Both had achieved something very special in fantastic weather. They flew a declared triangle of 1250 km on an Arcus M. This flight marks the first 1250 km FAI triangle flight from Bitterwasser. As a special icing on the cake, they flew the beautiful triangle around the Windhoek airspace. This is considered particularly challenging due to the airspace situation.
Already at takeoff around 9:20 a.m. (loc), the pilots were greeted by great Cu clouds with a base of nearly 3000 meters. An absolutely amazing day! According to reports, takeoff would have been possible as early as 9 a.m. in terms of weather conditions. This is truly an exception in Namibia. In just under 10 hours of flight time, they flew the triangle at an average speed of 130 kilometers per hour. The last 350 kilometers had to be covered in blue sky.
Max Mensing wrote the following poem on WeGlide for this flight:
Von Bitterwasser, frisch und heiter,
ging’s los – und immer weiter, weiter!
1250 Kilometer fein,
das muss erst mal geflogen sein!
Dann 350 km – kein Wölkchen weit und breit,
nur Blau und Hoffnung, jederzeit.
Doch Max und Klaus, die dachten bloß:
„Ach, Blau is’ auch ganz famos!“
Und als die Sonne längst verschwunden,
sind sie gelandet – wohlbegründet.
Der Himmel staunt, die Wüste ruft:
„Zwei Helden in der Abendluft!“
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate both pilots on their special flight and their outstanding achievement. Shortly before their departure, the traditional palm tree planting ceremony took place, accompanied by plenty of "thermal water".
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
A stay at the Bitterwasser Lodge is usually beyond the financial means of young pilots. At the same time, the next generation is the key to the future of our wonderful sport—and of the lodge as well. That is why supporting young pilots is a core part of the Bitterwasser Flying Center’s mission.
Early October is the ideal time to prepare the runways for flight operations. You can land at the Bitterwasser Flying Lodge in every which direction—depending on how you look at it, on 8 runways (plus one emergency runway), each in two directions. Jeremias carefully levels the landing area over the course of several weeks.