UP Team Pilot Markus Henninger took his TORRE on a spontaneous trip to Poland.
In his own words: “I actually hadn’t planned on flying 1st of June; I thought it would still be raining - at least that’s what the forecast said - or be pretty cloudy. I just happened to check the flying weather in the morning… Wow, it doesn’t look so bad after all! Maybe I should go fly? After all, I have the day off.” No sooner said than done. He took off from the "Altes Lager" launch site in Germany via winch launch.
His description of the flight reads like an adventure: “The cloud pattern looked great. The thermals were sometimes indifferent, surging upward in waves. Sometimes patient circling in low lift was required; the base wasn’t high. Then again, it really kicked in. At one point, my vario showed over 12 m/min climb rate, and it felt that way too, but the TORRE remained stable. It wasn’t until past the Lusatian Lake District that the base level rose noticeably. I approached the Bautzen air traffic control center and checked in as a precaution, even though I was ultimately able to cross at high altitude. I lost a lens in my goggles during that maneuver and continued flying with just one eye from then on. I then arrived a bit south of Görlitz and was able to gain altitude once more over the reservoir, which was already lower. The thermals were already weakening. Are those clouds spreading out in the direction of flight, or are they remnants of a front? Further north, there were clear bands of clouds. I should have followed my own advice. If I’d flown along the ED-R 76 ridge into Poland, I would have had the perfect line by now. I approached two more promising-looking clouds, but nothing took off. I landed strategically along a busy road."
The trip home was exciting too: “After a short walk, a friendly Pole gave me a ride to Zgorzelec. Of course, I thought he meant Görlitz... But I was wrong - he dropped me off at the Zgorzelec-Miosta train station, and unfortunately, there were no more trains to Berlin. So I flagged down the only taxi and had him drive me to the Görlitz train station for 10 euros. Caught the train and was home before midnight."
Great flight, Markus! We hope that with new glasses, the story with you and TORRE will continue right away. We always look forward to hearing from you!