XC News

The four of us—Lars, Cedric, Jerome, and I—had a few extra days to stay, and with Steffi and Andy’s approval, we could continue flying. On Saturday, we got up a bit later than usual, as our motivation had waned after all the recent challenges. But when we arrived at the airfield, the sky looked similar to the very first day, with lots of clouds signaling more humidity in the air. We got ready quickly and were airborne soon after. Once in the sky, however, the day proved to be more challenging than expected, and Jerome landed early. I continued on alone, trying to follow Lars and Cedric. I took a more leftward line in an attempt to catch up with them. Fortunately, this turned out to be a lucky decision, as they both bombed out under large shadows, while I found a super-fast line under a cloud street. Unfortunately, the wind nearly died off later, and my speed dropped significantly. With fewer clouds and huge sinking areas, I eventually landed in Quixadá. Sunday: We prepared later again but still tried to get airborne quickly. By around 7:00, Lars was towed up. We only had one winch for the three of us (Cedric had left by then), so logistics were a bit tricky. The sky looked slightly worse than the day before but still had some early cumulus clouds forming. I was the second to launch and nearly landed right away. After yesterday, my mindset was more along the lines of “I’ll give it a try, but I’m fine with going to the beach,” as 14 days of bomb-outs had taken their toll. Thankfully, I spotted some Urubus and found a saving thermal, allowing me to connect with the clouds. I took a more westerly line than Lars and Jerome, which, once again, turned out to be the better choice as they both had to land early. My flight went smoothly with nice cloud streets until Patu, where the cloud highway just seemed to stop being built for me. Worse still, I found myself flying into blue skies again. “Not again!” I thought. It was pure luck that kept me aloft. Lars, on his second flight, didn’t make it through, but somehow, all the luck that had avoided me over the past days seemed to come together, and I managed to find a way out every time I got low. Towards Jaguaribara, the clouds returned, and flying became a bit easier. The speed was still good (too slow to fly really far though), so I continued on toward the first turnpoint for the world record. It really helps to have an arrow pointing you in the right direction—now I understand Jerome’s comp-flying love. After Quixadá, everything was new territory for me. I decided to keep some distance from the hills, considering the wind speed. But just before the first turnpoint, I really needed to gain altitude, and my only option was a large cloud forming over a slope on my right. Boom, cloud base again! Then, "bling!"—first turnpoint checked! Now, it was just about 30 km to the declared goal, passing two more turnpoints with a slight tailwind. The best line, though, was about 400 meters to the right of the turnpoints, while I was stuck in sinking air along the course. I had to focus for a moment, find the lift, and surf it toward the goal. One last thermal, and the final “bling!” sounded. I was thinking of how much I’d learned from Sebi and the entire team over these 15 days. Besides luck, you need the right day, the ability to read the clouds (if there are any), and of course, make good friends with the Urubus.

Today just wasn’t my day at all—two tows, and both times, nothing from my vario all the way to the ground. After the first tow, 500 km was already out of the question. After the second, even 400 km seemed unlikely, so I decided not to try again. That left me here to write a quick summary of the past few days. Tuesday 24.09: There’s more humidity in the air, and a huge wave cloud moved in from the south, exciting all of us—finally, something had shifted in the atmosphere! Early cloud streets formed. At 7:20, Sebi launched with Rico, but Rico had a cravat. Luckily, nothing serious happened; we sorted it out, and Rico relaunched. Cedric and I got a good tow a bit later at 7:58—not ideal, but it should have been enough for the 400 km record. Behind us, Jerome also took off. At some point, I realized Sebi and Rico had already landed. Cedric missed the saving thermal that I managed to catch quite low near Patu. Those low saves (two of them that day) cost me a lot of time, and Jerome caught up with me. Flying as a team is easier out here. As we headed towards Jaguaribara, I lost Jerome and had to continue on my own. Going slower than I hoped, I calculated that even the 400 km goal was slipping away. But I decided to just enjoy the conditions and the flight, as it had been a while since I had a good one. Unfortunately, I bombed out in a massive sinking air mass, right in the middle of nowhere. Wednesday 25.09: Sebi and Rico had a parallel tow, taking pole position. The sky looked mostly blue with just a few shy cumulus clouds, and the wind was strong on the ground. They immediately found a thermal together. Lars and I launched after them, but we both got low almost immediately. As we found a thermal at a very low altitude, we thought it might turn into a good day. But the luck didn’t last long! After reaching our highest point so far, we hit a huge area of sinking air—straight down to the ground. This seems to happen a lot here; you need some luck to escape it. Despite the strong wind at takeoff, the day turned out to be slow. The wind at higher altitudes was weaker and continued to drop as the day went on. It soon became clear that Sebi wasn’t going fast enough for a distance record. Still, he pushed on, aiming for our Plan B record: the “Declared Goal using up 3 Turnpoints.” The challenge with that, though, is that later in the day, the wind typically shifts more easterly. So, the suspense remained: Will he make it?. Rico, flying even slower, realized it would be difficult to reach the goal. But after so many bombouts, sometimes you just want to fly into the sunset, especially when the next day is already written off anyway. The excitement grew as Sebi tagged the first turnpoint. At that moment, the wind seemed to shift slightly off-track towards the north. He managed to stay on course towards the declared goal, tagging all the TPs along the way – And reaching GOAL! … You don’t need to land exactly at the goal, so Sebi kept flying as long as there was daylight. The landing, however, was tricky. “Sea breeze is ripping down here. Properly scary,” he messaged on WhatsApp. Thankfully, he landed safely, and we—the “I’d-rather-be-flying-but-I’ll-enjoy-the-pool-instead” team—raised a toast to Sebi’s success over dinner.

Aus Caico nichts neues. Leider waren auch die letzten zwei Tage sehr stabil. Da man dies am Vorabend nicht weiss, steht man trotzdem kurz vor sechs Uhr auf dem Flugplatz. Dort machen wir uns bereit um jederzeit in 10min in der Luft zu sein. In der Realität gibt es aber noch lange, gemütliche und amüsante Gespräche über alles mögliche. Es scheint, als hätten sich die üblichen Räubergeschichten einen neuen Zeitpunkt gesucht, da sie abends bei einer Nachtruhe um 20:00 keinen Platz finden. Am Morgen ist es auch temperaturmässig sehr angenehm. Sehr bald beginnt einem aber dir Sonne auf dem Rollfeld zu brätlen, die ersten Geier drehen so knapp auf und dann hat man genug gewartet, ab in die Luft. Nur um in der Luft von Nullschieber zu Nullschieber zu surfen, verzweifelt auf der Suche nach einem brauchbaren Schlauch. Der starke Wind schiebt und schiebt, aber die Gnadenlose Stabilität drückt und drückt einem zu Boden. Dies führt dazu, dass es uns alle irgendwo in den ersten 50km verteilt, die Fahrer müssen Rallyemässig über die Schotterstrassen heizen um uns alle einzusammeln. Dann geht man zum Hotel und erreicht das um die Mittagszeit, häufig stehen dann wunderschöne Cumuli am Himmel!! Man sagt sich, am nächsten Tag starte ich erst um 11:00, Hauptsache Fliegen! Aber da man immer in die Gleiche Richtung fliegt, reizt halt schon das weit Fliegen, der erste Teil der Strecke kennt man schon. Und um 11:00 schafft man keine 400km mehr. So standen wir auch heute wieder um 6:00 bereit, doch der Himmel komplett anders! Eine fast geschlossene Wolkendecke, die sich langsam auflöst und in schöne Cumuli übergeht. Noch verunsichert von den letzten Tagen starten wir eher spät, zwischen 7:00 und 8:00. und es ist kaum wiederzuerkennen! Sanfte, grossflächige 2-3m Schläuche von Anfang an. Das wird ein guter Tag! Der Wind schiebt auch heute wieder mit 30kmh gen Westen, kommt gut! So kommen wir super schnell und mit Freudenschreien 100km voran. Doch dann wird es wieder blauer und blauer, die Cumuli kleiner und kleiner. Und schon fliegen wir wieder komplett ins blaue. Leider alle ein bisschen Zeitversetzt, zusammen wäre es viel einfacher. Man muss einfach hoffen, dass auf deiner Flugroute ein Schlauch steht. Auf den Boden schauen funktioniert hier nicht. So steckt es wieder fast alle von uns, nur Pädi und Jerome kommen zu zweit durch. Die anderen werden eingesammelt, zum Zmittag gefahren, wo wir mit den beiden Verbliebenen mitfiebern. Sie erreichen wieder labilere Gebiete mit Wolken. Doch leider sehen wir auch ihre Tracker irgendwann auf den unheilvollen Wert von unter 400m.ü.M sinken, was man selten noch ausbügeln kann. Immerhin sind wir heute 2-5 Stunden geflogen, in schönen Bedingungen. Wenn nun noch ein paar Tage mit durchgehend diesen Bedingungen kommen, kann die Rekordjagd und vorallem das schöne Streckenfliegen weitergehen.

Not a cloud in sight! We prepare our gear at the airfield with plenty of skepticism. Looks like there’s not much wind and very stable conditions. Sebi is floating the idea of a rest day. All the flying and driving of the last ten days have has worn the team down a bit. I use the time to fix two punctures in my wing. At 7:40, my patience runs out. Paddy agrees to join. We launch side-by-side, except for some reason my tow brings me up much higher, leaving Paddy hopelessly low and alone. On a day like today, that’s a tough one to get out of. Meanwhile, up here at 900m, there’s almost 40 km/h wind - not so bad for a lame day! I radio down. Sebi, Lars, and Cedric are getting ready too. Days like today are difficult to stay up. After less than an hour I run out of luck and catch the last field before a long stretch of bush. No shade and no phone reception, so I walk along a sand road, hoping for a sign of civilization. After 1km, a fazenda by a lake. The family welcomes me on their porch and allows me to connect to their wifi. No matter how far out in the bush, Brazilian houses have wifi. I phone Wagner (the young Brazilian masterminding the Fly-with-Andy logistics). He asks me to sit tight. Simone blew two tires trying to fetch me. Meanwhile, Sebi stays aloft but decides to land near Limoeiro - probably wanting to get back to Caico before dark.

Stable & blue. Only 3 of us launching today: Sebi and Lars are still on their way back from their 550km flights, Jerome is still nursing the road rash he got handling the glider in strong wind. Paddy and I get a terrible tow and glide back to ground after a few minutes. Cedric waits until conditions get stronger and flies out to Jaguaribara, aborting before the retrieve gets too tedious. 5 hour drive back is enough.

Finally, a day with more clouds in the morning! Although the forecast was similar to yesterday, we submitted the same task (declared goal with 3 turnpoints). After studying the wind and trajectories, we figured a similar route would be possible, assuming any of us could stay aloft. Yesterday, with all the blue thermals, staying up was tough, and all six of us bombed out – which says it all. We even considered taking off later today since the conditions were expected to improve as the day progressed. But Sebi and Rico couldn’t wait after seeing the sky and our Urubu friends. And they were right. We got ready and were prepared to go again around 7:00. By then, the wind, which had been calm at 6:00, had already started to pick up. By the time Cedric and I took off, the wind was quite strong. But hey, that’s exactly what you need to fly far, right? The flight began slightly better than yesterday, with more consistent lifts, though the clouds were still forming only sporadically. Eventually, I hit sinking air under a blue sky, going from 800 AGL to the ground at 4 m/s, leaving me baffled. It seems I still don’t fully understand how the Brazilian flatlands work. Meanwhile, Rico, Sebi, and Lars were still flying, so I hooked myself to the screen, watching them and wishing them luck and good winds, while enjoying lunch back in Caicó with Cedric. The sky was steadily improving! Unfortunately, Rico hit a sinking air mass as well, going from cloudbase to the ground in a straight line, reminding us that, alongside skill, a small twist of fate is sometimes necessary. Now all eyes were on Sebi and Lars, who were teaming up perfectly and maintaining a high average speed. Could they surpass 550 km? After Quixeramobim, they got really low, and we held our breath watching them. But they both managed to climb out and continued their flights. At 17:30, we received a picture and a message from Sebi saying they had reached Pedro II after sunset. Incredible! They covered over 550 km today! Congratulations to both of them

Heute war ein schwieriger Tag. Es hatte keine Wolken und wir standen alle nach spätestens einer Stunde am Boden. Am Abend kommt Rico von seinem Flug zurück und Lars von der kalten Schweiz. So werden wir erstmals vollzählig sein. Die meisten von euch waren noch nie in Brasilien fliegen. Deshalb erkläre ich euch mal, womit man das Fliegen hier im Flachland vergleichen kann. Stell dir vor, du bist in der Nacht in Thun. Du legst dich hin und wirst von einem Katapult in die Aare geworfen. So ist der Windenstart. Am Anfang gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber wie immer lernt man mit allem um zu gehen. Dann bist du da im Fluss, aber leider kannst du nicht schwimmen. Zum Glück hat es überall Schwimmhilfen. Doch die siehst du nichts, denn es ist ja Nacht. Ab und zu leuchtet ein Licht und du siehst eine. Aber es ist nicht garantiert, dass du sie erwischst, denn das Wasser zieht dich mit. Wenn du sie greifen kannst, hat sie oft nach zwei Minuten keine Luft mehr und du musst die nächste suchen. Genauso ist es mit der Thermik. Du fliegst mit dem Wind und kannst nur so grob steuern, in welche Richtung es geht. Gegen den Wind hast du eh keine Chance. Ab und zu erwischst du durch Glück eine, aber dann ist sie auch gleich wieder vorbei. Hin und wieder siehst du ein Urubu, also ein Vogel. Doch der macht, was er will und ist nicht wirklich zuverlässig. Wolken hat es auch und die helfen sehr. Doch sie zu lesen, ist nicht immer einfach. Zudem ist die Basis am Morgen oft unter 1000 Meter. Auch Abrisskanten gibt es, doch bei dem Wind ist es nicht einfach, die Thermik darüber zu finden. Doch mit all diesen Lichtern kannst du dich irgendwie oben halten. Wenn nicht, gibt es genügend Landeplätze mitten in der Wildnis. Die Fahrer von "Fly with Andy" sind schnell da. Nach so zwei Stunden werden die Schwimmhilfen immer besser und du kannst länger bei einer bleiben. Zudem wird auch das Licht besser und der Fluss geht weniger schnell. Leider weisst du nicht recht, wie der Fluss fliest, denn du erkennst in der Nacht nur Umrisse. So ist es auch in der Realität. Realität. Die Thermik wird stärker und die Basis höher. Doch auch der Wind nimmt ab und man fliegt langsamer. Im Flachen ist die Orientierung nicht einfach. Es sieht ja überall genau gleich flach aus. Nach jeder Thermik muss man überlegen, wo man eigentlich hinfliegen wollte. Gegen Abend wird die Thermik wieder schwächer und so ist es noch ein Ausgleiten. Es ist wunderschön, da in den Sonnenuntergang zu fliegen. Wie, wenn man nach der langen Reise im Fluss endlich in Bern ist. Was braucht es also, um erfolgreich zu sein? Neben einem guten Gespür fürs Fliegen, sehr viel Motivation. Denn die Tage, an welchen man in den ersten zwei Stunden absteht, sind zahlreich. Dann geht man halt am nächsten Tag wieder top motiviert, mit neuem Wissen los und gibt sein bestes.

Today was similar to yesterday. Lot of wind already early in the morning. You need to be fully focused from the beginning. After take-off I couldn’t find any lift for quite some distance. Also Rico got low early but could manage to climb out again, where I didn’t find anything useful and had to continue low. With blue sky it isn’t easy to find the right line into the next climb. Cedric and I both bombed out early. Jerome managed to go a little further but landed next to Patu. Only Rico and Sebi could continue the flight and we were watching curiously. When both got low, Rico was able to climb again – whereas Sebi enjoyed a tractor ride instead . Congratulations to Rico for this amazing flight in rather difficult conditions.

The forecast for today predicted dry air, meaning fewer clouds. The wind also picked up quite strongly around 6 o'clock. We waited until 7 for the first launch, hoping that some clouds would form to give us a bit of help in the flats. But that hope didn't materialize. Thanks to the strong wind, we had a very good winch launch, with some of us reaching 900 meters above ground. A cobra start was the only way to safely get the wing overhead, and from there, the winch experience was completely different from yesterday. Due to the strong wind, the tension on the line and your glider was high, making the ascent rapid, and you could even hear the line singing. The team at Fly with Andy does an excellent job; they know exactly what they’re doing, so you can just focus on your own tasks! Rico and I launched together, so we could fly as a pair. I believe it really pays off in the long run to fly together all day. Despite the very strong southwest wind and clear skies, we landed after just 40 km, but it was still a great experience flying in these conditions. I also felt much more confident today, knowing what to expect. Now, I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and hoping for a good day. *** Deutsch *** Die Vorhersage für heute sagte trockene Luft voraus, was weniger Wolken bedeutete, und der Wind nahm gegen 6 Uhr ziemlich stark zu. Wir warteten bis 7 Uhr auf den ersten Start, in der Hoffnung, dass sich einige Wolken bilden würden, um uns in den Ebenen ein wenig zu helfen. Aber diese Hoffnung erfüllte sich nicht. Dank des starken Windes hatten wir einen sehr guten Windenstart, einer von uns erreichte 900 Meter über dem Boden. Ein Cobra-Start war die einzige Möglichkeit, den Schirm sicher über den Kopf zu bekommen, und von dort war die Windenerfahrung völlig anders als gestern. Aufgrund des starken Windes war die Spannung auf der Leine und deinem Gleitschirm hoch, was den Aufstieg schnell machte, und man sogar die Leine singen hören konnte. Das Team von Fly with Andy macht einen hervorragenden Job; sie wissen genau, was zu tun ist, sodass du dich einfach auf deine eigenen Aufgaben konzentrieren kannst! Rico und ich starteten zusammen, damit wir als Paar fliegen konnten. Ich glaube, es zahlt sich langfristig wirklich aus, den ganzen Tag gemeinsam zu fliegen. Dank des sehr starken Südwestwinds und des klaren Himmels landeten wir nach nur 40 km, trotzdem war es eine grossartige Erfahrung, unter diesen Bedingungen zu fliegen. Ich fühlte mich heute auch viel sicherer, da ich wusste, was mich erwartet. Jetzt freue ich mich wirklich auf Morgen und hoffe auf einen guten Tag.

First day flying. Alarm at 4.45. Having breakfast means: eat! Maybe you will eat bananas for the rest of the day only. And the rest of the day can take a long time - aks Sebi. Now, for me this was the very first time in Brazil and the first time winch towing. So I wasn't really disappointed after bombing out directly after towing. Well, maybe a very very little bit when seeing Sebi, Rico and Jérôme flying away. But I take it as practicing for day X. Also Rico landed early later and soon the three of us were back at the airfield ready to take-off again. Plan: fly far but not wasting tomorrow and get used to the conditions. And so we did! Cross-country fying: What a beautiful way to cross a country ;-) and even for me, as a dedicated non-flatland pilot (yes, even Jura is too flat for me :P) I must conclude: it's actually pretty nice here! Maintaining a high average speed to see what is possible, flying bit lower to test the conditions down and trying to fly straight under cloud streets. Had it all. So time to land just at around lunch time. Cedric and I chose a village up front to land and had lunch before our retriev car picked us up. Jérôme also chose a lazy day to relax and get into the right mindset for flying here tomorrow. Congrats to Sebi for his truly amazing flight. First day, and he already sets the flag!

Es ist wieder soweit, die Flugsaison im Brasilianischen Flachland geht los und mit dabei eine Handvoll Piloten der XC-Liga: Rico Chandra, Cédric Hofer, Patrick Meyer, Jérôme Kägi und Sebastian Benz fliegen heute nach Fortalezza. In wenigen Tagen reist Lars Meerstetter nach. In den kommenden zwei Wochen werden sie versuchen, möglichst weite Flüge zu absolvieren. Die ersten Flüge sind von Caico aus geplant, von wo aus die Liga auch in anderen Jahren schon fleissig geschleppt hat. Für später ist geplant, dass sie auch andere Schlepp-Pisten nutzen. Neben weiten one-way Flügen möchten sie bei schwachen Windverhältnissen auch FAI-Dreiecke fliegen. Wie jedes Jahr dürfen wir auf die erstklassige Unterstützung von Flywithandy zählen. Ab dem kommenden Freitag könnt ihr unsere XC-Expedition-Crew auf dem Livetracking mitverfolgen und mitfiebern.