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!