You don’t understand what I’m writing about? Yeah, to hell with all acronyms!
Last weekend a special training of extreme flying situations (French: „Simulation d’Incident en Vol“) was planned for the pilots of the Swiss League. The course was to take place around Interlaken, our designated trainer being no other than the current World Champion Andy Aebi. However, the weather, once more, was not on our side. The forecast showed strong Föhn, which would make it impossible to launch from Axalp, and also from our second choice, Amisbühl.
Occasions for a SIV on a competition wing are rare, and it looks like we missed this year’s opportunity. That’s a pity. I would have loved to stall my Boom 6 above the Brienzer Lake.
Instead some Swiss League pilots, including Jörg and me, went to the Weissenstein in the Jura Mountains, and got some slow and turbulent – due wind and isothermic conditions – flying there.
Antique chairlift from Oberdorf to Weissenstein, built 1950. On the horizon: Bernese Alps © Martin Scheel
Coming up next weekend – if the weather is fine – is the Swiss League Open (SLO). That competition type was launched a few years ago, because we wanted to host another FAI category 2 event in Switzerland besides the Swiss Championships, which are quite often rained out. The SLO is similar in the way we handle all Swiss League events, but it’s longer, FAI 2, and open to international competitors. Just the bare necessities are organized: The tasksetting is done mostly by our teamchef Martin Scheel. The other necessary part is the scoring, which at Swiss League events is usually done by Joe Wehrenberg. We don’t have official retrieve, pilots dinner, prices and the like. The advantage: 100% flexibility to choose the best place. Swiss pilots love it, and sporadically foreign top pilots show up as well.
So keep your fingers crossed for flyable conditions on the long weekend from May 1st to 3rd, please!