One hundred thirty flights over a thousand Km !
Back to Paris (a flight of more than 9000 km, but in an Airbus 340…), I can now speak of my “winter season” without the press of events pouring into my everyday life ! Phew ! That was another record season. The pilots in Bitterwasser flew 130 flights of over a thousand km ! Not bad for gliders using the sole solar energy… For my part, I flew five of them. Two flights will stick to my memory. The first, a 1200k flight with Woody, my american friend, this being my, and his, longest flight ever. The second being my 1000K FAI Diploma, as well as my “Palm-Tree flight”. One gets a palm tree in Bitterwasser, when one flies one’s FIRST 1000. Well, now that it is done, I can say that I missed it on better days, and that I made it on a marginal day ! No speed record, only 124,9km/h; which is not extraordinary in these regions. Nevertheless, a first is a first. And it taught me so many things. One, you are never prepared well enough. Two, it’s better to know the rules BEFORE the flight, than to discover about them after the flight. Three, once you’ve obtained your goal, it’s a real relief !! And four, I am now ready for further attempts….
