29th May was a fantastic day for Alpine pilots: strong wind above 2500 m, good thermal conditions under it. These are the days which give the chance to experienced pilots to complete record flights and 750-1000-1250 km FAI diplomas.

As with my ASW15b it is quite difficult to enjoy and use efficiently these "extreme" conditions, I was happy to be the co-pilot in an ASH25, thanks again to Stefano! We took off around 11.30 am when some pilots were already in the air for a few hours. The self-launch nearly took the same time as a classic aerotow and we started our flight at Campo dei Fiori. We quickly did the max. altitude here and continued to Mt. Nudo. The conditions were not excellent, the max. altitude again was only around 1750 m. But with such long wings you can try to cross Lago Maggiore and see the thermals on the other side.

After reaching 1900 m at Albergone, we continued our way in the direction of Mt. Limidario. The thermal was quite weak at the south side of the mountain but I would have stayed there for longer...well, Stefano did not decide like this so we went to the northern side of Mt. Limidario in the Cento Valley. We were quite low here (under 1800 m) but we found a good thermal and did it with a DG300 above us. We did the ridges on the southern side but we did not cross the Valley at the end because we heard that some people got low and did not find wave as expected. 

We returned on the same way and crossed again Lago Maggiore to try some spots near Mt. Tamaro....well, not so good again. Before doing the ridges of the Garzirola (to continue to Valtellina), we stopped near Locarno and gained some altitude (from 1800 m to 2200 m). The Garzirola was great with the wind, we gained again 200 m just gliding and not stopping anywhere. We tried to do a thermal at Mt. Bregagno but here we did not succeed. We crossed Lago di Como and arrived to the entrance of the Valtellina, Mt. Legnone. Very close to us there was a lenticular cloud so we tried to figure out how to enter to the wave. Near the mountain, in the middle of the valley, in the direction of the lake.... no success! We got stuck here for 1.5 hours!

Finally when we reached 2700 m, we decided to continue on the ridges. We stopped only 3-4 times and did the major part of this valley above 3000 m till reaching Passo del Tonale (1884 m). I have never been here before, finally, I have seen how is the end of the Valtellina. Snow, ice, frozen lakes, incredible rock shapes everywhere and a lot of lenticular clouds on the northern side of the Valtellina. 

From here the return to home was quite smooth except for a little turbulance (downwind of Mt. Legnone). We arrived too high near Calcinate so we could glide with high speed at the end of the final glide (180-200 km/h). Long wings take you really far without any problem! For me it was a new experience to circle with 110-120 km/h and glide with at least 130 km/h, but even around 150 km/h-200 km/h. The only missing part of this flight was the wave: why we could not take it? We were too low for it when we were searching? The wind was not strong enough there? We did not find the right spot? Nevertheless it will be a flight to remember for a long time. Hopefully next time I will reach Passo del Tonale with my ASW15b :)

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

OLC Flight information - Stefano Ghiringhelli (IT) - 29.05.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

399 km · Stefano Ghiringhelli · Calcinate del Pesce 05/29/2025 (weglide.org)

The day after my declared 300 km also seemed to be promising so I left my glider rigged and even though I was quite tired, I decided to fly again. The weather should have been similar to Saturday - but we'll see very soon that it was not true at all. 

I took off around 11.30 and I spent nearly 2 hours very close to the airfield and very low as well (500 m QNH, I opened the wheel already to get ready for landing...) but miracles do happen (or is that my persistance?) so finally I had the chance to start my flight to the east. The weather was really strange because north and south wind met on some ridges so it was normal to be above some little clouds that day. 

The max. altitude in the "pedemontana" region was around 2200 m, and that is a good height, I feel confident with such a cloud base. The difficulty of the start is always the airspace near (Lugano CTR) because they have so much traffic so they often send us away from the best working thermal hotspots because of arriving IFR traffic. 

After Mt. Generoso I chose to remain a bit more to the north so I went to Sasso Gordona and then Mt. San Primo. At San Primo I was the lowest among 3-4 other gliders when I arrived, but the thermals worked well so I also reached the cloudbase quickly. I was a bit disappointed to see that it was again not possible to arrive to the top of Grigna because it was covered with clouds. I went to "Corni di Canzo" and then I crossed Lago di Como again to try the southern region under Grigna... it did not seem very good and indeed it did not work so I returned to "Corni di Canzo" to play with the clouds again. I did the max. altitude and I did not stop until Mt. Bollettone, I just slowed down under the cumulus which was above Cornizzolo. Mt. Bollettone always works well, so as usually, I stopped here to enjoy some strong thermals. The next stop was Monte St. Giorgio as I decided that I will cross the CTR of Lugano in order to go to the west. I needed to wait 5-10 mins to have the authorization but it was not difficult as there were some enormous clouds above these mountains and they let me to wait around 0 m/s. 

In the CTR I chose a nice cloud close to Lago di Ghirla and I went to Sette Termini. Here I met Daniele and while circling together he took some super photos of me in the air! After this I crossed Lago Maggiore and I tried the spot "Albergone" but I need to admit that I was already quite tired at this point. Furthermore, Daniele warned me to be careful with the South wind on the way back to home (20-30 km/h around 1500 m). 

I lost quite a lot of altitude coming back home but I landed without any problem. My persistance paid-off again, I did a nice little flight so I was happy with the results. Though in my head I had another thought: I could have done the 3000 m altitude gain for the gold badge this day among the higher mountains?

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

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 18.05.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

157 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 05/18/2025 (weglide.org)

On Friday in the afternoon we prepared (rigged) the gliders for the weekend: we knew that the weather will be very nice both days so it was obvious that this great occasion shall be used. As expected, a lot of pilots had the same idea and there was also a competition (Coppa Cittá di Varese & Campionato Italiano di Classe Open) at our airfield so finally I decided to take-off before them, around 11 am in the morning. I was worried about the initial conditions: well, it was a bit difficult to find the first thermal but the other gliders helped me to find the first lift. 

As I knew that high cloudbase and finally no wind was expected, I decided to try a declared 300 km task with the following waypoints: Orino Chiesa - San Domenico - Corni di Canzo - San Domenico - Orino Chiesa. After reaching the max. altitude at Campo dei Fiori, I went to Mt. Nudo and I started the task. It seemed to be a really strange and not so wise choice: I heard that everyone went to the east, and not to the west so I was searching alone for a thermal. The conditions were not very good yet, I was around 1250-1300 m. But that weak thermal got stronger with time and I found myself at 2100 m. I crossed the lake and a nice cumulus was expecting for me at Albergone: 2720 meters! It was not a bad choice to go in this direction?!

At Mt. Limidario I usually get blocked a little bit because this is the point where I make the decision to enter to the Cento Valley. After crossing the valley I was around 2400-2500 m, but I was quite positive: I will find good lifts here! And it was like that, I was searching for those spots where I saw the sun and I reached the wonderful altitude of 3000 m. And even more! I was nearly at 3400 meter when I turned at the first waypoint. I was as careful as never before: I zoomed well in the map in XCSoar and touched in the FAI quadrant. Let's go to the next waypoint which is 100 km far from me, and already two hours passed. I started to feel at this point that this could be THE DAY when I really do the declared 300 km task: excellent conditions and as I took off very early I had the time to do this distance with an average speed of 50 km/h. 

I was quite fast until Mt. Lema because I knew that I can lose altitude going in the direction of the 2nd waypoint: Corni di Canzo is situated in the "pedemontana" region, near the city of Lecco where the cloudbase for sure won't be around 3300 meter. At Mt. Lema from 2200 m I went to 2700 m to cross above the CTR of Lugano and arrive near Mt. Generoso. The cloudbase was 1000 m lower than in the high mountains, around 2300 m. But that is fantastic for this zone! Mt. Palanzone, Cornizzolo, Corni di Canzo: 3 hours passed and I touched the 2nd waypoint. 

This was the moment when I realized that I really have the chance to do it and I need to be careful now to avoid mistakes. It was a good choice to search for a thermal at the north of Mt. Generoso because I nearly reached 2700 m and I crossed again the CTR to arrive to Mt. Lema. This mountain always functions very well: I did 2550 m and returned to Mt. Limidario and tried the spot which was recommended to me by other, more experienced pilots. Good idea, it worked well. 

I was near the airfield of Masera when I met the first real difficulty: probably the valley was too covered and the thermals got weaker - and also the N wind did not help at this altitude (20-25 km/h). I was at 2600 m and I did not want to cross the valley with this altitude because my distance from the waypoint was nearly 20 km. I saw an other glider circling above a very low mountain - but the cumulus was nice there so I followed him. I reached 3080 m and I crossed the valley. Pizzo Diei (2900 m) was beautiful, covered with a lot of snow - well, less beautiful the downwind. But anyway, I cannot give up now, even if I lose a lot of altitude, I swear that I will touch the waypoint and if needed land at Masera airfield. I found myself under 2500 m after reaching the WP but in the middle of the valley a great lift helped me again. 3000 m, and then at the end of that little valley: 3250 m. Done! 

I wanted to pay the maximum attention during my return also, I could not make any mistakes, the goal was so close. I did one more thermal at Mt. Limidario (reached 2700 m, the cloudbase got lower here) and I crossed Lago Maggiore. That was the moment when I let myself to believe that I did my first 300 km with my ASW15, I let myself to cry some tears of joy. I was so nervous when I closed the task at Oriono Chiesa: I did circles above the last waypoint in every direction. 

6 hours 30 minutes, landed after 5 pm at Calcinate: I could not feel my feet from the cold and the long time spent in my glider. But how much resistance, determination, passion behind this achievement, what a long journey to arrive here. But this is not the finish line - only new targes to reach!

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

335 km · Adrienn Kiss · Calcinate del Pesce 05/17/2025 (weglide.org)

OLC Flight information - Adrienn Kiss (HU) - 17.05.2025 (onlinecontest.org)

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)