UP team pilot Markus Henninger hit the jackpot during the recent heat wave on a 177-km flight to Poland: pleasant temperatures at cloud base and an invitation to go swimming.
He reports on XContest: "First of all, a huge thank you to Thoralf, who towed me for the second day in a row in nearly 40 degrees! The big question was which weather forecast would turn out to be right. Topmeteo and XCTherm both predicted thunderstorms in the direction of flight for the afternoon. As a result, the PFD was set quite low, and Topmeteo also indicated a significantly lower base level than the DWD, which forecast a base of over 3,000 meters and no risk of thunderstorms along my route.
That’s exactly how it turned out. Just harmless cumulus clouds, and just before the Polish border, I had to be very careful not to drop below FL 100. Once I’d left the last cumulus behind me, I made a tactical decision to turn toward civilization. That turned out to be the perfect move. On the last property near the village, I saw a group of people by the pool having a barbecue. I waved right away to make myself known. As I walked from the landing site to the road, one of them immediately waved me onto the property. On their English-style lawn, I was able to pack up my MERU 2 and was treated like royalty by Tommek, Jacek, and Robert, who were celebrating there with their families.
If the flight had already been impressive due to the extraordinary base altitude, the unexpected after-party was the icing on the cake. Jacek and his wife then drove me 25 km to Zielona Góra, from where I took the night bus back to Berlin."
We join Markus in celebrating this wonderful example of spontaneous hospitality. Thanks to everyone at the pool party!