The drought is hard to imagine, as it rained so much in January. Suddenly everything was green. Sinks and pans overflowed. The grass shot up. And that is now the problem, it is now everywhere as hay on the stalk. When there is a thunderstorm, lightning sets it on fire. Driving cars off the beaten track is forbidden. Hot catalysts can easily ignite the dried out stalks.
Areas around Bitterwasser and the neighboring village of Hochanas have also been colored black. Luck for Bitterwasser, the fire around the mast of the directional antenna near Hochanas spared the mast itself. If it had been flared, there would be no telephone and no internet in the lodge.
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.