This year, it was finally time again for the Idaflieg Cross-Country Flying Camp. From June 1st to June 8th, we enjoyed a fantastic week in Bartholomä. A total of 15 trainees with 11 gliders and seven experienced trainers participated, only the weather could have been better.
Students from Berlin, Braunschweig and Karlsruhe participated alltogether with Snoopy, Luisa, Schrumpf, Alejandro and Clara from Stuttgart. The trainer lineup was truly impressive, featuring well-known figures such as Uwe Wahlig and Mathias Schunk, who were eager to share their knowledge and experience with the participants.
However, the weather forecast was initially not promising. Due to the poor prognosis for the first weekend, we postponed the opening briefing to Sunday morning. In the afternoon, we had some theoretical lectures on topics such as safe outlandings and team flying. This allowed us to improve our theoretical skills at least. On Monday, the weather did not improve, so we continued our theory sessions with much input from our trainers’. The schedule was complemented by walks during rain breaks and relaxing visits to the sauna and thermal baths.
On Tuesday, the weather forecast finally improved, but the airfield was completely soaked due to the heavy rain. Undeterred, we relocated to Donzdorf. Thanks a lot to Freddy for making this possible and to Zischi for taking time to tow with the fs35. Despite the high humidity, good cross-country flights were achieved on this day, although there were some outlandings.
Fortunately, the airfield was usable again on Wednesday and we returned to Bartholomä. The weather remained variable, allowing only shorter flights on both Wednesday and Thursday. Few winch launched flights remained aloft and we were also hindered by cloud cover.
Friday’s weather improved again, and we managed to secure Krollinger as a tow pilot. This made the launching process much faster, enabling further cross-country flights in teams.
Unfortunately, this was our last day of flying, as the second weekend’s weather was as poor as the first. Thus, on Saturday evening, we concluded the camp with a joint barbecue, bringing the cross-country flying camp to a relaxed close.
Despite the adverse conditions, the week left us with an overall positive impression. We are grateful to the many helpers and especially the trainers who supported us and from whom we learned a lot—not only during flights but also in the morning preparations and evening debriefings. We hope all participants gained valuable experience and had a great time with us in Bartholomä.
