Most of you who've been around for a while know that I love everything to do with flying. I soloed at 16 and got my pilot's license when I turned 17. I was a very serious skydiver for years. I'll always take an opportunity to try something new with flying. Formation flying, paragliding, hang gliding, ballooning (and jumping out of hot air balloons!), helicpoter jumps, night jumps, aerobatics, naked jumps, aerobatics in gliders...... It's all good! (Fortunately, I have a very understanding wife, or I'd suffer from AIDS - Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome!)
On several of my trips to Straubing and Bogen, I've flown gliders from Deggendorf. On Sunday, I went there to take another flight or two. It was so nice to relax and kick around the airport for several hours. This is a very small operation and a very charming environment. We are definately not in Kansas anymore... the surroundings are so very different, yet the atmosphere around the airport is so familiar.
As I was waiting for my flight, there was a 172 in the pattern doing touch and goes. It taxied up to the ramp and a man got out of the right seat.. It taxied back to the runway and took off again. I recognized the man as George, one of the instructors I've flown with in the past.
"Must be a solo student?" I said. He replied, "That's my daughter Maria!" We chatted for a long while as she made a couple of landings. It took a while because of glider traffic... they can't go around, so the powered aircraft have to wait.
Here is Maria about to touch down on her second solo!
As I was waiting for the glider flight, George asked me if I'd like to come along on a scenic flight around Munich. "ABSOLUTELY!" I thought it was going to be a tourist flight, but it was Maria's formal dual cross country flight. We flew south of MUC and then around downtown Munich. I've spent so much time in Munich that it was very easy to orient myself and just by conicidence we flew right over the Alpha Klinik. Getting aerial photos of the AK, Marienplatz and Olympic park was really a treat. We flew north of the city and MUC, then did the required landing (for logging the dual X-C flight) at Landshut. Again... so different, yet so familiar. The local flying club was having a bbq in their hangar... locals were having a beer watching the few aircraft coming and going. There were beautiful restored aircraft, homebuilts, powered ultralights and light sport aircraft.
Alpha Klinik... sorry, this is from a pocket camera through very dirty plexiglass!
Maria said that she only has 12 hours logged, but it was clear that her glider time and special tutilage from her father has put her far ahead of the class. Training flight, solo, then long X-C is a lot to do in a day, but her approach and landing back at Deggendorf were perfect.
From the air, I discovered a water-ski park with a large winch system.... skiing with no boats! I can't wait to learn more about it.
If you are coming to Straubing, Bogen, Munich... consider flying at Deggendorf. They have a website
Luftsportverein Deggendorf - Startseite or contact me and I'll put you in touch with some of the instructors who speak English. It's very inexpensive, fun and fun. Oh yeah... fun too.
All the best,
Mark
See the airport buildings?
Olympic Park
