A couple of flights

The weather is beautiful, not a cloud in the sky. One of my neighbours, Mathieu, meets me at home. He finished his training last year, and wants to start flying regularly at the club and asked to accompany me. We're going to meet Nicolas and Stéphane, who also completed their training with Laurent and Gwenaël.
It doesn't take very long to fill up the car and drive to Très-le-Mont. There are already a lot of pilots at take off, waiting for their turn. The spirit is high there is a lot of laughter and joking around. We walk on to the West take off strip.
Stéphane is among the firsts to get ready, under the slightly concerned look of his girlfriend and the attention of all the curious tourists.

His take off goes well, although it looks a little out of control from the ground...

He is shortly followed by Nicolas:
I am the last to get in the air, after everybody else is gone, and most of the tourist got bored at the lack of spectacular action.
The conditions are not bad, but it's a constant battle to gain altitude. I don't have the time to take pictures while in the air.

Technical data: Flight duration 0:45, Take-off altitude: 1350m, Maximum altitude reached: 1550m, Total climb during flight: 1520m, Max rate of climb: +2.2m/s, Max descent rate: -3.5m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

After landing and folding the wind, it's early enough to go for a second flight, my car is back thanks to Stéphane's girlfriend, and we decide to go for another flight.
This time, the conditions are much calmer, the flow more laminar.



I have the leisure to setup my camera and take a few pics, and eventually to unfold the monopod to take a self portrait...


Technical data: Flight duration 0:18, Take-off altitude: 1350m, Maximum altitude reached: 1350m, Total climb during flight: 1750m, Max rate of climb: +2.2m/s, Max descent rate: -3.2m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Quick flight before leaving

This morning I went for a short mountaineering outing with my niece Elisabeth. The weather was excellent. As is usual when I don't take my wing, the conditions would have been perfect for a take off. What makes it very frustrating is that we were at Le Billiat, a summit that I've climbed quite a number of times, hoping to fly, but had to postpone because the weather conditions weren't good enough for my level of skills.

So this afternoon, it's sort of a last minute chance, before we fly off to the USA tomorrow.



Technical data: Flight duration 0:55, Take-off altitude: 1550m, Maximum altitude reached: 1402m, Total climb during flight: 1340m, Max rate of climb: +2.8m/s, Max descent rate: -3.8m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Unexpected flying conditions...

While flying over the area on a commercial flight on Saturday, I take great pleasure in looking at the Swiss Alps, particularly because the passenger next to me points out the most well-known summits. As we approach home, I can point out "my" summits to him. He knows the ones situated in the East, but not the West.
That exchange strengthen my resolve to go mountaineering on Sunday. Only to be tempered by the amount of maintenance work that awaits me at home.

On Sunday afternoon, the smog lets some sunlight through, and I pack my paraglider in the car, "just in case".
I get to the landing terrain shortly before 14:00, and there's nobody there! Weird...
The first announcement from the weather beacon tells of a 0 to 6 km/h North-Easterly, which, I reckon, should strengthen if the cloud layer continues to lift. A pilot arrives but he's only here to meet François. The second beacon announces a 2 to 9 km/h North-Easterly. Everything is going according to plan. I contemplate hitch-hiking to the take-off as there is no rush to get there. While I'm getting ready, Arlette and Philippe arrive. Their plan is to go for a walk, but Arlette packed her wing in the boot, "just in case". They accept to give a lift to the hitch hiker and we're on our way.
On the road up, as we round the curve before Les Favrats, they spot a wing in the sky just above the ridge. We leave the car shortly after Le Col du Feu and walk to Le Couteau. The snow that fell over ten days ago has remained on the road and it's not possible to drive up. As we get to the take off, I spot a pilot ready to take off. It's Gwen, from Brittany. We haven't seen each other in a while, and I'm pleased to see him here.
He doesn't waste any time and takes of rapidly. A clean take off, without fuss, despite the cross wind. There is a little too much Easterly to make it a straight-on take-off, but as the wind is very weak, it's easy to correct for it.
He immediately veers to the right, to catch the possible dynamic lift from the Easterly. His plan seems to work, as he hasn't lost any altitude when he comes back. He's a very good pilot, and while I prepare my wing, I hardly glance at him, expecting to have a short flight to landing. The smog layer seems very stable, and I don't think the thermal activity will allow me to stay in the air much longer that the usual ten to twelve minutes.
As I end my preparation, Arlette points out that Gwen is still in front of the ridge, he's been in the air for a good fifteen minutes now. Good for him, I briefly think that if he stay there for a few more minutes, I might get a chance at taking a pic of him on my way to the landing.
I'm ready, and I look at the wind vane to try and catch as favourable a gust as I can. Not that I expect it to make much difference, you can hardly feel anything at ground level. I sort of keep count of a couple of cycles, and then step forward to raise my wing. One glance up, everything seems fine, I apply a little bit of brakes to prevent it from overtaking me while I keep running. I look ahead and load it fully, running as hard as possible to get lift, and in a few more steps I'm airborne. As I sit back in my harness, I bank right to go and seek the lift where Gwen seemed to have found some. There is indeed some dynamic lift, but it's too weak to compensate for the turns, and I don't want to compromise my chances of getting to a good spot on the ridge, so I veer to the right when I get back to the front of the landing, heading for the ridge in a gentle curve that follows the terrain above Les Favrats. Good decision, as I gain quite a bit of altitude on my way. I don't know how much, as the batteries ("fully" recharged!!!) on the variometer have died.

I get to the ridge, see that Gwen is on its Easterly end, and I turn to the West, hoping to catch the usual thermal to the front. Big surprise, the thermal is there, and seems quite big in size. It doesn't feel too strong, as the wing doesn't move too much in the flight, but I gain altitude very easily.
Yay! That's unexpected, but most welcome. For the first time in a long while I dare hoping for more than a straight fall to landing.
I start regretting not wearing gloves. The close to sub-zero temperature is easily supportable for a ten minutes flight, but now that I've exceeded twice that duration, I beginning to regret not having taken more precautions in that respect.
The helmet thermal properties also reveal their limits.
Ludovic, and then Arlette have joined me on the ridge. I moved to the Eastern end when the thermal I was riding seemed to die, to join Gwen. He in turn moves to the back of the ridge, above Les Favrats, to rise quite fast. He makes a very wide turn, comes back to the front of the ridge and keeps going straight in the direction of the landing field. I've gained quite a bit of altitude, I'm above take off level, and I decide to go back to the center part of the ridge. Ludovic is playing in that area, and it looks as if the lift is there. On my way I lose a little bit of height, but soon regain it when I get to the usual spot.
Ludovic, in the meantime, has also headed for the landing terrain, followed shortly by Arlette. I reckon the cold must have forced them to land, and I reluctantly decide to follow them. I've been in the air for over an hour, at this time of the year, it constitutes quite an unexpected feat.

I'm so high that I decide to "visit" the area by going over spots that we seldom overfly. I'm rewarded by a few puffs of updrafts, which give me a few more minutes aloft. When I get close to the landing, I still have quite a height to bleed, and spend it in a few esses in front of the landing.
My approach and landing are very smooth, just like my instructor taught me, to conclude wonderful flight in very laminar conditions. Everybody on the ground is elated, except for Romuald that hesitated for too long to make up his mind in joining us.

A short flight.

I haven't managed to log many flights this year, so it's with trepidation that I watched the weather on Sunday, being my first day with a clear enough schedule to go flying.

When I get to Orcier, there are many cars parked at the landing field. Some pilots have already landed, and I get their flight impression straight away. The wind is pretty calm, but there isn't much lift around. There is a cloudy veil in high altitude, although the temperature is rather warm for the season, there isn't that much energy reaching the ground, favoring a rather stable atmosphere.

It doesn't take long to pile up in cars and drive up to Très-Le-Mont. There are numerous pilots milling about and waiting to take off on the first site, and I greet Jean-Marc, whom I last saw quite a few months ago, after his flying accident. He's obviously well enough to fly again, that's good news.

I move to the second take off site, together with Michel, whom I also haven't seen for a very long time.

We start unfolding our wings together, but I take longer to get ready as I haven't flown for so long, and I want to double-check every thing carefully. That give me the opportunity to take a few pictures as he takes off.



The lake is very still, the small cumulus clouds lining up over the Jura don't seem to move, we have some cumulus over the mountains at the back, but so far the air is pretty stable here, with a few puffs now and then triggered by thermals climbing along the take off slope.

My controls are done, and I take place in my seat. I wait for quite a while for the right puff of air, and I'm airborne. I veer sharply to the left, and then to the right, feeling quite a pull up, but my vario stays silent. I glance down and realize I've forgotten to turn it on. I'm too busy trying to scratch as much altitude I can to let go of the controls, so I wait quite a while until I can free one hand to switch the instrument on, on my way to the front of the ridge. I go through some turbulence and keep my heading as best as I can. My ascent rate seems to stay below one meter per second, but in the dips, my descent rates goes all the way to minus three meters per second. This flight is going to be short if I can't change this state of affairs.

When I get to the front, I meet Jean-Marc, and for a few seconds, I'm above him. He's struggling to gain altitude, so I'm under no illusion that I might not stay up for too long.


The thermal in which we're turning dies off, and we each go our way to try and find another one. I aim for the classic spot, above what used to be the garbage dump in the old days. There isn't much happening there, quite a bit of turbulence, but nothing I can exploit to gain altitude. I leave the ridge, hunting around above the village and find something, but too small and weak to gain altitude.

The layer of pollution is clearly visible, a darker gray closer to the ground. this region sees too much car and truck road traffic, coupled with industrial activity.

I have been watching the air quality with horror since I moved back to this part of the world. It's been slowly spreading, slowly enough for the people that did not move away to get used to it.

It's sad, very sad...

Getting back in the groove...

It's the week-end, the weather is favorable, I go to the landing site in Orcier. A few pilots are in the air, they must have taken off quite early in the afternoon, as it's not much later than 14:30. One of them is lining up to land, and we wonder about his identity. Francis comments that a lot of pilots have bought new wings and it's now difficult to recognise everybody.

The suspense is of short duration, it turns out that the pilot that has just removed his helmet is François. I'm slightly disappointed as I wanted to fly with him.

He's followed shortly by another pilot, and we ask the classic questions about the conditions. It turns out that their flight was quite short, the wind is quite unstable, the thermals not established yet. We get busy with replacing the windsock nex to the club-house to pass the time. The previous one has laster for a few years, I remember climbing up the pear-tree to replace it.



More pilots arrive, and there's soon a small crowd. As usual, we organise a few cars to go up and leave for Très-Le-Mont. I choose the second take off, as quite a few hang-glider pilots are getting ready near the first one, and it's quieter anyway.



Three pilots are getting ready as I get to the spot, and I take place in the queue. It takes quite a while for them to take off, as the wind is really irregular.



By the time it's my turn to layout my wing, the fee puffs of wind have died down and 'm left to take off in an almost null wind. The absence of headwind makes the rise of my wing very fast, I expected that and pulled the brakes in time, my take off is clean.

Just at the front of the take off there is a very weak thermal, I make two passes but don't gain altitude, so I push forward to the front of the ridge. The pilots that took off before me seem to be gaining altitude there, so I decide to imitate them.

The crossing is rather bumpy, there are thermal bubbles popping all over the place. When I get to the classic thermal spot in front of the ridge, I manage to gain some height, after fighting for quite some time. But then the thermal dies off and I go further along the ridge to explore a bit and see if I can't find another thermal. My bet pays off and I rise quite a bit. At one point, a rapace comes to investigate me. Unfortunately, I only have the wide angle lense on the camera, and my hands are really to occupied with the controls to let go and grab the camera. Pitty, that was a magnificent bird...



I spend another few minutes in the air, and decide to land. The heat makes everything quite heavy, the air is mostly stable, and landing is uneventful.

Time to go home for a late afternoon relaxing drink...

Summer flight, before the weather changes.

I've been quite anxious to have a flight since I got back from North Carolina, two days ago. The weather is very good, maybe not the best for paragliding, as it seems very stable, but at least the wind is very calm, the sun is shining and there's absolutely no cloud on the horizon.

I wait until mid-afternoon, to avoid the time of the strongest thermals. This will be my second flight this year, so I'm taking everything slowly. I drive to the landing site in Orcier, and meet François, the potter. There are a few pilots on the ground, after what they describe as a very average flight. The consensus is to wait a while longer, so my hunch to take my time was right.

After multiple conversations with the other pilots, catching up on news, I decide to go up with Canaille and we drive to Le Feu, we then walk up to La Chapelle des Hermones. Canaille is very familiar with the site and gives me a few pointers before he takes off.


I calmly finish laying my wing and conducting my last pre-flight checks. The wind is quite variable, and as I pull up, the tip of my left wing gets tangled in the risers. I drop the wing, get out of the harness and redo the layout.
On the second try, my wing is completely sideways, and I'm too slow to walk on the side (there are stinging nettles and I'm trying not to get stung).
The third try is the right one, and I'm airborne, taken up immediately by both the thermal and the dynamic breeze hitting the cliff face on.
It only takes me a few second to climb higher than the take off point. The thermal and the dynamic lift die quickly though, there's a fairly strong Southerly wind coming over the crest of the Hermones, and it gets quite turbulent at that altitude. Canaille has crossed the valley, I suspect he estimates it's not too comfortable or safe here, so I move forward to the crest above Orcier. In the middle of the crossing, I find a little bit of gentle lift, but not enough to warrant staying here.

I even have to accelerate to get out of a downdraft a few seconds later.
These are far from idyllic conditions...
I get to the edge of the crest, and there are a few thermal bubbles, but I only have enough altitude to do a couple of passes. The area isn't great, so I move forward, hoping that with these wind conditions I'll be able to find some lift in the valley.
It's too stable. Aside from a few bubbles, I don't catch anything serious. Time to prepare for landing...

A few "esses" in front of the landing terrain, and I'm on the ground.

Time to put the wing away and drive up to fetch my car. It might be better tomorrow, but the Southerly wind does not augur well...

Technical data: Flight duration 0:35, Take-off altitude: 1550m, Maximum altitude reached: 1650m, Total climb during flight: 490m, Max rate of climb: +3m/s, Max descent rate: -4.5m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Hot Air balloon flight in Asheville...

I've been meaning to do this for quite a while now, and this year the opportunity finally arose!

For several mornings, I heard the unmistakable sound of a hot-air balloon burner firing in the distance at Tina's place, and one morning where we were on the road earlier than usual, we caught sight of the balloon flying low over the city.

It didn't take Tina very long to find the contact details of the pilot/owner, and we booked our flight.


We met before sunrise in town, to release a helium balloon in order to check the wind direction. That done, we took a drive towards Weaverville, to park in a big flat field, next to the local Mall Wart. Another two helium balloons were released, which showed there was quite a wind direction change a few hundred feet above ground level.


The fly decision is made, and the basket and the balloon were taken out and laid on the ground, to start inflation.

At first, a big petrol engine driven fan gets used to almost fully inflate the envelope on the ground. The pilot even stepped inside the balloon to check that all was proceeding as normal...


Then the first burn takes place. The basket is laying sideways on the ground, the flame shoots straight into the balloon opening, and after a while the balloon starts rising, lifting the basket upright.



The events then start unfolding quickly, with the four passengers climbing into the basket one by one, and take off is imminent. The exact moment of take off is hardly perceptible, but when we look down, we can clearly see that we've left the ground. We are airborne!




The plan was to fly North, but when we look that way, we can see that a thick cloud layer hugs the ground, and that's not just a morning fog. The pilot decides to fly North for a few minutes, but then drops the altitude of the balloon to catch a Southbound draft that takes us back toward the take off point. We drifted a bit West during the maneuvers, so it's not possible to land back on the same spot. We continue to drift in a Southerly direction, and at one point it looks as if we're going to cross the Interstate Road. The West draft pushes us back, and we're on the West side of the road again.


We're flying very low, looking for a suitable landing spot. So low, in fact, that we touch the tops of a few pine trees, the camera dangling from ropes attached to the top of the balloon actually get snagged into the trees at one point.

We're getting low on gas. The last of the three gas bottles has to come on line as we make an attempt to land in the parking lot of a church. This is probably one of the last suitable spots, and we touch ground rather softly, glad to see that the following vehicle has joined us.

It was a great adventure, with a flight that did not take us very high, but lasted over 55 minutes and showed us some interesting sights...

Re-birth...

I had a few flights without creating entries in this blog, but very few: no need to put down that mug of coffee to free more fingers to count. Last year was rather catastrophic, mostly for my inability to juggle my schedules in order to maximise flying time. In addition, Michael's accident put quite a damper on my flying enthusiasm.
So it's with trepidation that I check the weather, listen to the weather beacon and look at the pilots already aloft in the company of a few other pilots at the landing field in Orcier on this beautiful Saturday afternoon.
It doesn't take us much time to pile up in my car (hey, new car! First time use as a paragliding taxi :) and drive to Très-Le-Mont. The drive is rather slow, as the turbo doesn't build pressure adequately (the fault was found on Sunday, that's another story) but we get to the parking area of Le Couteau. It's still covered with too much snow to use, and all other cars are parked on the side of the road, so I find a spot on the side and we're soon all walking to the take off. There are still pilots busy taking off when we get there. Arlette is laying her wing on the grass, and Bruno is just about to take off, followed very shortly by a hang-glider. I let everybody take off before I pull my wing onto the grass. I want to take my time to do all the pre-flight checks thoroughly, it's been way over six months since my last flight, and I need to get everything properly in order. Everything looks correct, and I step into my harness. The wind is a little bit too much from the East, so it doesn't hit the take-off slope straight on, but there are puffs of wind that come straight up the slope at fairly regular interval. I watch the wind-sock for a while, and then pull the risers. I feel the wing rise quickly behind me, pull the brakes as it gets over my head and look up to make sure it looks normal, all the while maintaining pressure in the harness, a few more steps and my weight is supported by the flying machine, we have lift...

I'm flying straight for the clump of trees that is slightly to the left of take off, the one where I had to rescue Roger's daughter a few years ago. My plan is to turn right to face Norht-East and veer to catch the rising flow I guess must be on the right of take off, but I can't get the brake to dip. I lean to the right, but the turn is very slow. I'm in luck, the lift is powerful enough to take me up almost above the clump of trees and I clear it safely. I look at my brake line on the right-hand side, and discover it's tangled with the risers. So much for the thorough pre-flight check...
I calmly let go of the brake, while steering by shifting my bodyweight, and untangle the control line. By the time all is back to normal, I've flown to the front ridge. I'm pretty high already, way above 1500m. I have to guess as I could not recall where I put the variometer last time I flew, so I'm flying without instruments. The thermals are so big and powerful that I manage to rise rather easily. I free my camera, and take a few shots.

Half an hour has already lapsed, I'm thirsty, it's getting a bit late, and I'm quite happy that this "first" flight for the season has been a good one. I do a couple of loops to loose altitude above the neighborhood and line up with the landing terrain. I'm still a bit too high, but I plan on doing a couple of small wing-overs to loose the few extra meters at the edge of the field.

Hmm... the plan doesn't go as planned (do they ever?) and a thermal bubble lifts me by a few meters as I start my landing manoeuver. Oh well, too bad. I'm too low to do another turn, and too high to land on the field, so I land on the other side of the road, much to the rejoicing of much my fellow pilots...

I'm smiling nevertherless, this was a good flight.

Technical data: Flight duration 0:30, Take-off altitude: 1350m, Maximum altitude reached: 1700m (approx), Max rate of climb: +3m/s (approx), Landing altitude: 640m.

Nice summer flight

I have some gardening to do, but the pilots on the ground and the fantastic flying conditions convince me the garden can wait...

We pile up in a car and drive to Très-Le-Mont, where we find more pilots at take off. This time, I do a clean take off straight away and manage to play for a short while and gain a bit of altitude before I move to the front ridge.



The thermals aren't powerful or big, and it's a perpetual battle to keep climbing.

After close to an hour, I give up and head for the landing, a big smile on my face. It's been worth it. To top it all, I get a ride on the back of Alex's bike to fetch the car.



Technical data: Flight duration 0:52, Take-off altitude: 1550m, Maximum altitude reached: 1850m, Total climb during flight: 1320m, Max rate of climb: +3.2m/s, Max descent rate: -3.8m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Summer flight

At last the weather is favorable for a flying afternoon, and I have free time (well, the garden will just have to wait patiently). I meet Eric at the landing in Orcier and, together with another three accomplices, we drive to the take off in Très-Le-Mont. The weather beacon has been chiming Westerly since lunchtime, and there's a fairly steady air flow. I let Eric take off, at the last minute he swings widely to the side, counter-balances and narrowly avoids the pine trees on the other side. What a show!



I quickly layout my wing, and promptly miss my first attempt. On my second try I get cleanly airborne. It's good to be flying again. I do a couple of passes in front of the take-off, but the dynamic flow is not strong enough, and I go to the front to chase thermals. That results in a bumpish ride, as the thermal activity is quite small. There isn't any great thermal to exploit, and after fighting all over the place for half an hour, I land with a few other pilots that seem to feel the same.

Technical data: Flight duration 0:38, Take-off altitude: 1550m, Maximum altitude reached: 1650m, Total climb during flight: 480m, Max rate of climb: +3.6m/s, Max descent rate: -4.6m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Le Grammont

This is an outing we have quite regularly, at least once in the year. The view is spectacular, from the sudden discovery of the lake during the ascent, where we arrive on an outcrop and overlook the lake from Le Bouveret to Lausanne, to the beautiful scenery at the top that shows us Le Mont-Blanc, Le Cervin, Le Grand Combin, amongst the lower peaks in the Alps and Prealps.



The climb is fairly steep at times, there's almost 1800m denivelation, and we leave the car just after six. Alex and Pauline are late, but they told us they'd catch up with us on the way up.
In the beginning, we lose our way a couple of times and I'm a bit worried that Alex might have passed us and might think we're very far ahead as he can't catch-up...

We reach the Lac de Tanay after just over two hours. We stop for ten minutes, to see if Alex and Pauline get here, but decide to resume our ascent. I suspect Alex might have decided not to come after all. The weather forecast predicts a degradation of the conditions from late morning.

It takes us close to two hours to reach the top, making the total ascent time four hours. We have a chat with a couple that know the area quite well, and then prepare to take off, as the wind has started picking up already.



I help Nicolas take off, and as I'm about to launch, I hear my name being called and Alex has arrived at the top. I put everything down to help him layout and get ready. The rule is that tandem gliders get seen off safely first. I'm often the last to take off, in any case...



It's not possible to get tired of the flight here, there is so much to see! In the fourty or so minutes that we took to get in the air, the wind has picked-up, the thermal activity is in full swing, and the flight is a bit turbulent at first. After ten minutes, I manage to let go of the control with one hand to switch my vario on, and snap a few pictures.

The rest of the flight is more laminar, I can leisurely observe Alex and Pauline gliding to the landing safely, and it's my turn too soon.

In the last ten meters of the landing, a thermal triggers litterally undeer my feet and I'm swept sideways, up the slope. Fortunately, it's not powerful enough to give me much ground speed and I touch ground just a little harder than usual.

It was a magnificent flight...

Technical data: Flight duration 0:41, Take-off altitude: 2171m, Maximum altitude reached: 2220m, Total climb during flight: 280m, Max rate of climb: +2.6m/s, Max descent rate: -2.4m/s, Landing altitude: 380m.

Long time no blog...

Well, flights have been few and far in-between this year, especially since my mother's accident in the middle of February. Then the weather has been awful for most of May and June, so it was with a bit of trepidation that I launched for what looked like a good summer flight.

A few of us met at the landing site in Orcier to pile-up in a car and drove to Très-Le-Mont. The Westerly wind reported by our weather beacon was there, and take off is easy. A few seconds after my feet leave the groung, I climb steadily above take off, although there are quite a few uncomfortable gusts.

I stay in front of the take-off area a few minutes, but it's too uncomfortable and I move to the front of the ridge. The air is a bit smoother and there are a few small thermals to get more altitude.



I play around for a while, but it takes a lot of concentration, and the thermal bubbles are actually quite small. I keep losing them, hence not making much altitude.

After over half an hour, I head for the landing and touch down. It's been a fair flight, with a bit of battling and much scenery all around...

Technical data: Flight duration 0:35, Take-off altitude: 1350m, Maximum altitude reached: 1580m, Total climb during flight: 860m, Max rate of climb: +2.8m/s, Max descent rate: -4.4m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Spring flight, 23/05/2008...

Technical data: Flight duration 0:17, Take-off altitude: 1330m, Maximum altitude reached: 1330m, Total climb during flight: 183m, Max rate of climb: +2.2m/s, Max descent rate: -3.4m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Vario entry, 02/05/2008...

Technical data: Flight duration 0:40, Take-off altitude: 1330m, Maximum altitude reached: 1330m, Total climb during flight: 1058m, Max rate of climb: +3.2m/s, Max descent rate: -3.4m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.

Spring flight, 05/04/2008...

Technical data: Flight duration 0:52, Take-off altitude: 1330m, Maximum altitude reached: 1330m, Total climb during flight: 1053m, Max rate of climb: +3.4m/s, Max descent rate: -4.4m/s, Landing altitude: 640m.