On Saturday it was still unclear how the weather will be on Sunday, but I had the gut feeling that we'll have fun... a lot of cumulus, mild temperatures, sun, some storms late in the afternoon, but the kind of weather which I like. No blue horror, no wind, no 30°C. 

The preparation for this flight was a bit more difficult than usually: Saturday we went out for a sushi & wine evening so on Sunday in the morning I was not as fresh as a rose. I struggled to find someone to rig my glider so I was ready quite late, around 11 am. There was a competition at our airfield (Coppa Cittá di Varese) which means that I could take-off only after the competitors, around 2 pm... but better late than never!

This time I did not start the flight from Campo dei Fiori, but above the city of Varese (and the aerotow was not 1000 m, only 750 m). The first thermal was not bad (around 1-1.5 m/s) so I started immediately the task of our local weekend competition (Coppa Villa Pavesi). The cumulus were around 1600-1800 m, and I found better conditions going in the direction of higher mountains. The max. altitude for the first part of the task was around 1900 m, but I was not worried because I knew that the clouds function very well!

I reached the first waypoint (Mt. Cornizzolo) around 1600 m, I did again the max. height and I went for the 2nd waypoint (Mascioni, 10 km radius circle). When I returned to Mt. Generoso for the second time, the conditions were even better, I reached the super height of 2050 m! It would have been sufficient to touch Mt. Bisbino for the second time, but I went until Mt. Bollettone because the thermals worked really well. I went up a bit to the north here (Mt. Palanzone) but there I found rain. 

I returned above the flatland to home and I thought well to leave margin for the final glide: there was south wind, around 15-20 km/h and it was from the side - against the nose of my glider. I touched again the most western point of Lago di Varese and then I landed at home.

Happiness! I completed the daily task with a quite good speed as well and all the flight was really enjoyable, I had fun! These are the conditions where an ASW15b flies well, without major difficulties. 

If you want to see my flight on OLC/weglide, you can find it here:

186 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 05/11/2025 (weglide.org)

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 11.05.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

April said goodbye with a strangely hot, summer-like weather: around 30 degrees on the ground (31.3 °C just before take-off in my ASW15b), 0°C at 3700 m, just like in July. The problem with this weather is the position of Calcinate del Pesce airfield: we remained in the dirty air with very strong inversion. So in this case once you arrive to the high mountains, you can reach the good weather, the cumulus and the high cloud base, but... once you arrive. If you do so. And I did not succeed for two days. 

I did the first attempt on 30th April: I found a good thermal on Campo dei Fiori so as usually, I went straight to the next mountain, Mt. Nudo. During this glide I needed to face some technical problems on board: my navigation instrument turned black for an unknown reason and even the other navigation instrument (a Kobo with XCSoar on it, I wear it attached to my left leg) was nearly not visible, the screen had some problems because of the sun. Well, not a nice situation to start the flight: two navigation instruments on board and none of them work properly. And even Mt. Nudo did not work properly, what a strange situation! I got low, and under the ridge it was impossible to find any thermal. 

No worries, let's retry it the next day and solve the technical problems on the ground. At this point it was clear that the best way to follow is through the mountains of Lugano CTR: Campo dei Fiori - Mt. Martica - Mt. Piambello - Sette Termini and then Mt. Lema. Well, the idea was good, the reality was again very different: Lugano CTR had IFR traffic like if it was Heathrow Airport! Needless to say how disappointed I was at the end of the day: I flew 3 hours above Campo dei Fiori and Varese city, I felt like I had the time to see the faces of each tourist on Campo dei Fiori! Low and slow all day, as mamma prefers...

I knew that my last chance is Friday, 2nd May - after this day the weather will get worse. I was as determined as never before. I won't give up! The first part of the flight was very difficult again: even though I entered with a good altitude to Lugano CTR, when I reached Mt. Piambello, they sent me out of the CTR because there was IFR traffic arriving to Lugano Airport. Noooo... 

But the strong determination finally paid off: I decided to follow the classic way so I went to Mt. Nudo and slowly I found myself at Sette Termini and Mt. Lema. At Mt. Lema I already knew that I did it: I reached the good weather zone, even though it was late, around 4 pm. Too much happiness, I did it, I cannot believe!

Well, the tiredness at this point did not give me a good advice for the next part of the flight: I should have gone to Mt. Limidario when I crossed the lake, but I chose Albergone and I did not find any thermal here. It was too late? It was too close to the flatlands, so to the bad weather zone? 

That bad decision left a bittersweet feeling in my mouth even though I decided that I will celebrate the resistance and the hard work of this day. I could have done it in a different way? Sure. But that was anyway a little moment to enjoy, I learnt from the mistakes of the previous days and I succeeded in leaving the area near Calcinate.

The day did not finish at this point, we needed to de-rig the gliders because from the next day the weather forecast predicted rain and thunderstorms. After driving home, I enjoyed a well-deserved pizza and beer combination, typical of gliding days. 

If you want to see my flight on 2nd May on OLC/weglide, you can find it here:

109 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 05/02/2025 (weglide.org)

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 02.05.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

Right after Easter, 25th April was again a day off in Italy (Liberation Day) - so no surprise where I spent this day again. :) The preparation for this flight was not smooth: after rigging the glider, I found out that the security pin with its spring does not work well so it was very unsure if the problem can be fixed in time... finally, we've done it but I missed the morning weather forecast and that was a pity as I knew that it will be a complicated day because of the ~20 km/h N wind.

The weather indeed was very strange, thermals did not work perfectly - but I need to say I spent some nice moments in the smooth air at Mt. Nudo doing the ridges without losing any altitude. I was warned that the wind will arrive also to lower levels so I decided to land quite early this day - and it was already a bit complicated with 5-6 knots of NE wind (the orientation of the runway is east - west). The wind continued to change all day so I landed in the direction 10 left circuit, but I have seen every type of possible landing at Calcinate this day! (10 right circuit, 28 left circuit)

I did not de-rig the glider in the evening because I knew that I will fly also the next day. I was much more optimistic about the weather but it did not go like I imagined... the strategy was not bad, but the results seemed to be catastrophic: I gained altitude at Campo dei Fiori first, then I entered to Lugano CTR and did the "classic way" (Mt. Martica, Mt. Piambello). I left the CTR and tried Mt. Orsa: NOTHING! I got low and I needed to suffer above the city of Varese for the next two hours to be able to reach 1676 m. What a shame: there is this beautiful day to fly and I can't even arrive to the next mountain! Needless to say how desperate I was, especially because I was convinced that this day will be much better than yesterday.

Finally I did it and I went rather to the north-west where the mountains did not make me disappointed. 2200 m at Mt. Nudo, 2300 m at Sette Termini, nearly 2400 m at Mt. Tamaro in Switzerland. I crossed Lago Maggiore and went to Albergone where I arrived even to 2700 m! At Mt. Limidario I found it a bit difficult to circle well in the thermals and I was already very tired after the disastrous beginning of this flight. I still regret that I did not continue from here in the direction of the airfield of Masera...

I returned to the east and this time Mt. Orsa gave me some lift with some really important S wind (hey, why there is wind every day to make my life more difficult?! :)). When I arrived to Mt. Generoso, the sky was already quite covered and it seemed that there might be a storm near Varese in the evening. But I had fun in the air - made some nice photos, compared the glide performance with a Lak17a at different speeds, tested my new battery and I completed my longest flight ever, 6 hours 40 mins!

Though at the end of the day I was exhausted, these 2 days reminded me again of the most important message: you need to RESIST even when it is hard as hell, and you need to BELIEVE even after a lot of struggling. And I did not know yet how this message will be important even during the next week...

Because if you want to become a good pilot, you must see challenges as opportunities to grow, not reasons to stop.

If you want to see these flights on OLC/weglide, you can find them here:

74 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/25/2025 (weglide.org)

151 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/26/2025 (weglide.org)

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 25.04.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 26.04.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

Easter Monday finally gave us a good day for flying, but Tuesday seemed to be even more promising. On Monday morning I wrote to my manager to ask for one more day-off and as usually, he replied very quickly and there was no problem with my request. I was ready to attempt the 300 km flight for the FAI gold badge!

I found the first good thermals in Lugano CTR (Mt. Martica - Piambello) and tried to head to the east immediately. I encountered the usual problem: I did not find any lift at Mt. Orsa which made it impossible for me to complete the first leg. I decided to try the other direction: Mt. Nudo and Sette Termini were much more generous, they gave some really good lifts and hey, I found myself at 2700 meters at Mt. Tamaro! At this point I thought that it is still possible to reach the first waypoint and complete the 300 km so I did a long glide until Mt. Generoso. The idea worked because then I found a thermal at Mt. Generoso but that good height (2700 m) was wasted like this. I should have gone to Mt. Gazzirola and remain really high.

I know why I try to avoid the Gazzirola: 1-2 years ago on a bit windy day I took there some really bad downwind a got freaked out above Porlezza. The outlanding opportunities are a bit limited in this zone, of course there is Locarno and Lugano airport near (if you reach them...but to outland in Switzerland, well, that is not so easy...) and Porlezza field - but it is really bad (with big stones and cows!) which would let a pilot survive the adventure but it is very likely that you damage your glider.

But let's get back to the flight: from Mt. Generoso I went to Mt. San Primo and then I crossed again Lago di Como to reach Grigna. Unluckily I knew that I won't be able to push more in this direction because the top of the Grigna was covered with clouds. This is a really impressive, beautiful wall - I was happy to fly here, but the thermalling was not that easy as I was under the ridge. The max. height here was only 2150 m so I decided to return to the west. 

I felt myself slightly low (1700 m) when I found a good lift at Monte di Palanzo and I did not stop here until the cloud base (nearly 2200 m). I did a long glide back to my "home mountain" (Campo dei Fiori) where the max. height is 1676 meter because of Malpensa Airport. Mt. Nudo - Sette Termini: 2400 meter, I am ready to cross Lago Maggiore to reach Albergone spot on the other side of the lake. The classic places to find the thermals worked well, I am nearly at 3000 m when I enter to the Cento Valley. I cross the valley and I continue on the north side. But why not to try something new this time? I won't return to home the same way where I came, I decide to reach Mt. Togano and I go in the direction of Gravellona Toce. 

I've always heard that these mountains do not work very very well, you can do the final glide here, and it was true: I found only one thermal. Nevertheless, the experience was nice, new landscape, those cities and mountains under me that I knew only from the car when passing in this valley. I flew above the city of Verbania: I was here just 2-3 weeks ago with car, but it is so different from above, so calm and beautiful. 

When I returned to Mt. Nudo, I found again some lift so I went to Campo dei Fiori - Mt. Orsa - Mt. San Giorgio and Generoso. (At this time, quite late, the tricky Mt. Orsa worked well.)

The sky was covered with some high clouds when I finally landed. I knew that this flight will be special for me, but I did not know yet that it will be my new personal best to date: 320 points OLC, 258 km with my ASW15b. It might be not so much for the great pilots, but for me it was an important step forward. I hope we will have many more days like this!

If you want to see my flight on OLC/weglide, you can find it here:

258 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/22/2025 (weglide.org)

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 22.04.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

The middle of April was very rainy again in North Italy so that means no flying - useless to say that I was quite sad those days. But the weekend of Easter finally gave some hope: Monday seemed promising so instead of doing the traditional grill party, I chose gliding. 

We received a task also at the local competition "Coppa Villa-Pavesi" so before my flight I prepared the task in XCSoar - it was a 1 h 50 min AAT with the following waypoints: Campo dei Fiori - Clusone (50 km radius circle) - Piancavallo (20 km radius circle) - Calcinate. 

I took off in the right moment, happily reached the max. altitude above Campo dei Fiori (1676 m) - so let's cross the start line! This was the first unpleasant surprise: even though I did it 3 times, the next waypoint infobox never changed, XCSoar did not accept my start. I looked at it carefully but it did not offer the option to do manual start. What a shame, I won't be able to complete the task!

I saw that the cumulus clouds were still quite low so I decided to "start" the task entering into Lugano CTR and choosing a very careful way with short glide distances between the mountains. The plan was this: Campo dei Fiori - Mt. Martica - Mt. Piambello - Mt. San Giorgio. Well, the plan... I reached Mt. Martica and the tower asked about my intentions. I explained it (probably they have already known what I wanted to do as this is typically done by glider pilots) and they said: there is important IFR traffic today, they think it won't be possible. I left Mt. Martica and the CTR and returned to Campo dei Fiori. I did some thermals above Mt. Nudo and Mt. Sette Termini but I was not high enough to cross Lago Maggiore and go in the direction of the higher mountains. 

I decided to try again the way to the east and slowly I succeeded to reach further mountains. I was quite happy above Mt. Generoso around 2000 m! I went until Mt. Cornizzolo among 1600-1950 m and I saw that the clouds were working quite well. I did not push forward because I heard in the radio (and also according to the forecast) that the conditions are not so good after the city of Lecco. 

On the way home I lost quite a lot of time above Mt. Bollettone because of trying to search the best spot (and getting tired). Finally I did the max. altitude, I crossed again Lago di Como and from Mt. Bisbino I did not stop until the city of Varese. Campo dei Fiori, Mt. Nudo: I am again at 1950 m, so why not to cross the lake? This longer glide was quite pleasant, I did not lose a lot of altitude above the lake. I arrived to the spot which is called 'Albergone' by the local glider pilots and I started to search for the thermal around 1650 m. The cumulus was not exactly above the top as usually but I was calm to search, I knew that it is very likely that I can arrive home even if I do not find anything. But I found! I stayed a bit here and decided to return home with a long final glide. I met another pilot under the ridge of our "home mountain" (Campo dei Fiori) and he took some nice photos of me. 

All in all the day was very pleasant with nice cumulus everywhere, it was just a pity that they weren't a bit higher. As before the take-off it was very hot on the ground I decided not to wear my Skyboots and my feet were frozen. It was only around 5-6°C during the flight so I regret the idea of not wearing them. But the best is yet to come, as I flew also the next day. Stay tuned!

If you want to see my flight on OLC/weglide, you can find it here:

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 21.04.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

163 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/21/2025 (weglide.org)

At the local competition I obtained the 7th place:

Classifiche di giornata CVP 2025 • ACAO - Aero Club Adele Orsi

I've always wanted to visit the Aero exhibition in Germany (this is the leading trade show for innovation in general aviation) and this year I was lucky enough to win some tickets from the manufacturer of my glider (A. Schleicher) - so why not to go to South Germany at least for a day? :)

Because of work it was decided to schedule the visit for Saturday (the last day of the Aero, it was from 9th April (Wednesday) until 12th April (Saturday)). It's a 5 hour trip by car from North-Italy so it was necessary to wake up early in the morning. The San Bernardino pass in Switzerland was really spectacular with snowy high mountains around the road. Finally around 12.30 the destination was reached and the fun could start!

I've always knows that it takes place in a big area with several companies participating but it was even bigger than I imagined. Of course there were a lot of visitors on Saturday but as the exhibition area was really huge it was not a problem at all, there was no queue at the entrance and it was easy to find everything inside. So let's go immediately to Hall A1 where all the glider manufacturers (Schempp-Hirth, Schleicher, LAK, Jonker Sailplanes, HpH Sailplanes, SZD, DG) are located!

Not only the manufacturers were present here, but other well-known companies also: LZ design (FES manufacturer), XC Vario, Tost, Cobra trailers, LX nav, SteFly and many more! The vintage gliders made me remember those days when I started to fly in Hungary (around 2016) because Hungarian aeroclubs have many gliders like this (for example: Cobra, Foka etc.)

Most companies tried to arrive with some brand new ideas to present here: the LAK factory showed the first plans about the LAK21, Jonker Sailplanes revealed the design of the new JS5 REY, the Schempp-Hirth company announced the return of Discus 2 into production and the DG Aviation GmbH presented the REStrofit for DG400 and DG800 gliders. Stefan Langer (the current World Champion) arrived with his dedicated variometer for the Larus sensor unit - so now anyone can have the full equipment to fly like a champion!

The polish company "Szybowcowy Zakład Doświadczalny (SZD)" came with a very nice SZD55 Nexus which has unique, elliptically-shaped wings and an electric propulsion system made by them.

It was also a great occasion to buy some clothes or funny hats for gliding - my bad luck that the clothes of A. Schleicher were only for exposition and it was not possible to buy them here (from every other manufacturer it was possible - but I have an ASW15b, so...:))

Instead of clothes I decided to take home the book of Simon Lemmerer - the Art of Gliding with some magnificent photos and stories of flying in the Alps.

AERO2025 gives the opportunity for some networking as well because that is quite rare that you can directly talk to manufacturers and other production companies and you can share ideas and get insights to production processes, costs and much more. 

It is an interesting event for every aviation enthusiast because there is really EVERYTHING here: helicopters, jets, small airplanes, conferences (unluckily in German language), airshows and hundreds of companies who support the aviation industry (I have seen for example the representatives of FLARM, Funke and Becker Radios, EASA, Garmin etc.) A must to visit at least once!

The 1st of April (Tuesday) was an amazing day with wonderful cumulus and very high altitude everywhere (well above 3000 m) so I was quite sad to follow it only from home. But that's life, sometimes we need to work... :)

But let's prepare for Thursday, it also seems nice! I spent all day in the office on Wednesday and after it, late in the evening went to the airfield to rig the glider. It was important because I knew that there will be a very long queue on Thursday already early in the morning as it was also the first day of the SAP (Stage Alta Performance, organized every year by Alberto Sironi where usually 30-40 pilots participate from around the world).

On Thursday I arrived to the airfield a bit before 8 am and I just needed to take the glider to the runway (it was quite comfortable so the inconvenience of rigging it on Wednesday worth it). I prepared everything, I dried the surface and I talked to some participants of the SAP (from Voghera) to know which task they will fly. They said that the "pedemontana" region will be nice (where mountains meet with flatland) so they received a 300 km task to Saló (Lago di Garda). That is too far for me, the waypoint is 150 km from our airfield!

Based on Xctherm's forecast I thought that it will be also okay to plan a task in the direction of Masera Airfield (Val d'Ossola) and then to the east near Valbrembo airfield but it was a mistake. Despite my error regarding the task setting, the flight started in a very enjoyable way: in a relatively short time I found myself at Mt. Tamaro at 2200 m, but this was the maximum altitude. It is not sufficient for me to cross Lago Maggiore because I would arrive to Mt. Limidario around 1700 m which would make me feel uncomfortable. The mountains are getting high in the Cento Valley so I prefer to fly in this zone above 2500 m. 

No problem, the plan can be changed, let's head to the east where everyone goes! The flight went pretty well until Mt. Bollettone where I had an idea to try to head to the north again, in the direction of Mt. San Primo where people usually climb higher. It was not the case this day: the cumulus clouds were the same low as everywhere so I was quite disappointed. I returned to Mt. Bollettone and continued in the direction of Lecco.

Even though the distance is not very big for a high performance glider between Mt. Bollettone and Cornizzolo, it was a bit challening for me that day. At Cornizzolo I found a few paragliders and the visibility was not nice at all. I pushed forward until the last mountain before the lake and I decided to stop here. Was it a good decision? I should have continued more to the east? Good question, I do not have the reply... probably I could have done a bit more but with significant stress levels and even more challenging situations. 

I went again until Mt. Lema and I wanted to re-do the whole course but the second time I reached only Mt. Bisbino. Nevertheless, the flight was enjoyable, tiring (more than 5 hours in the air!) and quite satisfying. 

If you want to see my flight on OLC/weglide, you can find it here:

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 03.04.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

213 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 04/03/2025 (weglide.org)

We arrived to the last day of the stage: I knew it already that it will be a complicated day and the weather forecast at 9.30 am confirmed it. It was expected to have 25-30 km/h wind (N, NNE) above 1500 m and some severe turbulence zones at several places where we usually fly. The task was the following: Laveno - Sette Termini - Cornizzolo - home (Calcinate del Pesce). It is not a long task, but I was sure that it will be challenging because of the special weather conditions (thermals mixed with strong wind). 

The flight started quite well: I did immediately 1676 m at Campo dei Fiori so I went to Monte Nudo. Here I passed a bit of time until I found a wonderful thermal (laminar lift?) which let me to start the task at 2100 meter! I passed above Monte Pian Nave on my way to the first waypoint, Sette Termini. It was not a nice glide as I arrived near the waypoint only at 1600 m. Yes, only very close to the first waypoint and I did not touch it: I was not careful enough when I entered the task into my Kobo (it is an e-book reader with XCSoar on it) and I put the waypoint in Lugano CTR (and it is an extra difficulty to do the radio communication with Lugano Tower when you are low and you do not find any lift). My bad! I should have checked the whole task on the ground and verify the location of every waypoint. 

I was quite frustrated at this point and I needed to glide back in the direction of Mt. Nudo as I did not find any lift at Sette Termini. But at this height (1300 m) the wind was not strong enough to help me - so I continued my way in the direction of the airfield. The flight becomes at this point a game of patience: I am only at 800 m above the city of Varese. And another unpleasant surprise here! There is wind from SSW (12-15 km/h), I see it clearly when I check the shape of my track on the map. 

Finally I did it, what a win! I am very happy when I restart the flight with the max. altitude (1676 m) in the direction of the second waypoint. I am slow and careful - I know that the conditions are tricky, I don't know at which altitude I will feel again the NNE wind. I follow the standard way to the east: Mt. San Giorgio, Generoso. I hardly find normal (circle) thermals, I find some weak lifts in lines near the ridges. The sky is blue with some high clouds, I feel it too complicated to go until the second waypoint so I decide to return home much earlier. Especially because I have already lost a lot of time above Varese. 

I have mixed feelings about this flight: I did some mistake with the task setting, I did not complete the task (of course it was possible to complete it) but it was a small win that I could "re-start" the flight after that low point above Varese. 

All in all the whole stage was a great occasion to learn about distance flying, flying in groups and task setting, thanks again for the organization for Margherita Acquaderni & Stefano Ghiorzo. A special thanks also to Alfio Lavazza for the wonderful flight on Day 1 and to all my fellow Flypink ladies for the support & the fun together. 

If you want to see my flight on OLC/weglide, you can find it here:

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 30.03.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

93 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/30/2025 (weglide.org)

Even though I was really tired after the flight of Day 0, I had too much adrenaline in the veins to sleep. On Thursday (so the 1st day of the stage) I woke up not so freshly, but the goal was clear: another good day ahead, we need to fly!

At least my glider was already rigged, so I did not start the morning with this exercise (but I helped other people to rig...so yes, gliding is always a sport:)). We had the briefing together with all the participants of the stage at 10.30 am and we defined the daily goal: we set a small task (Laveno-Tamaro-Porlezza-Brunate-home) and I was assigned to the tutor Alfio - a perfect match, me with my ASW15b and he was flying with an ASK21 with Bianca on board. 

We started the task relatively late, the conditions were already good. So let's go! There was a misunderstanding about frequencies in the air which made me a bit stressed but finally at Monte Nudo me and my tutor found each other so we could start the task. I was really content: I reached the altitude of 2100 meter so I could go to Sette Termini without any worries, Alfio and Bianca were well under me (anyway I knew they will be really good:)). 

What a beautiful sky with well-functioning cumulus, it is a real pleasure to fly these days! I did 2300 meter at Sette Termini, so we went to Monte Lema. I lost only 100 meter during this glide and it shows well that the conditions were excellent. Not so much my abilities with my Kobo (XCSoar)! Alfio asked from me my distance to the next waypoint and I did not know it... but the weather was generous, I had the time to search the right NavBox and put it out on the screen so I could say: 5.6 kms, I am coming! We went together to Mt. Tamaro and this was the point where I felt the first little signs of insecurities. I would like to do 3000 meters here... well, I have 2800 meters now, not bad, but I would stay a little bit more to circle (typical behaviour of a beginner). 

Alfio said that they head to the east in the direction of the next waypoint (Porlezza) which was the most challenging part of the task. I was waiting at Tamaro and asked in the radio: did you find the lift, Alfio? The reply was: negative. I thought that I will wait until the good news so I followed them much later. But where to pass? I go more to the north, do more distance to stay above the ridges or I turn immediately to the east in the direction of the waypoint (so I do less distance but I pass above small hills only)? Alfio says: 90 degrees, come, it is good now. 

I knew I did not get the point, I passed above the small hills which was not a good idea, I lost 500 meters of altitude in this glide. I am quite far from home now, I get a bit worried, I need to find that lift! Alfio tells me to go under a cumulus which is even further from the waypoint, but I stop and start to circle above Denti della Vecchia. Alfio has the patience to come to me and do the thermal together, I feel that he holds my hand, this is the support I need. 2900 meter again, so good, I get calmer. 

So let's get the last waypoint, Brunate! We start to glide to the south (I take a good look at Porlezza field - it is an outlanding option, not so magnificent) and the conditions are getting worse. The cumulus are disappearing, there is a thick layer of high clouds in this direction. I stop again to circle a bit, I believe that I will need all the altitude to touch the last waypoint and get home. Indeed we do not find anything at the last waypoint, we touch and go. We pass above the Mt. Bisbino: nothing good, come on, before we were circling in super thermals, now what is this 0.1 m/s? Unacceptable!

Alfio stops just before Mt. Generoso: he finds a little thermal, I do not find it... I ask from him: can I go to the ridge of Mt. Generoso and try there rather? Yeah... good idea, there is a good thermal here again! I leave it with 2000 m altitude and we glide directly to our "home mountain", which is Campo dei Fiori...let's see if we can do a second circle (so if we can do the task twice in a row). 

The sad reply is no, we cannot, the high clouds cover too much, there is no energy to reach 1676 m again (the max. altitude at Campo dei Fiori). 

Nevertheless, I am so happy, especially when I find it that only we two completed the planned task successfully. I can't believe, Alfio did magic with me, he gave me belief in my skills. The other ladies also did a very nice flight but they did not try to reach "Brunate" waypoint as the weather seemed too dead there (and it was indeed like that). 

 The next day (Friday) is much much worse, a real nightmare: everyone very low and struggling to survive, more or less all of us fly 1.5 hours only and we do not complete the planned task (only a tutor does that in a Duo Discus with a pilot who could not come with her own glider). We took off in the worst moment: the sun was covered by thick high clouds again, there wasn't enough energy. What a pity that when we're already on the ground the sun comes out again, aaargh!

Saturday is a windy day with a not typical wind direction (NNE, and not NNW) so I decide to stay on the ground and wait for better times (anyway I am quite tired after 3 days of flying). The last day of the stage is on Sunday - but I will tell more about it in the next blog post, stay tuned!

If you want to see my flight on Thursday, you can find it here:

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 27.03.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

131 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/27/2025 (weglide.org)

Unluckily I cannot show any photos made during the flight of Thursday, I was too concentrated on the task. :)

This is not a joke, glidingirl blog is back again... after 5 years of break! It would be very hard to list all the events which happened since my last blog post but with the upcoming new stories you will get  slowly all the insights again to see where I am now in my glider pilot journey. On a sunny Saturday morning on the highway in the direction of the airfield it just came to my mind: how nice was that Hungarian tradition to write about our flight experience, I miss it! So why not to start it again, and now in English - just to be able to share the love of flying with more people...especially because since 2020 so many things changed, I live abroad, I bought my own glider, I found many new friends in the gliding community.

March 26th, Wednesday, Calcinate del Pesce, Italy: Finally, day 0 of the Stage Flypink (for Italian woman glider pilots), I am so excited! I woke up around 6 am, first things first: the forecast did not change, it will be a magnificent day! I wanted to rig my glider the day before but I could not because of the first spring storm...so let's drive to the airfield as quickly as possible! Around 8 am I find two people to help me so we rig the glider without significant difficulties. The mornings are still cold, the grass is very wet so after this first exercise I need to change my shoes. I prepare everything carefully, two batteries, parachute, Kobo (XCSoar) for the navigation, my Insta360 camera, some food (always salty, especially because in Italy breakfasts are usually sweet - and this is already strange for a Hungarian:)) and two little fruit juices to drink. I bought last year a pair of Skyboots for the cold spring days and finally these are the days when they are really needed and they save me from freezing. 

When everything is ready for my flight, I go around to help the other ladies: we prepare for the take-off the glider of Liana as well and we welcome the other stage participants at our airfield. It's been a year that I haven't seen Stephanie and Mariella! As Wednesday was day 0 of the stage we did not receive a task so I could decide on my own where to go. Let's try Crodo - Lecco!

There's a smile stamped on my face: I am so lucky to fly this day, the conditions are really good. Campo dei Fiori, Monte Nudo, Sette Termini, Lema, Tamaro: the way to the north is easy-peasy, enjoyable, I do 2850 m before crossing the lake (Lago Maggiore) so I have no worries. The difficulties start on the other side of the lake: there is so much convective energy that under the nice cumulus near Albergone I find rain and snow. But more or less it works, I continue to circle in the rain. In order to enter to the Cento Valley, I would like to do at least 2800 m again (it is possible) but I lose some time here around the rain. I feel myself a bit low around 2100 m behind the Mt. Limidario but the persistance pays off: I find myself at 3100 m, let's gooo.

There are many cumulus on the sky, the crossing of the valley is not difficult at all, I just follow the cumulus. I arrive to the last mountain near Masera Airfield: I do again 3000 m and I head to the north: spectacular mountains with  snow under me and I only need to follow the ridge. It is a bit late, let's start to return, I am 51 km from my home airfield (and I hope I can do the leg planned in the direction of Lecco). 

I decide to cross the valley again and continue on the southern side - just to see how it works. Normally I never passed here because there is a national park under me where the obligatory altitude is 500 m AGL but today I have no worries - I am really high. I do a long glide until Monte Nudo - and I see that the conditions are getting strange, the clouds are under me, the visibility is poor especially in the direction of my home airfield. I try to call the home airfield and I get to know that there is a thunderstorm arriving there, so they tell me to land. I need to open the airbrakes at Campo dei Fiori, I directly go the airfield. The view is scary and spectacular: the last rays of the sun on the runway and a dark blue-purple cloud mass behind. I am worried: what will happen after I land? I try to remain focused during the landing even though I hear in the radio that they talk about flashes of lighting. I successfully land, I feel already the wind of the storm: there are just a very few people at the airfield, it is more than challenging to find someone who can help me to de-rig my glider. Suddenly everything gets complicated: it starts to rain a bit, they talk about ice very close the the airfield (Azzate), we have some difficulties during the lifting of the glider. 15-20 minutes of massive anxiety...and the storm goes away! As I want to fly the next day as well (which will be the 1st official day of the stage), I left the glider rigged at the airfield just to sleep one night...and we do it again together!

If you want to see my flight, you can find it here:

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 26.03.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

137 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 03/26/2025 (weglide.org)