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Nataša Marzidovšek, ena od organizatoric julijskega srečanja ameriških jadralk v Lescah, nam je posredovala tri zapise. Bralcem Opensoaringa se opravičujemo, ker zapisi niso prevedeni, kot bi se za slovensko jadralsko spletno stran spodobilo. Kljub tej pomanjkljivosti pa menimo, da so zanimivi in vredni naše pozornosti. Morda pa se bodo blejski turistični delavci ali pa ljudje, ki vodijo občini Lesce in Radovljica, zaustavili pri kakšnem odlomku, ga prevedli in natisnili v kakšnem svojem reklamnem gradivu, predvsem pa bolj prizanesljivo gledali na dejavnost leškega letališča. Prav zato so izvirni zapisi toliko pomembnejši. WSPA IN LESCE, SLOVENIA, July, 2009
What a joy it was for me to spend a few days soaring in Slovenia again! Three years ago I had the pleasure of visiting friends in the Lesce club, friends I had met when several Slovenian and a couple of German women participated in the WSPA Seminar in Air Sailing, Nevada, in 2005. I gave cross-country instruction to a few of these women then and they invited me to visit and fly with them in Lesce. This year, thanks to the WSPA decision to hold the seminar in Slovenia - the first time outside the U.S.A, I was able to renew my friendships and fly again in Lesce, this time in much better soaring weather than 3 years ago. With the marginal soaring weather 3 years ago, I was able to do some sightseeing with my enthusiastic friends and also had the special pleasure to meet some of my new friends' parents, who were closer to my own generation. The area around Lesce/Bled is a beautiful contrast to the terrain I fly over during the summer in California, brown, hot, dry, drought like. Instead, it is a visual treat to feast one's eyes on the lush meadows, lakes and rectangular fields displaying different shades of bright green. Small towns and villages, with private vegetable gardens adjoining many houses, dot the landscape, which follows the meandering of the Sava river and its tributaries. The valley lies between the forested cliffs of the Julian Alps, dominated by the highest mountain in Slovenia, Triglav (9,400' elev) to the south, and the Karavanke rocky mountain range to the north, also limestone and glacier based, which is a natural border with Austria. The jagged rocks mostly face the prevailing SW winds and so create ideal conditions for ridge running. On several flights we explored thermals in Austria, as well as soaring in a little of Italy. Two other countries have borders with Slovenia, a tiny country half the size of Switzerland - Croatia in the South, with its Dalmatian coast, and Hungary in the East. Preparations for this seminar started about two years ago and involved a tremendous amount of work, led by Irena Gornik , Dani Černe, Nataša Marzidovsek, assisted by Jasna Jerman, Boža Martinčič, Marjeta Rigač, Vesna Stergar, and other members of the Slovenian Women Pilots Association, as well as many volunteers from the Aeroclub ALC Lesce. Their work and energy resulted in a super Seminar with 46 attendees. A large tent was used for breakfast feast, lunch snacks and dinners - except for the Banquet, held at a historic inn in nearby Radolvica - Can you imagine all the work that went into providing all this delicious food for hungry flyers?
On arrival by EasyJet from London , my old friend Jasna, together with her partner, met me at the Llubliana airport. They treated me to a local delicious feast at a nearby restaurant called Annska, serving dishes specializing in locally grown produce. In Lesce I found my fellow NCSA club member Dale Roberts and his wife Kate already there. They had arrived a day earlier and Dale told me he managed to have a glider all for himself as no one had yet arrived. He flew the DG500 for a 5-hour flight. I must say I was a little envious. The airfield and its grass runway was a joy to experience, all kinds of flying machines scattered around, getting ready to fly - many private and club gliders -Eric Raymond and his solar powered, home-built, single seat aircraft called "sunseeker" - microlights; various homebuilts; rc flying nearby; - parachute jumpers, etc.
I had planned to stay at the White House (a little dorm style building on the airfield, where I lived last time), but at the last minute a local member decided to use it himself. Dani then insisted that I stay with her family in nearby Radovljica. I was assigned the room of her 9 yr old daughter Ota, who then went to visit her grandmother. Neita and Mark Montague also stayed in Dani's house, which included Dani's husband Primoz, the cat and 11 yr old son Lucijan, (one day Lucijan went fishing with friends so that we would enjoy fish for dinner). It was all very cozy. Neita spent evenings wrapping "prizes" for the next day. In the morning Dani drove us to Lesce field in her tiny Twingo car. I am so grateful to Dani for everything she did for the seminar's success and to make my stay so wonderful. One afternoon I was tired and needed a rest before my assigned flight slot. Dani just took me back in her little Twingo for a nap. The morning presentations were well thought out and always interesting. I was specially intrigued by the lecture of Llubliana based official meteorologist, Boris Zorz on "Thermals in the Alps" and appreciate his sending me the pdf-illustrated file of his talk. It was fun to see many of the US WSPA members again, many of whom I had not seen for years, and to meet new members, such as Kitty, who recently achieved her glider rating. I also enjoyed meeting the members from other countries, especially the wonderful German glider flying family of Sylvia Geusen - her husband Heribert, daughters Anna Laura, aged 18, who won the " Anne Lindbergh Cross Country Challenge Trophy", Nora, age 14, who won this year’s Limerick contest and son Holger. Nora looked happy being allowed in the front seat of a Blanik (only allowed in rear seat in her home club).
On the first day after my arrival, the line-up on the flight line for the DG500 was long and by evening I thought that there would be no time to fly. Dani came to my rescue and we flew together at about 7PM, with good pre-fontal conditions, landing at sunset. It was worth waiting for! The other pilots I flew with during the Seminar were: Ivo Simenc, Gabrijel Pesjak, Mihael Avbelj, Boris Zorz. Most were also instructors and each was a very skilled pilot and a pleasure to fly with. The official start of the Seminar was Saturday but an expected powerful storm canceled flight ops and we went on a bus tour to the huge cave of Postojna, The day after the storm was spectacular in the clarity of the air and the great thermals. Each day had a combination of thermals and ridge lift. One day the cloud deck was barely above the 6,000' ridge tops but still provided good lift for ridge soaring and some thermals. The weather held during the seminar and only when it was over, it started to rain again. In addition to guidance about flight technique in the Alps, I often received explanations of the landscape, the lift sources, the geography, and the recent and not so recent history, e.g. " this village was wiped out by a landslide over 100 yrs ago”. "This picturesque old city of Trzik, nestled below these mountains, was partially destroyed by fire 200 years ago" "...here was where the First World War Armistice was signed "- here is Bovec, Slovenia's highest ski center, where ski jumping competitions take place, and where we now see paragliders" "This town is Notsch, in Austria" - Slovenes use different names - i.e. Klagenfurt is Celovec, in Slovene "over there is Traviso; it is in Italy, called Trbiz in Slovenian" etc. "Here is the source of the Sava River";" here many thousand were killed during and especially after the war - in this pass many died - over here they are buried "; here are little wooden huts for hikers built by hand where there are no roads except for hikers' trails . "Here we see hikers sharing trails with the sheep". "This is Begunjscica, the most popular mountain to hike."etc/
We hugged the ridge and saw many hikers. We waved at summit peaks and the hikers waved back. Hiking in the mountains is a national sport. " We are flying above the Triglav National Park but cannot see it today as the summit is covered by cloud ";" let's descend over lake Bled so we can take photos before reporting in." An advantage to flying in the rear seat of the ASH25 is that there are two little sliding windows, one on each side, supposedly so that the rear seat pilot can use a tool to remove the bugs on the leading edges in a contest. My advantage was that I could stick my camera lens out of either window, depending on the view and the sun angle. The visibility was excellent on Sunday, the day following the powerful storm, and the little windows were both used a lot. I wish I had a tape recorder to record the names of these landmarks, mountain peaks, historic places; all are difficult Slovenian words to pronounce. I probably got many of them wrong in this report also. I asked for and received three GPS traces of 3 of the flights so that I could review where we had flown on the SeeYou software program (designed by Andrej Kolar and others). Early Thursday morning after the seminar I joined Kathy and George Taylor in their rented car on a long drive on congested autobahns, the German Interstates, to the Wasserkuppe, arriving around midnight in pouring rain at the Youth Hostel. The next day, after a visit to the soaring museum and a brief lunch and tour of the Alexander Schleicher Factory, I headed by train on to the next leg of my trip, to visit a sick friend in Goettingen, Germany. I was running short of time and could not stay to see the bungee flights. I'm so grateful for the kindness of the Geusen family. Heribert and Anna Laura Geusen drove me from Wasserkuppe to the train station in Fulda, the nearest station for the high speed trains. When the train was late and subsequently was canceled they insisted on waiting with me for the next one. Anna Laura ran through the train with my luggage and found me a seat. I thought she would be unable to get off in time since German trains stop only very briefly....
This was a memorable International WSPA Seminar and I feel very lucky that I was able to be there and fly and am grateful to all who helped make it so. I would not be surprised if the many Slovenian volunteers were a bit burned out after we left and stopped any volunteering for a while. I hope they know how much we appreciated all their work. In addition to thanking our Slovenian hosts for a wonderful event, I would like to thank Frauke for her amazing ability to develop and maintain contacts all over the world with soaring women; also to Neita for her assistance in coordinating the logistics of the US women's participation. I hope to see many of you in Air Sailing next July. Miha’s log book entry; “It was an honour to fly with you. I wish to be like you
SEMINAR 2009 Imagine soaring high over mountain ridges, a hawk wheeling on your wingtip, the Alps silhouetted in the distance. Imagine an emerald lake, with a fairytale castle perched high above and a mystical tower on a tiny island. Imagine evenings under a cheery tent, an ample buffet spread with delicious local dishes, wine and good spirits in abundance. Imagine warm and welcoming soaring sisters, going out of their way to make sure we have everything to make our stay complete. Imagine all this – and you’ll have some idea of the magical experience that was our first international seminar hosted by the Slovenian Women Pilots Association at the Alpine Flying Centre in Lesce, Slovenia.
After two years of intense preparations, everything came together beautifully. Irena Gornik, Nataša Marzidovšek, and Dani Volčanšek Černe headed the organizing team, assisted by Jasna Jerman, Boža Martinčič, Marjeta Rigač, Vesna Stergar, and other members of the Slovenian Women Pilots Association, as well as many volunteers from the Aeroclub ALC Lesce. By Friday evening, July 17th, more than forty WSPA members had gathered, with several more to arrive in the following days. Twenty made the trip from the U.S. Saturday morning dawned rainy and overcast. After a briefing on airspace regulations and local flying procedures, the weather had not improved, - but not to worry! A bus arrived and whisked us off to the mammoth Postojna Cave, one of the natural wonders of Slovenia. We returned in the evening for dinner at the airfield and high hopes for the next day. Sunday morning, we were greeted by blue skies and the kind of white, puffy clouds soaring pilots love to see. After an interesting lecture on Slovenian aviation pioneers by Dr. Branko Brodnik, Chief Medical Officer of the Slovenian Air Authority, we eagerly swarmed onto the field to begin our flying adventures. Dani and Irena performed scheduling wonders, providing opportunities for everyone who wanted to fly. In the evening, we shared stories of awesome flights over dinner under the tent. Monday morning we met Andrej Kolar, the developer of the SeeYou flight analysis software, who discussed his experiences developing and using the software. Later,several participants had the opportunity to fly with him, as he is an instructor at the club. After an afternoon of flying, we traveled to the nearby town of Radovljica for a banquet at Gostilna Lectar, an inn with its own living history museum – a gingerbread bakery. Each participant received a personalized gingerbread heart to commemorate the event. As usual, a number of awards were presented at the banquet. The Geusen family swept the field, with Anna Laura (age 18) receiving the Lindbergh Award for best cross-country flight and Nora (age 14) winning the limerick contest. To make the evening even more festive, the organizers had gathered a host of prizes, from gift bags of lotions to plane tickets, and many participants went home winners.
Tuesday and Wednesday followed similar patterns. On Tuesday, we visited a plant that produces composite parts for sailplanes and ultralight aircraft and a shop that repairs and rebuilds sailplanes. Margherita Acquaderni stopped by on her way to the Women’s World Championships in Hungary, and Gill van den Broek spent two days with us, regaling us with tales of women soaring pioneers and past women’s contests. Five days flew by, and the seminar was over too soon. We parted company with cameras full of pictures, heads full of memories, and hearts full of gratitude for the hospitality of our Slovenian hosts. Our farewell wish to our European sisters – “See you in Reno!” became a prayer that the bonds we have forged will remain strong and that we will continue to share soaring adventures as women of the sky.
REFLECTIONS The 2009 seminar will be one of the most memorable for me. I can’t say enough about the hospitality of our hosts, or how hard they worked to make it a success. And I am so glad I had the chance to visit Slovenia and see what a charming country it is. I had no idea what to expect, so everything was a pleasant surprise, from the spectacular scenery to the smallest touches, like the delicious food at the highway rest area, so different from the junk food here in the U.S.! And the soaring was astounding. I am in awe of Dani and the other pilots I flew with. I am also very grateful for Natasa, who picked me up when I arrived in Klagenfurt and who got up really early to take me to the airport in Ljubljana after the seminar.
Of course, after the grueling trip to get to Europe, I had to stay longer than the five days of the seminar, so I spent three days in Budapest before meeting my sister in Milan and spending a week with her touring northern Italy and southern France. It was a trip of many delights and many contrasts. It was strange being in a big city (Budapest) after experiencing the charm of Lesce and the Slovenian countryside, but the architecture was gorgeous and the people were very accommodating. I can speak only a handful of Magyar words, but just being able to say “please” and “thank you” was enough to get by on. Italy was as wonderful as I’d hoped—the scenery of Lago Maggiore, the unbelievable food, the great people, the art! Highlights were visiting the small town, Retorbido, where my paternal grandfather was born, and seeing “The Last Supper” in Milan. The painting is so magnificent, even as faded as it is, that it brought tears to my eyes. We had a pretty hair-raising drive through northern Italy to the Riviera, staying one night in Santa Margherita on the Italian coast (at a B&B I will recommend to anyone who wants to go there), seeing Portofino (where cocktails were 15 (!) Euros, so we settled for 1 Euro bottles of water), and then spending three nights in Nice, where we went to the very expensive and rocky beach. We also went to Monaco one night to go to the famous casino at Monte Carlo. I even played roulette! Counting airline layovers and one day trip, I visited a total of *eight* countries on that trip: Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, France, and Monaco! Thank you, Frauke, for all your travel tips and for working with Neita, Dani and Irena to make the seminar a success. For me the motor bike tour with Mark and Colleen around the Triglav National park was unforgettable. And then the camping with my old friends from Hegenscheid (members of Anna’s original soaring club), breakfast with the members of the national precision jumping team landing right next to us. Unforgettable is the dinner in the old inn in Radovljica and the historic ginger bread bakery. A lot of fun was the evening cooking, even Mexican food was on the menu one evening. Then the flying: climbing up that unique ridge past grazing sheep and alpine huts and you know you have reached the top when you suddenly see Austria in front of you and you keep flying until you have reached Italy with Austria on your right and Slovenia on your left.
An International Conspiracy Saturday evening just before the welcome party Dani and Irena took me aside and “pulled the cat out the bag”, THE T-SHIRT. I bent over laughing and was imaging Neita’s face when presented with the shirt. I suggested to make sure, she was the first one getting the shirt, in order to have my camera ready to record the moment. Here there were the three conspirators, calling Neita to the front to receive her welcome package and t-shirt….Neita, totally unsuspecting just accepted the t-shirt, never looking at the details and we had to prod her to have a closer look. “OHMYGAWD that’s me, OHMYGAWD!!!” Everybody burst out laughing. Actually, the t-shirt featured the two main organizers: Neita and Irena. (The design was on the back page of the Aug.09 Hangar Soaring). Thanks, Irena, Dani and artist Matjas Pokular for providing such a good laugh and to Neita for being such a good sport. Tuesday July 21st I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Gill van den Broeck from Belgium. We had several long conversations during the seminar, an additional gift from this trip. A very brief visit to the Wasserkuppe I had been at the Wasserkuppe 30 years earlier before the museum was built and many of the historic sailplanes were stored in a leaky, old hangar. Having Peter as a guide and narrator made the visit to the museum very memorable. One thing I realized though: I am an Old Timer too, because I flew many of the now historic sailplane on display in the museum in my early days of soaring when the Ka6 was the hot ship (now in the museum too) out of reach for me then, while nobody hesitated to let me fly the old planes like the Grunau Baby, Rhoenlerche, Dopple Raab, Kranich3, Goevier, Spatz etc all too valuable to let beginners fly them now and on display in the museum now. Thanks Peter (who is a WSPA member) and Frizi to make the long drive from Stuttgart just for a few hours and opening your home to us for one night before we continued our travels to Southern France.
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Aeroklub Livno in Glide Cup 2010 32. pokal blanik - Lučko 2009 |
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