The 2025/26 Bitterwasser season is coming to an end
At around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, the first truck carrying one of our seven containers set off. This marked the end of another impressive gliding season in Bitterwasser.
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)
At around 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, the first truck carrying one of our seven containers set off. This marked the end of another impressive gliding season in Bitterwasser.
In Europe Christmas is usually associated with cold temperatures, early sunsets and, in the best case scenario, snow. In Bitterwasser, the world looks very different.