dann leider auflöste, mußte also immer mal wieder Umwege fliegen und umdenken.
Irgendwann segelte ich doch noch ins Ziel, allerdings 50 Minuten nach Robert, dem TAgessieger. Robert rückt damit Attila bis auf 16 Punkte auf die Pelle, allerdings sieht es so aus, als ob es auch morgen weiterregnen wird. Die Engländer führen vor den Franzosen und Österreichern, wir sind momentan hinter Italien auf Platz 5. In der Gesamtwertung bin ich trotz meiner langsamen Zeit und weniger Punkte bloß auf den 15. Platz zurückgefallen, es ist immer noch unglaublich, soweit vorne zu sein in diesem Feld gespickt mit großen Namen von hochbegabten Weltklassepiloten.
Vorhin hab ich schon die lustigen Erdmännchen gefilmt, danach waren Regina und ich einkaufen, um endlich mal wieder was leckeres, gesundes zu kochen. Hauptnahrungsmittel der Einwohner von Big Spring sind Steaks, fettiges Tex-Mex-Essen und Zuckerspeisen, nicht gerade mein Ernährungsplan. Als ich vor zwei Tagen ein Thai-Curry gekocht hatte, zelebrierte ich mit Freunden aus Australien, Slovenien, Deutschland und Großbritannien endlich mal wieder ein gesundes, leckeres Abendessen.
Hoffentlich wehen wir nicht weg, für unser Gebiet ist zur Zeit eine Tornado-Warnung ausgegeben. Wenn ich so einen Twister sehe, filme ich ihn auf jeden Fall. Hm, das wäre dann wohl die stärkste Thermik des ganzen Wettbewerbs ;)

Magic happens! 6. Aufgabe

Yesterday we had the most difficult flying conditions so far. Soon after Lisa towed me into the air, a cloud cover moved in and we all just tried to flee from the shadow, trying to stay up by any means.
I didnt dare going to the big gaggle, since the visibility was poor and there were even reports of cloud flying, so I soon found myself on my own on the way to the first turnpoint. My team mates were far ahead, helping me to find some way around and through the shaded areas. Nevertheless, I got really low about 20km to the first turnpoint. A drifty thermal took me back up to a decent height, but also showed me a significant headwind towards the turnpoint.
Heading forwards I got really low again, I had about 3 circles time before I would have had to land- and the magic happened, I found some lift and stayed in it, even though it was pushing me around horizontally. I was 800m from the turnpoint when I hit the thermal, and 4km away when I had 1200m above the ground again... Jörg was above me, telling me I wasnt the only one who has not yet made the turnpoint, he is really good at giving me strength and patience at the right moment.
I was the last pilot of my team to make the turnpoint, the others were in front and gave me valuable information about the next thermals. Suddenly, about 20km from the 2nd turnpoint, Lukas and Roland called out weak conditions, the shade had moved in again. They could only glide towards the turnpoint and land.
Hans and I were warned to stay as high as possible, taking any lift we could find. Still I found myself extremely low above the hangars of our airfield-turnpoint and called my team leader Regina for help, asked her to create some lift for Hans and me. She started a thermal-Haka immediately, whirling around on the ground underneath us. The Japanese pilots on the ground watched her in amazement, but when they heard it was to help me, they all joined into Reginas magical dance – and yes, it worked, giving Hans, Michi Friesenbichler and me the last thermal of the day!
We were still some 25km away from goal when we finally had to land, fighting for every meter to get some points for our team. Hans and I landed in a cotton field, luckily there were no rattle snakes.
Apparently only a few pilots went further, nobody made goal, Dan the Czech won the day ahead of Alex Ploner, Primoz and Mike Barber. Looks like thanks to my team, teamleader and the Japanese pilots I ended up 5th of the day, my best result ever in a high profile comp like this one.

Gestern hatten wir die bisher schwierigsten Flugbedingungen der WM. Kurz nachdem Lisa mich in der Luft abgesetzt hatte, kamen hohe Wolkenfelder hereingezogen und verlangsamten die Thermik. Mit viel Geduld gelang es uns, auf den wenigen Sonnenflecken zu halten, bis sich das Startgate öffnete.
Ich blieb dem großen Pulk lieber fern, denn über Funk hörte ich einige Berichte von Wolkenfliegen, und da es eh sehr diesig war, wollte ich kein Risiko eingehen. Das bedeutete leider auch, daß ich den Anschluß verpaßte und alleine auf weiter Flur Themik finden mußte. Schnell waren die anderen vom Team 10 bis 20km vor mir, gaben mir hilfreiche Tipps, wo es weitergehen könnte.
Auf 20km vor der Wende war ich das erste Mal sehr tief, fand aber nochmal eine Thermik und stellte fest, daß ich mit einem 30er Gegenwind zu tun hatte... wie schön, daß ich einen schnellen kleinen Drachen und 6 kg Ballast hatte! Nochmehr Geduld erforderte es, als ich 800m vor der Wende in tiefsten Tiefen grundelte und schließlich schwaches Steigen fand, daß mich allerdings horizontal versetzte und mich wieder 4km von der Wende wegtrug. In diesem Moment sprach Jörg mir Mut zu, er war ein paar hundert Meter über mir und sagte, daß einige noch nicht die Wende hatten. Also geduldig weiterfliegen.
Lukas und Roland berichteten von weiter vorne, daß sie nur noch abgleiten konnten, alles war im Schatten. Also hieß es hoch bleiben um jeden Preis und abwarten, ob sich nicht doch noch irgendwo die Sonne zeigte. Regina wartete an der zweiten Wende auf uns Spätflieger, doch Hans und ich waren ganz tief, wieder kurz vor der Landung. Da fing Regina an, wie ein Derwisch über den Flugplatz zu wirbeln, zum Erstaunen der schon gelandeten Japaner. Als sie erklärte, sie wolle eine Themik für mich auslösen, haben auch die Japaner begeistert mitgeholfen- und tatsächlich bewegte sich bald ein Lüftchen nach oben!
Hans, Michi Friesenbichler und ich konnten noch einmal ein paar Meter aufsteigen und danach Richtung Ziel abgleiten, etwa 25km vor dem 169km-Ziel landeten wir, nachdem wir um jeden Kilometer und jeden Punkt gekämpft hatten, in einem Baumwollfeld. Zum Glück ohne Klapperschlangen...
Der Tscheche Dan gewann den Tag vor Alex Ploner, Primoz und Mike Barber, und dank meines Teams, Regina und einiger japanischer Piloten bin ich in der Tageswertung auf einem unglaublichen 5. Platz geflogen!

285 km!

Gestern wurden vor allem unsere Fahrer herausgefordert, denn sie mußten eine weite Strecke für uns zurücklegen. 285 km war die Aufgabe, mein persönlicher Rekord! Die letzten Kilometer wurde ich müde, der Pulk hatte mich abgehängt, keine Wolken mehr, es war schwierig, aber schließlich sah ich den erlösenden Airport von Clovis.
Wir sind tatsächlich von Texas nach New Mexico geflogen, die längste, je gestellte Aufgabe auf einer WM! Lukas war von uns der erste im Ziel, Roland der zweite, ich die Dritte und Jörg der glückliche Vierte. Hans und Christian standen ganz kurz vorm Ziel am Boden.
Bisher lief es hier sehr gut für mich, mal sehen, wie es weitergeht! Vielen Dank für all Eure Glückwünsche, Euer Daumendrücken und Eure positive Anteilnahme!

Yesterday we flew a World Championship record of 285 km, from Texas to New Mexico! It took me nearly 5 hours to get there, and I was superhappy to have set my new personal record as well. The drive back was nearly as long as the flight... Lukas was first in from our team, Roland 2nd, me 3rd, Jörg 4th, Hans and Christian just short.
I had a very good run so far, thanks to you all for thinking of us and supporting us mentally on this adventure!

Tag 4 / Day 4

Endlich Wolken! Beim Briefing wurde uns warm ums Herz, als es hieß, daß wir endlich mal mit Wolken und einer vernünftigen Basis fliegen dürfen. Die Aufgabe war ein Race über 149 km nach Denver (nein, nicht das in Colorado), das der schnellste in 2 Std 09 Minuten zurücklegte.
Unser Team arbeitete wunderbar zusammen am Funk, ich flog mit Roland, Hans und Jörgi fast zeitgleich über die Linie des kleinen Airfields von Denver. Und dann der Schock: Wo um alles sollte man dort landen? Der Südostwind stand cross zu beiden Runways, die Runways waren mit Stacheldraht eingezäunt, umgeben von Stromleitungen, Ölpumpen und leicht hügeligem Buschland...
Ich entschloß mich, zu versuchen auf der Runway zu landen, denn ich traue diesem Gras hier nicht, und tatsächlich: Die Landung war zum Glück perfekt, aber als ich im Gras abbauen wollte, griff ich als erstes in eine Pflanze mit riesigen Dornen, dann überfielen mich winzige Feuerameisen, und dann kam mir zum Glück Ecki zur Hilfe, um schnell aus dieser Hölle zu entkommen, nicht daß auch noch Riesenspinnen, Skorpione und Klapperschlange vorbeischauen.
Ein tolles Ergebnis: Das komplette Team Germany im Ziel! So kann es weitergehen. Heute wird über einen Ruhetag diskutiert, und sollte es den morgen geben, werden sie uns wohl auf 300km schicken heute.
Tagessieger wurde der Australier Dave Seib, Primoz wahrscheinlich zweiter.

Yesterday we flew a race of 149km to Dallas (no, not the one in Colorado...), and finally we got to see some clouds and a real base to work with. So nice if you have thermal markers on the way!
Our team worked well on the radio, as a result we all got to goal. But there we were shocked about the really bad choice of landing options. The runways were both cross wind, surrounded by barbed wire fence, powerlines, oil pumps and prickles in the grass, combined with fire ants... not a perfect place to go after all that work. there was no better field close by, so I landed on the runway. Luckily everybody made it in ok, even though it cost a few broken uprights here and there. I dont think we will go there again.
Today the rest day will be discussed by the team leaders, and if there is one tomorrow, then we might fly 300km today, if conditions look as good or better than yesterday. Exciting to go so far, further than ever before!
Winner of the day was Dave Seib, followed probably by Primoz.

Tag 3 / Day 3

Heute nur ganz kurz, denn die Aufgabe gestern war wieder sehr lang, 169km über Lamesa nach Levelton im Nordwesten. Ich war gestern dran mit DHV-Bericht schreiben, denn – es ist unfaßbar – ich war gestern die schnellste Deutsche im Ziel!
Der Flug war wieder schwierig, alles war blau, Arbeitshöhe etwa 1300 m, also nicht viel Zeit für Fehler. Am besten bleibt man mit einem großen Pulk zusammen, aber die hatten mich relativ schnell abgehängt. Nach etwa 70 km mußten sie jedoch wohl einbremsen, denn kurz darauf sah ich etwa 30 Piloten und konnte nach einem richtig starken Bart mit ihnen aufschließen. Das war mein Glück, welches mich ins Ziel rettete, denn wir waren spät unterwegs und die Thermik war rar.
Als ich landete, kam Regina außer sich vor Freude auf mich zugesprungen, viele der ganz großen Piloten gratulierten mir, daß ich wohl unter die Top 20 des Tages geflogen war. Ganz kurz nach mir kam auch Lukas rein, etwas später dann Hans, also wieder ein klasse Tag fürs Team. Und ja, Tagessieger wurde zum dritten Mal Attila the Hun(k). Jörg, Christian und Roland landeten kurz vorm Ziel.
Von Hans kam unterwegs der Tipp des Tages, der mir viel Zeit ersparte, denn er sagte, daß es links von der Hauptstraße nur ganz zäh voranging. Also konnte ich rechts bleiben und wesentlich schneller vorankommen.
Aber es liegen noch 6 weitere Durchgänge vor uns, wir geben alles!
Auf dem Foto seht ihr Lukas im Ziel, wie er hier fliegt, er trägt nur ein Funktionsshirt und kurze Hosen in der Luft, das reicht dank der großen Hitze.

Just a short report, since it was again a long 169km task yesterday, passing Lamesa into Levelton, northwest of us. Since I was fastest in goal of our team yesterday, I had to write the DHV report as well.
Again difficult, slow conditions, blue sky, thermals only up to 1300m above the ground, so not much time for mistakes. I tried to stay with the big gaggle, but soon I was on my own, with just a few others here and there. After about 70km, Hans gave me the tip of the day to stay on the right side of the road, because him and Primoz were on the other side and it didnt work well. I found really strong lift just after Lamesa and could see the big gaggle again.
After a couple of more thermals I could catch up which eventually took me to goal, because finding thermals with 30 people spreading out is a little easier, even if there is not much lift around anymore so late in the day.
When I landed, Lukas came in just shortly after, so did Hans. Attila won the day again. Jörg, Christian and Roland landed a bit short of goal.
6 more comp days to go, we will do our best!
On the photo Lukas in yesterdays goal as he flies over here. He just wears shorts and a breathable shirt, because it is really warm, even in the air.

Late night / spät zurück

184 km geknickte Bahn über La Mesa nach Crosbyton war die Aufgabe gestern, Hans, Lukas, Roland und ich sind ins Ziel gesegelt und waren erst um Mitternacht wieder im Motel, also verzeiht, wenn ich nur ganz kurz tippe. Attila hat wieder gewonnen, aber insgesamt sind gestern bloß etwa 30 ins Ziel gesegelt. War anstrengend, eine Geduldsprobe.
Auf den Fotos seht ihr das japanische Team, das am ersten Tag die Teamwertung angeführt hatte, und auf dem anderen Bild die Extremmaßnahme, um mein Segel auf dem Asphalt zu retten.

We flew 184 km dogleg via Lamesa to Crosbyton. About 30 people were in goal, 4 from our team: Hans was fastest, then Lukas, Roland and me as last. I had great help over the radio from the guys, they practically talked me into goal! We were back in the motel by midnight, so forgive me for this short post. Attila won the day again. It was a long day demanding a lot of patience.
On the photos you see the leading team of the first day, the Japanese, and on the other photo my trainling edge with extreme measures to save it from rubbing on the asphalt.

Im Ziel! / Made Goal!

Erste Aufgabe der WM: ein 140km Zielfllug in den Nordwesten zum Lubbock Airfield. Ich stand heute als erste am Start und ließ mich von Bobby Bailey ganz soft nach oben schleppen. Leider war schon nach kurzer Zeit klar, daß mein Funk ständig wieder auf Dauerfunk schaltete, sodaß ich beschloß, mich heute auszuklinken, um die anderen im Team nicht zu stören.
Es ging zäh los und nicht besonders hoch, als wir abflogen war ich nur etwa 900m über Grund. Aber mit einem 30er Rückenwind kann man im Flachland auch mit niedriger Arbeitshöhe weite Strecken fliegen.
Unterwegs traf ich Christian, aber er war in Speedmode und bald außer Sicht. Etwa 30km vorm Ziel traf ich Roland und wir flogen zusammen weiter. Im Ziel waren schon ca 35 Piloten, Lukas ist ganz vorne mit dabei! Und zusammen mit ihm und Roland habe ich heute für unser Team gepunktet, das freut mich riesig! Mit drei Piloten im Ziel werden wir den Anschluß an die Topteams nicht verlieren. Tagessieger war wahrscheinlich Attila der Ungar, aber auch Jonny Durand, der Kanadier Brett Hazlett, Gerolf und Andre Wolf aus Brasilien sind ganz vorne mit dabei.
Zeiten gibts von Tim dem Auswerter erst morgen. Und jetzt bin ich müde, die Tage sind extrem heiß, lang und anstrengend. Und mein Kabel habe ich erfolgreich durch das Ersatzkabel ersetzt, daß ich von UK Intech vor der WM geschickt bekommen habe.

1. Task of the Worlds: 140km straight to the northwest, to Lubbock Airfield. I took off first today and was rewarded with a beautiful, easy tow behind Bobby Bailey. Pretty soon I figured that my radio cable was broken and I had to pull it to not disturb my team mates.
When we left, the lift only took me to about 900m above ground, but with a 30km/h tailwind you can cover quite some ground in the flatlands.
On the way I met Christian, but he was in speed mode and soon left me behind. About 30km before goal I met Roland, and together made it in. Lukas was already waiting for us, he was really fast and probably made the top 5. Quite a lot of good pilots landed some 40km short, others made it in. The Japanese had 4 pilots in goal! We were only 3 Germans in goal, so I scored for the first time at a worlds for the guys! That way we will keep track of the top teams and hopefully get closer. Attila the Hun probably won the day, but also Jonny Durand, Brett Hazlett from Canada, Gerolf and the Brasilian Andre Wolf were right up there in the top group.
Now Im really tired, days are long and hot, so I need to go to bed now.

Today we start! Heute gehts los!

A few people keep asking about the start and results, so I put a link directly to the official results page, just below my portrait on the right.
Yesterday we had the opening ceremony in the amphitheatre of Big Spring, a nice location in the Comanche trail park. After that, a real Texan barbecue delightet many of the pilots... well, I enjoyed potato salad and beans, being a vegetarian.
Today is the first day of the World Championships, so I need to go and get ready, more later.

Einige Mitleser fragen schon nach Ergebnissen, denn heute ist der erste Tag der Weltmeisterschaft. Ich hab einen direkten Link zur offiziellen Ergebnisseite unter mein Portrait auf der rechten Seite gelegt.
Gerstern feierten wir die offizielle Eröffnung im Amphitheater von Big Spring, es war sehr schön und beeindruckend, wieviele Piloten diesmal dabei sind. 25 Nationen nehmen teil! Nach mehr oder weniger schrägen Fiddle- und Gesangseinlagen ging es zum texanischen Barbecue, mit ganz viel Fleisch. Für uns Vegetarier gab es immerhin Kartoffelsalat und Bohnen.
Der erste Tag ist meistens etwas hektisch, deshalb werde ich mich jetzt verabschieden und alles vorbereiten. Ich freue mich schon auf den ersten Flug im Bewerb, zusammen mit Jörg, Roland, Lukas, Christian und Hans haben wir ein starkes Team, unterstützt von Regina und Ecki als Teamleader, Rückholer und Hilfe für alle Fälle.