Austrian Arena

This weekend saw some great conditions in Zillertal and surrounding areas. On Saturday I flew a short 50km triangle around the Zillertal and Tuxertal valleys. Launching low, 1200m, at midday took 1hr just to climb out as the inversion was strong. Many pilots “slid” off the hill and bombed in the technical conditions.

Myself and local legend Rogner Martin fought hard and helped each other to finally break through. He was later to land in Ashau on the way back from the mouth of the valley. Not an easy day but fantastic when you broke thru

Sunday was much better and I decided to just fly the classic 90km FAI triangle around the Ziller, Tux and Pinzgau valleys. We launched higher up this time at 1100am. It was working at 1000am from what I could see and was defnitely a 200km day for the motivated pilot.

First myself and Rogner Martin pushed into Tux and helped each other on our DHV 2 gliders. It was great fun to see our different lines and techniques both got us to the turnpoint at the exactly the same time. Martin pushed a little harder on the way back and had a different idea back at launch. I continued with my plan and complete the route in just under 4hrs. Only getting low-ish before I turned around in the Gerlos valley. Wasn’t going for any records so didn’t risk pushing to the last TP as it was blue.

Martin however called me at 1700hrs to say that he’d just got back from Zell am See. Completing a 165km flat triangle. Amazing. All in just 6hrs. Long fast glides in the Pinzgau valley as always. Can’t wait to get there for the Pinzgau week in mid-May.

Sorry no photos of the flight as my camera s**t itself a few days ago.

Looking forward to the coming season on my EN B glider, soooooooo safe and goes pretty good too

KF

Just got back from a nice week in Bassano del Grappa. The group had quite mixed abilities so for some it was a great opportunity to train their thermal technique as well as attempt some short XC’s.

The first days were very strong with a super cold airmass but the wind was light and myself, Brian and Kostas managed a few 30km routes along the ridge and then out into the flats.

The base then lowered the next days with the more humid warmer south wind but it was still nice to fly. Rain in the afternoon was a deciding factor on most days, however it always seemed to clear up for the last evening flight. Even with little sun some nice restitution and soaring flights were possible.

All in all I was happy with the progress of the pilots and saw a definite improvement in glider control and thermal ability.

Unfortunately the second week has been cancelled due to the Volcanic activity. I’m sure everyone wishes this to be just a short lived problem and normal service can be resumed asap.
KF

On Wednesday 7th April I saw the first 100k day since I returned back to Austria. Blue thermals enabled us to climb easily to 3000m plus I couldn’t take advantage of the lengthening days as I agreed on helping a friend out, d’oh!However in the brief 1hr flight around the south end of Zillertal it was clear that the lack of snow over the winter has brought about some pretty strong conditions. I was greeted on ‘the ofen’ by 6m/s average and peaks of over 8m/s. Good strength for the beginning of April, :)I’m looking forward to flying in Bassano the next two week and I’m sure the flying down there will be excellent.KF