Austrian Nationals Day 3

Yesterday we had a third task at the Austrian Nationals in Greifenburg. Due to the weather forecast of od in the afternoon and also due to the fact that we wanted to have the prizegiving not too late, we stayed in the Drau valley with a 70 km task around 4 turnpoints.
Nearly half the field made goal, and Tom Weissenberger won the day. Also, unfortunately Friesi tried to push too hard and had to get up again from low, thus he lost a lot of time on the day winner, and - incredible - was overtaken in the overall result by Johann "Sulzi" Sulzbacher! Everybody also liked to see Sulzi win the nationals for the first time - he is a great and very experienced guy and has probably already been flying when Friesi wasnt born ;)
Second was Friesi, third Tom, on fourth Andre Djamarani, the first German pilot. I finished best woman - we were 7 women in the comp! - and was happy with a 13th place overall. I had a good, fast run yesterday, and it is always nice to climb up a few more places on the last day.
Now it is time to pack my gear and go to work. The weather in Tokyo looks great for tomorrow, just wish I had more than just 22 hours in the city...

Austrian Nationals Day 2

Today we flew 138km around 3 turnpoints. Well I have to say, about 15 people flew the task. I only made 105 km and landed in the shade. We went west to Hochsteinhaus first, then a long way east, and on the way the clouds kept spreading out. Oh and yes, if you are reading this Mr OzReport, we had a northerly wind and quite a bit of rough air sometimes.
The route was very scenic, leading us across the Dolomites of Lienz into Gailtal. Also lots of different ways led to goal today. Friesi was first in again, followed by Walter Maier and Andre Djamarani was first German in goal. Last pilot into goal was Jörg. About 15 made goal they guess, still a big number for a difficult day.
Lets hope that conditions stay stable as they were, because to our east, the prediction is for storms tomorrow.
And yes, I like Magnolias!

Austrian Nationals Day 1

Today we finally flew, 105 km over 4 turnpoints, all the way into Gailtal and back. Cloudbase was high, around 3000m, yet overcast after all the rain and the northerlies of the last days.
My battery runs out, so just a quick note. About 30 pilots of the 100 competitors made goal, Looks like Michi F. was first, Tom W. second and Tschurnig third (all Austrians). Then the Germans got in as well, Jörg was top German, Markus Ebenfeld, Semmo and me made it nearly into the top 10.
Im very happy that my team mate Christa Aichner also made it into goal, as 2nd woman! She was last in and flew 5 hours in these strong conditions! She is a great pilot and we will have a strong team for the womens worlds! Ute and Monique are also here so we can train together.
Lets hope that the wind does not increase as much as they predicted... then we can fly another two days!
pics and more later

Austrian Nationals Greifenburg

Hello from Greifenburg - the start of the Austrian Nationals was postponed to Friday due to poor weather. Today it is very chilly, big clouds rushing past faster every hour. I hope the weather calms down a bit for the weekend, so we can get a good training for the Europeans in June!
Had we been here last weekend, we could have covered 200km+, even some paragliders flew that far... anyway, I enjoy being back here in the mountains.
And thanks Adam for your comment - I dont have your email so I cant get back to you that way. I hope you still get some good flights down under, Scott says the weather is still pretty good. And much warmer than here! I met Oli Barthelmes on take off today, he was shivering, he only just arrived back in Europe after a "winter" in Oz and has not adjusted yet to the cold. But hey, I think I never will ;)
I will get some pics for the pilots who will fly the Europeans here. Greifenburg is a place with great cross country potential, because of the great landing fields, scenic high mountains and a lot of different possibilities to set tasks. After having organized the Womens and Rigid Worlds in 2004 and the pre-euros last year, the guys have a good clue about how to run a big comp here.

Epic Day on Rauschberg!

Yesterday the flying season started for me - I went to Ruhpolding, you see take off in the background. We still had to fight our way through the snow to get to take-off, but luckily there were some really great hanggliding and paragliding pilots to help me struggle my gear up.
After an early start, conditions weren´t quite as fast as expected. No clouds, strong inversion, strange air for this time of year. I decided to turn around at Wilder Kaiser and fly back to Ruhpolding, because I wanted to put a new sticker on my sail: the Timezone-wings. Looks great, but honestly, it took me 2 hours to put it on... On Wednesday a german magazine wants to write an article and take some photos with me, so all my gear has to be in best shape. I will post the new pics once we were lucky with the weather.

Free Tibet, free Zimbabwe

Now it is official, Mugabe´s party lost the election in Zimbabwe! The opposition now has the difficult task to rebuild the country - I was lucky to see Harare before the country closed down, it is a beautiful country with great people, I so hope things will get better for them now!
The other big topic is Tibet and the Olympic games in Beijing. I think everybody has the right to have his/her own opinion and should have the possibility to articulate it, without being persecuted or tortured for it. When we are flying high above mountains, far away from borders, free as birds, it might already demonstrate our position on this question - maybe the mere action of our sport is just more political than other sports already, without talking about it. Maybe that is why my blog is censored in China.
My prayers are with the Tibetans and the Dalai Lama - I admire his honesty, his humour and his peaceful strength. Some day things must change for the better, for freedom.

To qualify for the women`s worlds...

I was asked by a friend who wants to enter the Women´s Worlds how to get in if she has never placed among the top 2/3 of a competition she competed in. You can apply for an exemption:

... if you have never placed into the top 2/3 of a competition before, thus you think you might not qualify for the Women´s worlds at Monte Cucco this year, please just answer the following questions and email them to Paula Howitt (email: paula@fai.org ). If you can get your teamleader or your national hanggliding association to support your request as well, there should be no problem for an exemption to compete in the worlds.
They just want to make it as safe as possible. Still of course we also like to see as many women there as possible! So just take a few moments, and then see you in Italy:

QUESTIONNAIRE


General experience:
Year of first flights ?
Year of first competitions ?
Number of flights and hours flown every year ?

Experience in competitions :
Name of competition, Location, Date, Level, N° of tasks of the competition ?
Ranking of the pilot in each task/ Number of pilots in the competition ?
Distance flown by the pilot in each task/ Distance of the winner

Cross Country flight experience :
Location, Date, Type of flight, Distance flown by the pilot ?

Glider :
Glider used usually ?
Glider you will use?

Comments of the team leader about the pilot ?
Is she able to take part safely to the World championship?

Japan and Orlando!

I just got a pre-schedule for May, and it looks like I will have a short stay in Tokyo and a short stay in Orlando! Im looking forward to going back to Japan, and I have a few Schwenkel gloves size XS for my friends with the very small hands. Unlike last time, I unfortunately only have 22 hours in the country, so I wont be able to organize a meeting.
In Orlando, Im pretty sure that Jamie will take me either flying or to the beach to see her new house. Cant wait to get there!
Over here in Munich it is raining again, this is the third weekend in April where they had to cancel the German League. Im not too sad about that, because I had a change of my schedule: Instead of Portland on Monday, I already have to fly to Vancouver tomorrow. And the weather in Vancouver - like here, just worse, because colder, so it is rain mixed with snow :( so again no flight from Grouse Mountain.
On May 1st I will fly at the Austrian Open in Greifenburg, my first training for the Europeans. Until then, the weather has to improve a lot. Still snow on take-off! If it looks ok, I will get there a few days earlier because I was asked by an editor of the German magazine "Tina" to show her flying, take photos and do an interview. She wants a nice long story, and Im always happy to present our sport. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

Rockstar in Munich

I went away for work to Sao Paulo, and when I came back I found out that my team mate Jamie became a film producer! She has come to Bassano to fly and after we got back to Munich, she must have been bored, so she helped to create a video to participate in a Gibson guitar contest, and I think it turned out great. If you like to see some great shots of Munich and if you appreciate a solid rock guitar, have a look at this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rzqjFj9M5I

Bassano - the top pilots

The first time I ever got a trophy in pink, haha!

Primoz and Michi with their prizes look quite happy.

Bassano in the snow

Yesterday it was raining along the mountains, so we had a tourist day in Venice, saw Piazza di San Marco, Rialto and the nice old channels. Lucky it wasnt raining there!
Today it looks worse, it is snowing to nearly down the landing field in Romano. The awards are at 11.30, hopefully on time, because it will be a difficult drive home across the Brenner in the snow. I dont have snowchains...
After a year with just one comp day, next year will be hopefully better again. If Easter is in April, it is better for flying. It happened just too early this year.
The first flight was great, except extremely cold, but I rarely remember a cloudbase like we had, with a great view into the Dolomites. And now I am coldproof too, I just found out that two pairs of gloves work well for me, also my warm, goretex insulated Adidas boots are great for this kind of weather and still fit into the harness. Its too late for this time, but I will remember the winter setup for next year. And for some probably cold flying days in April in the mountains. Last year April had the only useful really big cross country days in the northern alps.
I look forward to getting home and having proper internet, here it was very difficult to find a connection at all, so I will update my page with photos tomorrow.
And tonight I will cook porcini risotto at home!

Bassano

Some of us optimistic minds went to Bassano despite the weather forecast. And we had a great first task on Thursday, 100 kms. What a cloudbase - and what a cold! Must have been minus 20 centigrade at 3000 m! Michi Friesenbichler won the day ahead of Primoz. I was just happy to make goal at some stage...
The wireless connection at headquarter sucks, so we had to go to Bassano to find a cafe. Took a long time, but now I can write a few lines to the rest of the world.
Yesterday was cancelled due to overcast conditions, difficult wind on take off and no thermals. Today it looked great in the morning, but then quickly overdeveloped. We waited for ages in the cloud, then eventually launched, but it got worse in the air. Cloudbase came down, lift everywhere, the wind picked up - paragliders were all going backwards! I decided to fly as far away from the black wall as possible and landed 13 km south of headquarter. Safely, happy to be on the ground. The organizers dont give us the possibility of a proper weather forecast. I heard the word "thunderstorms", but only in Italian. And yes, they arrived tonight, thunder and lightening outside now.
For tomorrow it looks like a tourist day in Venice, since predictions are worse than for today. Maybe we can fly on Monday, if we are lucky (and can get up the mountain, cause they predicted snow...)
I will try to get back online, but it is difficult in Italy! Still Jamie and I are having a good time, the pizza is fantastic, so is the cappuccino.

Brigitte

"Brigitte" is a women´s magazine sold in German speaking countries, and in the current edition, sold until March 11th, they published an interview with me which is quite fun to read. Have a look at it, if you get the chance - even the pilots on my last work trip had a good laugh!

New Team Sponsor: Adidas!

This Friday we went to Herzogenaurach with the german women team and got a lot of beautiful equipment for the coming world championships at Monte Cucco. Proudly we kept the gear on when browsing through the outlet strore and we could see a lot of people checking us out.
Next weekend, we will all meet at the Free Flight, a hanggliding and paragliding exhibition in Garmisch, probably in our new team dress for the first time on a public event.
I wish I could have gone flying with the other girls today, but the long work trip to Buenos Aires and a freezing, 8 degree centigrade cold crew rest gave me a bit of a cold Im trying to get rid of. Im looking forward to Bassano in two weeks and another work trip to Sao Paulo after that.

Women´s World Championships: Open for registration!

Hi friends all around the world. I just saw that the 2008 Women´s World Championships are open for registration at http://www.cucco08.org/
Looks like Russia and Germany will have full teams, how about the Japanese Women? Would be great to have a big competition in Italy this summer, so enter and come over!

And the winners are...

Yesterday night at the award ceremony, Yulia, Corinna, Hadewych, and then Attila, Jonny and Balasz. Jonny Durand won all the Australian comps of this season and won over world champion Attila who takes it with humour and respect!

Bogong Cup task 4: 103 km over 2 turnpoints

The day looked cloudy, the forecast was for rain later in the day with possible embedded thunderstorms. We went over to Bright and up Mystic anyway, a task was set into the northwest and hopefully away from the dark skies. Once the window opened, I was ready and took off soon after Attila, Lukas and a few others.
We found lift in the unstable air and got up, but it didnt look promising towards the courseline. I thought of staying west of course and maybe getting out of the way of the rain, but it moved in too fast and I didnt want to fly across non-landable area. As soon as I saw the windspeed picking up, I landed a few kms south of Myrtleford. More pilots joined me on that field. Later I heard the day was stopped and cancelled, because also other pilots and Carol in goal experienced strong gusts ahead of the rain - Carol couldnt even fix the goal line, it was blown away.
Today of course the discussion was started, pilots who did well yesterday loudly protested and attacked Heather because they wanted the day to be scored, and maybe they succeed. Heather did her best, made a safe decision to stop it and gave a good example for the young, new pilots not to dare too much, not to fly in these iffy conditions, not to head into the darkest of clouds. Taking risks like that should not be rewarded. Guess we have both seen too much tragedy to want to see anybody at risk.
I dont loose or gain anything whether the task is scored or not, but I certainly agree with Heathers decision and I admire her for standing up for it, because normally the comp directors only want to go with the flow and put all the responsability towards the pilots. And those were always the days when we saw severe accidents at big comps.
Whatever the outcome of the day, I think people clearly see how much Heather and Carol care about safety and I hope also the new pilots feel well looked after in the Bogong Cup and will come back next time.
It keeps raining today, so we will already start at 6pm with the award ceremony at Settlers Tavern. Time for me to update some pictures and get ready for the long trip back tomorrow morning. I havent seen final results yet.

Task 3: 166 km!

Today we went to my favourite take-off: Mount Buffalo! And the task was long, around 3 turnpoints with goal at Brown Brothers Airstrip. Unfortunately I landed at 5.30 pm, so the winery was already closed. Still I was very happy with todays flight.
We went way out into the flatlands and had a great cloudbase, good lift and even clouds later in the day. Jonny came in first and won another day, followed by a whole bunch of pilots, Lukas in 4th, Oli, Jörg, Roland and me not far behind. All i know is that Attila had only 6 minutes on me - not bad for 166km!
tomorrow more, we got back really late.

Bogong Cup task 2, 107km

Today we went up Emu launch again but waited a long time for the wind to calm down and to swing straight into the launch slope between the gum trees. Once more Heather got everybody off safely, and at 3.30 pm the first launch window started for our course around 3 turnpoints out to Bullioh in the end.
We just got back and it looks like the French had a very good day, with Mario Alonzi and Luis Rizo first to goal. When I got there, there were already about 15 gliders there, and after me a lot more arrived. The southerly change kicked in while I was packing up, but there were still a lot of gliders coming in. Pedro had a shocking landing, he is ok, but he broke the leading edge of his Aeros. Davis Ozreport Straub likes to look at a rasp weather model and today it was exactly right with the prediction of a strong southerly later in the day.
All Germans in goal again, but it was a tough day with strong headwind and turbulent lift. It felt like flying for 5 hours even though it was only two and a half.
Tomorrow will be an interesting choice for the takeoff as they predict southeasters. I would love to go up Mount Buffalo, I like that launch ramp a lot. A scenic start into a task!

Bogong Cup 4th day: too windy!

What a hard day in paradise! I saw big lenticular clouds over Mt Bogong this morning and expected strong winds. They measured up to 70 km/h from the north again, but we went over to Bright to wait and see if it calms down. At 1.30 pm Heather called the day for safety reasons, and I was very glad I didnt have to fly in that turbulent air!
Instead we went back to Mt Beauty and I just took some pictures with Tony and Karen who sponsored the best prize ever: The male and female winner of the Bogong Cup share a stay in their spacious holiday units of the Alpenhorn Motel with a scenic view, pool - and very useful, great cooking facilities, in walking distance to headquarter. During a comp it is most important to get a good rest, a good nights sleep and healthy food, and this is one of the best places to do that. Belinda, Davis Ozreport Straub and Scott Barrett are my neighbours, as well as usually quite a few more pilots. Last year I stayed with Attila and his family, the year before with Jonny Durand.
Weather for tomorrow looks more promising than today, the wind will swing around and we might go up Emu again, hopefully fly another nice long task.

Bogong Cup Task 1, 114km

Today we went up to Mt Emu take off. Blue skies, no wind and comfortable temperatures. The guys set a task of 114 km around 3 turnpoints, first up the valley to Gundowring, then over to Myrtleford hwy turnoff, after that back into the Kiewa Valley to Running Creek and back to Mt Beauty airstrip.
Already after the first turnpoint I got very low and had a good look at the enormous power station. Luckily, Jonny Durand flew over my head and showed me the last possible way out of that situation. I got up again, and after that it was piece of cake. I enjoyed flying with a wedge tailed eagle (I got the nice guy, the poor Russian pilot now has big rips in his leading edge...) and came into goal. There were already about 30 pilots, and I guess 45 made it in today. Difficult to say who won the day, probably Jonny. Roland and Olli did also very well and made it into the top ten.
We are 3 girls in the comp, Hadewych from the Netherlands, Yulia from Russia and me. Yes, and Katharina from Germany freeflying if she finds somebody to drive the car down the hill, we are working on that one. So far she was only driving, we definitely have to get her into the air in this beautiful place!
The flies at goal drove me crazy again, they keep trying to get into ones eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Carol saved me and lent me a big white mozzie net to wear while I was packing up my glider. The guys looked a bit puzzled when they saw me, but i could breathe and speak without a fly between my teeth, so it was worth the embarrassment of being a walking mosquito net.

Forbes photo

This is a great picture of Jörg Bajewski flying above the outback in Forbes, the previous competition. He flew 45 hours in 8 days! And dont ask how long the drives back to Forbes took...
You dont want to land in that desolate area, not enough shade out there, let alone signposted roads.

Bogong Cup Day 1 & 2

55 pilots entered for the Bogong Cup, and it started with a day off yesterday. People coming from long hours of flying and driving from Forbes didnt seem to be too sad that the wind was too strong. A hailstorm a 2pm proved the decision of Heather the meet director right. Thunder and lightening stayed with us until the early evening.
This morning, skies were bright and blue again, but the wind is still a threat. Ahead of a coldfront pushing in, it is supposed to swing around to the west at some stage this afternoon, but today was also cancelled as the wind seemed to increase during our briefings.
If you are in Mt Beauty area tonight, Olli is organizing the legendary Bogong Cup Barbecue again.
We hope for better conditions tomorrow and for the rest of the week. At least this year we can see and breathe! Last year we were covered in smoke from bush fires. More news and photos tomorrow, I hope a bit more exciting then!

Preparations

How can you do well if you go to a competition on a different continent where the timezone is upside down?
I started travelling 6 days ago and went to New Zealand first, so I could get into the right timezone in a relaxed way. It was a comfortable 24 degrees celsius in Auckland, while temperatures in Victoria went up to 40! When you come from winter, it is better to slowly acclimatize.
Last night I arrived in Canberra and did last preparations for the comp before we leave today. I will stay in an appartment with cooking facilities, so I shopped for some healthy, tasty food to cook, some rice and pasty dishes that are fast and easy to prepare, yet very nutritious for a long comp. As ballast in the first And the incredible cloudbase today tells me that we will cover a lot of kms next week!
Also the water supply is important. I always carry up to 1.5l of water and two cans of Red Bull in my harness, not just as ballast, but also to hydrate and refresh after landing. And sometimes, if I needed help from a farmer to find to my driver, they were quite enlighted if I handed them a can of Red Bull, usually quite chilled because it has been up high in cooler temperatures for a while. So I need to find Jonny Durand – he just won the Forbes competition and is undoubtedly Australias number 1 pilot – and he is also sponsored by Red Bull and usually helps me to stock up on energy in his country.
This morning I went running along the lake and realized once again that Im in Australia. Two rosellas were sitting in the grass, happily chatting along. I like parrots, as long as it is not a flock of cockatoos waking me up at 4 am. Tonys appartment has a spectecular view ober the lake. There is a big fountain that reminds me of the one in Lake Geneva. Just not as many houses and people out here. Canberra is quite designed and has a feel of Brasilia to it. It didnt develop naturally, but some people decided where the inhabitants would work, where they would live, where they would go shopping. There are a lot of parks, trees and green areas throughout the city, but that also means everything is quite far apart, and my walk to the shops this morning was quite exhausting.
Well the weather forecast predicts a cool change coming through tonight, so that means fresh air (and appropriate temperatures at night). Cant wait to get to Mt Beauty. I tried to call Carol, the organizer, but she is already giving interviews, talking to radio stations and tv channels. Heather and her do a great job for our sport with their competition!

I saw a ghost

I saw this little penguin on our boat trip and was just fast enough to catch a photo before he dove under water again. quite cute those small ones. And they seem to like the warm water!
At the ferry wharf I saw some fishermen and one of them had pulled out a baby stingray. Lying on its back it very much reminded me of a ghost. Probably haunting the guy who pulled him out of the water ;)
On my way over to Australia today, I hope the Qantas flights are not too overbooked.

Blisters in the sun

Training in paradise is hard, but nice! Yesterday I went sailing with my friends family, a fantastic cruise from Waiheke Island to Rakino Island, and I did plenty of rowing from the shore to the ship and vice versa, always with a loaded dingy. A lot of fun and a good workout considering that my arms need to be fit soon for the Bogong Cup!
There were numerous penguins in the water, very cute to watch, but difficult to get on a photo, as our boat was going along at quite a lot of speed. At 48ft length you can imagine the size of the beautiful big sails!
For me the trip ended with a few blisters on my hands, but well worth it!
Tomorrow I will meet my friends Phil and his family as well as his brother Stephen and his folks. Stephen is the legendary technician who once fixed the high tech camera of a German film crew at the worlds in Bright with a kitchen knife.

The way to Down Under

And again I worked hard to get a couple of weeks off to fly my favourite competition in January, the Bogong Cup. After the suitcase desaster in October in Canungra I was smarter this time- I left my harness with Carol and Oli and only travelled with carry on luggage! This time of year, flights are incredibly full so I had to go through Vienna and a 5 hour stay in Bangkok. I treated myself with a Thai foot and back massage at the airport, so time flew by very fast.
Now Im on the way to Auckland to stay with friends for a few days – no chance to fly straight to Sydney. I dont mind, the whole Sydney crowd is in Forbes at the moment anyway. Looks like my whole team is over there competing already, Lukas, Oli, Hans, Roland and Jörg. Great effort, this is the best winter training you can get!
Vicki from Moyes promised me I would get the great Litespeed 3,5s again that I already flew in Canungra – makes it easy for me, that way it is no problem to arrive only the day before the comp starts because I already know that the glider is perfectly trimmed!
Also I got very comfortable soft contact lenses, I already tried them on the plane on long flights and they are perfect to keep the eyes moisturized thus the perfect vision also for a long hanggliding flight.
Will take me a few days to overcome jetlag, I hope Carol has already organized the Red Bulls again.
I guess I will finally have some time on my hands to answer a few questions from Japanese pilots – Noma will probably be in Mt Beauty as well and help me with that.
During the Bogong Cup I will stay at the Alpenhorn motel again, so I will have intenet access to update my blog frequently with photos and news. You can also find news at www.dhv.de

Happy new year from Kuwait!

Hello everybody and happy new year! May you all have good health, enjoyable work, great friends, incredible flights and- most of all - always happy landings! I had to work again and ended up in Kuwait. There were a few signs of firework yesterday, because there is only a minority of Christians here, and the Muslim new year has already started.
Now we will go downtown and check out Kuwait city. Maybe I can find a race camel to take home ;) they are great animals. Or I find a sponsor for the fuel to all my hanggliding trips... there are oil rigs everywhere. Cant wait to see downtown. Back later.

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.