An expedition governed by the Niña, name given to the cooling down of the surface water of the central pacific ocean, which has generated a monstrous high pressure cell above our heads for three months. Notwithstanding this apparently adverse phenomenon, the Polish...
The genesis of this world record deserves as much interest as the narrative of the flight itself, because this flight is actually a fast reaction against what my British companions considered in diplomatic language an “erroneous interpretation” of a NOTAM. It is...
December 15th, FAI publishes Klaus Ohlmann’s claim for a world record, distance on triangle of 1.600 km flown December 8th, clearly outside of the area specified in the NOTAM by 113 km. One can easily imagine our reaction, and I immediately asked FAVAV (Argentinean...
My programme for the day following the receipt of this letter had already been decided: attempt of 2.000km badge, nothing else. Wake up at 3h30 for 12 hours of battle against more of 100 km/h of wind above 1/8 of uncertain fractos ending during the last 500 km by a...
At 3h30 a.m., a glance to the weather maps and the IR satellite indicate a strong southwest wind, more than 100 km/h in the half south. I am afraid that the second big leg of the triangle, the one of 474 km completely above the desert pampa, above an unknown and...
I don’t like much to narrate a flight, but this one is too exceptional to be forgotten, there are too many teachings to be divulged. In a big triangle, opposite to the out and return and the yo-yo, one never flies above the same place, the conditions are...
The sky is beautiful but weak, the wind is lower than 60 km/h. The Vz netto is particularly disappointing. The wave bars of Sc seem to evaporate in direction of the turn point (see photo satellite fig. 18 at 12h45 with our position), the Vz are in the range 1-1,5 m/s...
The wind is still strongly southwest, 230 to 240° whereas the orography, actually mesetas of 500 to 600 m height above the pampa, are oriented exactly north-south. Since the wave system preferentially follows the orientation of the orography respect to the...
The calculator is unfortunately not programmed for sectors of infinite length. To such a high distance from the point, the risk to be out sector for few meters is too big and is not a risk worth taking, this is no longer a speed task. I therefore wait to read on the...
The books of science tell that the absolute void doesn’t exist. Hey, believe me, that is false, I met it. Bruce, John and I have all met it in the evening and the following day. I didn’t even open the IGC files since I was convinced to have lost...
On January 12th, 2011, Klaus flew a 1.750 km triangle on practically the same track. The meteorological conditions were far better than ours and we cannot compare the results, but the tracks are almost identical, even though turned in the opposite direction. 10/11 -...
