Landing is usually only done after sun set, especially when a stronger westerly wind is blowing and landing direction 27 applies. Landing into the sun is not advisable. It's a good reason to make the most of the day with the 15 minutes until dusk ends. It's not difficult. Hitting a 2-meter thermal 45 minutes before sunset, in which you can circle up to the base in 3000 meters above ground is not so rare. But then you have the luxury problem of getting back down quickly enough before night comes.
And when the majority of the gliders come in after sunset, the Bitterwasser pan plays its great advantage. At a width of almost two kilometers, it picks up the landing gliders. There is no need for stress in the cockpit.
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.