The flights had to be fought hard. Only a look at the wind maps showed the problem. The working altitudes in the blue thermal in the afternoon were 5000 meters MSL and more, but in the heights and already well below it was blowing at 60 kph plus. Wind shear did the rest to stir up the thermals vigorously. Only the strong and then tight lifts made it all the way up. Lots of clubs and a high tolerance against shaking were the order of the day. If you liked that, you could also bring together decent daily distances, like the Italian TwinShark team Pietro Sileri/Gaetano Benincasa with almost 800 kilometers.
Another challenge awaited the returnees when they had to land in the 30 knots northwest with gusts of up to 46 knots. The photo shows the current weather on the afternoon of November 26th. In Bitterwasser that wasn't that big a problem. On the large pan, it was possible to approach and land exactly against the wind.
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.