10 Juni 2014

224km FAI triangle

The last three days were the best XC days in a row in the northern alps for about the last 5 years. I was lucky that I could fly at least on Saturday, and I was rewarded with 7 hours of amazing sights, starting at Hochfelln at 10.45 am, going into Pinzgau along the main ridge of the Austrian alps, returning over Steinernes Meer and landing next to my car at Bergen again. Sure many people went a lot further, but as I expected Kathryn and Jorj in the evening, I didn´t want to get back to late...
I found a very good place for the swift with the broken wing - a friendly, elderly couple is looking after birdy now, feeding him and trying to cure his injury, even though the fragile wing was heavily broken. They are specialized on swifts, as these birds are quite rare in Germany now. With their high aspect ratio wings, they do great, fast maneouvres in the air, but apparently they are not the best when it comes to landings, so it might have been a landing crash that broke this little guy´s wing... none of us likes a high stall speed really.
My condolences go to the families of Olga Nekhamina and Herbert Klaushofer who died in a tragic accident in Greifenburg last week. Also heartfelt wishes to Federica Rova and her family, as her Dad Ugo Rova just passed away - he was an Italian legend in hang gliding, I have shared many thermals with him in Italian competitions!
Meanwhile Im at work in Buenos Aires, following the incredible distances flown the past three days, preparing for the upcoming World Championships in Annecy that will start next week in France.

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