12.08.2018, Crossing of the Rhine plain from the Vosges to the Black Forest !!!
Last modification: 20 August 2018
Today I was able to realize one of my paragliding dreams: crossing the Rhine plain while flying over Neuf-Brisach !!! Here is a little flight report.Everything starts the day before: the weather forecast predicts for the next day (Saturday) moderate west wind in the Vosges and especially high cloud base in the Rhine plain.
The ideal situation would be south-west west wind to escape the Basel airspace, but this is also OK.
Source: meteo-parapente.com (11.08.2018)
On Saturday I meet friends at the start of the Treh flying site with 3 friends and we decide to try to fly together. It is already quite late (14h). Unfortunately, I miserably fail my first start attempt, and make a mess out of my lines, "Spaghetti-plate style". I had to get out of the harness and spend a lot of time to sort the lines again. Meanwhile, there was a strong Dust Devil at the starting place (leeward situation + dry conditions), and a glider (without pilot) started flying on its own for some time. So I waited even longer. Half an hour after the start of my flight companions, I was finally also able to start at 14h30. The others were already far in the Vosges and so I decided to fly on my own.
The conditions are rough, the first thermals strong and challenging, as expected with the west wind and the Lee thermals in front of the start.
I climb a few hundred meters, but loose everything in the next sinking air. Then I finally climb to the cloud base at 2250m with an average climb rate over 4 m/s!
I start gliding towards "Petit Ballon", one of the next mountain direction NE. When I got there, I lost time: I could feel that the Cummulus cloud there was active, but couldn't find a zone with a proper climb rate.
I suspected the cloud of "pumping" on the leeward (and shaded) side, but had absolutely no desire to give it a try. After some long minutes, I was able to climb up to cloud base again.
Afterwards, I followed a cloud street straight to Colmar, the first city in the plain. I arrive there at more than 1700 m altitude, which is already a lot in the Rhine plain!
Then I chose another Cumulus street, which brought me halfway to the Rhine. At the last cloud, there was no more climbing air, and I lost height. I felt that the cloud was getting smaller and decided to continue fast towards Neuf-Brisach.
I arrived quite deep in Neuf-Brisach and turned the "thermic search mode" one. The information provided by the Rise 3 were very helpful there.
After a short time, I found again a good core on the border of the Neuf-Brisach fortress, and soon I was back to cloud base! Yes! The view is far more beautiful from the top!
For two years I dreamed of flying over Neuf-Brisach, and it worked on the first attempt! I'm really thankful for that.
I leave the thermal at 1840m because the airspace of Basel begins 50m higher.
Then I start gliding direction Breisach, where a beautiful Cumulus waits for me and where there is no airspace. I fly over the Rhine, what a view!
Next to the Kaiserstuhl I am low again, but after some effort I arrive to Ihringen, where I find a strong climb again.
Then I get closer to the next cloud street which can be seen on the picture, and which I've been targeting since the Rhine!
After one last low save I can finally connect to the cloud street, where I reach the base at over 2200 m. That feels good ! But it is already 17h30 and I have to accelerate if I still want a chance to arrive at the Black Forest. That's the new goal now!
Under the cloud road, I can advance quickly towards Emmendingen, where a good thermal opens the way to the Black Forest. The famous Kandel mountain is in sight !!
I cross the Elztal Valley and wonder if I should fly further east to the plateau on the other side of the Black Forest. The thermals are usually very good there, and a few cumulus clouds are still there.
In addition, I am now clearly driven by the wind, and fly at 50 km/h to the east.
On the other side it's already 18h40 and my must go the toilet since a long time.
If I continue heading east to the plateau, it will be much more difficult to return and I would probably need to find a hotel or sleep in the glider.
The most logical decision is then to land in the Elztal Valley. There I know that there is a train line to Freiburg.
So I turn around and fly along the chapel of Simonswald against the wind, towards Elztal.
At 7pm, the thermals were still so present that I needed some time to land. Finally, I could land just next to a village with a train station.
What a great flight! At the end I was already at 22h15 at home, thanks to my wife who picked me up at the Breisach train station!
Here's the GPS track of the flight:
GPS-Track