For a couple of months my mantra was „all will be well“. However, six months after the accident in Quixada, when I still couldn’t run without feeling pain after a few minutes, it finally dawned on me, that all will be well not automatically. Another month with doctor’s advices, MRIs and X-rays went by. The diagnosis: the posterior cruciate ligament…
One Less On My Bucket List*
When I started paragliding almost ten years ago, I found a lot of convincing reasons for flying with a coloured fabric. Amongst the most important were (and still are): lowest possible barriers to get a licence, aircraft easy to pack and carry everywhere, launchable and landable at a lot of places without need for any further help. The best aircraft…
How to Burn 1000 m of Altitude in a Breathtaking Manner
What a birthday present: an aerobatic flight with a sailplane. Wow! Pilot of the day was Manfred Echter, who got his gliding licence before I was even born. The glider: the MDM-1 Fox HB-3241. Takeoff from Schänis. We were towed up to 1300 m, and immediately after the towing plane left us, Manfred started with the program. On my wishlist were…
Gliding to Meran
A week ago I made one of my most impressive cross country flights ever. Not with a paraglider, not as a pilot. Instead, I spent six enjoyable, relaxing hours in the passenger seat of a power glider, the Pipistrel Taurus HB-5511. The flight showed me a complete new aspect of the beauty of thermic flying. 10:41 The adventure began on…
Wow! We Made It
That was really fun. Klaudia, Karolina, Caroll, Des, Nicky and me held the inaugural meeting of our Womens Paragliding Association. The WPA is a non-profit making society governed by the Swiss civil code. First venue of the Womens Paragliding Association will be the organization of the Womens Open in Àger, Spain. The competition is officially sanctioned by FAI, and we’re…
Valle Leisurely
It was fun. End of January, Jörg, my mother and me visited Valle de Bravo. Jörg competed in the Monarca Open (see his report), and I focused on the holidaily aspects, like shopping flowers, strawberries and clothes, hanging out at the landing zone with my mom, and watching the pilots fly into goal. Of course, I also flew almost every…
Kleine Flugstatistik
Jahreswechsel. Firmen bilanzieren, die Zeitungen sind voll von Rück- und Ausblicken. Alle Jahre wieder. Auch bei mir gibt’s den Update zur Flugstatistik gemäss Flugbuch. Gezählt sind hier alle Soloflüge mit dem Gleitschirm: Flüge Stunden Gebiete ø Dauer Jahr p.a. kum. p.a. kum. p.a. kum. p.a. kum. 2000 15 15 3 3 4 4 0.2 0.2 2001 115 130 57 60…
Schweizer Präzision in der Luft
Das 4030 und nun das 6030 der Firma Flytec begleiten mich zuverlässig seit Jahren in Thermiken rund um den Globus. Ohne den vertrauten Pfeifton kann ich mir ein Steigen gar nicht mehr vorstellen. Doch wer ist eigentlich Flytec? Wer sind die Menschen, die ein solches Bijoux erfinden, entwickeln, produzieren, vermarkten? Die Menschen Auf der Homepage von Flytec erfährt man darüber…
Vertraut aber unleserlich
Natasha Kachalova, eine Gleitschirmpilotin aus Yekaterinburg, hat meinen Artikel „Do men fly better?“ ins Russische übersetzt: http://igrivetra.ru/content/view/64/1/. Merci!
Motor statt Thermik
André Bussmann organisiert für den Zürcher Gleitschirmclub Paranoia einen Schnuppertag Motorschirmfliegen. Zu acht machen wir uns am heute früh auf den Weg zum Flugplatz Wildberg in Weissensberg bei Lindau. Bestens betreut werden wir von Nina Colditz und Dominik Hörburger vom Team der Westallgäuer Flugschule. Die glorreichen Acht und ihre Lehrer. Vlnr: Nina, Daniel, Adrian, Marcel, Turi, Christian, André, Anja, Alfredo,…