Sao Paulo

And while Konrad Heilmann is up north chasing records in Ceara, I had plenty of work with me on my short trip to Sao Paulo, really interesting new projects. I was preparing a presentation for our annual DHV meeting in November, when suddenly Guido stood next to me - he had a longer stay as he is flying from Munich, so he had brouhgt his girl-friend along for a holiday. We both left on Saturday, but our flight was about 1,5 hrs later than Guidos, and even though he was in an A340 and we were in the faster 747, we could not catch up with them ;) good to meet friends far away from home.
I wish I could come back to Sao Paulo in a few weeks for the F1 Grand Prix - they had a race today in South Korea with a lot of rain, and it was looking good for Sebastian Vettel in pole position at first. It broke my heart to see Sebastians motor bust in the 45th round, he fell back to 4th rank overall. Still a chance for the title, don´t give up, magic happens, I keep my fingers crossed!

Seize the day!

Every day is special and a gift, just sometimes we forget about it. I am thankful for the privilege to be alive, for great family and friends, incredible opportunities and a maximum of freedom. Today is a special day, so enjoy life to the fullest, breathe every second of it, live your dreams, do it today, not tomorrow!

a-ha concert in Munich tonight

After having come back from Arizona, I went to the Dolomites, just for a day, with my friend Regina. This time, we had a professional outdoor photographer, Florian Wagner, with us. As the weather was dreadful on the northern side of the alps (too much wind and fog), we decided to go south and were rewarded with a perfect day. We met Alex Ploner in the morning, picked up his friend Alex who supported Florian as a tandem paraglider pilot to take photos from us in the air, and set up at Sella Pass. Tough for hang glider pilots to carry up and set up on the steep hill, but then I started right into a thermal, the crystal clear air took us up to about 3400m, and we kept attacking the photographer in the tandem glider until his memory card was full. Just one picture for a first taste here ;)
You will see the result in the "Fit for Fun" magazine in a few months!
Different world on the next day - a training day in Frankfurt airport, then on Thursday I flew to Bangalore (working). Our Captain was Thilo Wendel who had been flying paragliders in the German league a while ago and had been the Hessenmeister in sport class several times too. Unfortunately, the wind in Bangalore was up to 30 knots in 1500m, so way too windy for us to go flying the Nandi hills. Maybe next time?
Back in Munich for a couple of days, I will go to the first of the last a-ha concerts in Germany tonight. Time is rushing at the moment, tomorrow I already have to work again - at least it will take me out of the rain and cold.

Thorns

We had a great last day yesterday, preparing the BD-5 for the long trip over to Europe. Guido enjoyed the last flight in Arizona very much, his smile stayed in the air long time after he left. Check out the first film about the BD-5 flights here.
When I was checking out the area, I thought of Dustin Martin, one of the best US hang glider pilots. He always puzzled me because he was wearing big knee pads when flying, like what you would wear for inline skating. His answer was, "Where I come from, everything has THORNS." I knodded, not really understanding what he meant. Now that Ive seen his home turf Arizona, I know EXACTLY what he was talking about. Even the smallest bush has prickles, the huge cactuses are everywhere, sporting big thorns... how can you ever go cross country here? Even Guido said he never dared to try (hang or paragliding). So Dustin, years later I finally get your point ;)

Flying in Marana, Arizona, Timezone GMT - 7

Sometimes dreams become true. For Guido a big dream came true with this little fast bullet, the BD-5 plane. Only 3 of them exist in flying condition in the world, and Red Bull had been lucky to be able to get one of them. For me a dream came true to go flying with Guido again and work with him, filming and photographing in an amazing scenery in Arizona. We are off to the airfield again soon, so more pics later when the storms are out..

Going to Tucson

I could not make enough time to fly to Australia and compete in Canungra this year - their weather forecast looks pretty grim, the first day yesterday was cancelled due to rain, and there is more on the weather chart... they are thinking about postponing it to March - I would love that idea, maybe a chance to get back to my friends in Canungra and fly with them?
Instead I will go to the dry desert. No cloud in sight in Tucson/Arizona for the next few days, just sun and heat. Beautiful! I will meet Guido and watch him fly the new little toy - the James Bond BD-5 jet. After some introduction flights, they are going to disassemble it and send it over to Salzburg, where it will be set up again in the Hangar 7. This cute jet is so fast and small that you barely see it! When you hear it, it has already gone past you.
Maybe also a chance to meet Felix and see how his Stratosphere-project is working out? Or briefly see Kraig for an interview? So many things to do...