Today, I have been making a local flight in a KA6 sailplane. The Ka6 (German make) one-seater was one of the most successful wooden glider designs of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is well suited to make cross country overland flights.

There was a lot of wind today coming from the northwest. That’s why we had to take off on the runway 28, which is not so much appreciated on the LFMF airfield. There were clear skies and with the northwestern winds blowing, I couldn’t take advantage of climbing out amongst the nearby hill between Fayence and Seillans (called la pente). For more than 90 minutes, I have been struggling at a 900 meter MSL altitude above the local stone quarry (in French: la carrière) between Fayence and Mons, nearly staying at the same altitude all the time. One never has to givce up whilst soaring and after 90 minutes I finally was able to climb out to 2500 meter MSL flying out to the outer boarder of the local area, being the “Lachens mountain” at some 1750 M altitude.

This Lachens mountain is a true mountain border for air masses. This is the most remote place until where the influence of the Mediterranean sea extends. At the northern side of this mountain, you enter the alpine and mountain climate of the southern Alps.

I stayed a while at the area around the Lachens. There was too much wind (for my experience level)to fly out in to the Alps to the Cordeuil mountain area, so I widely decided to enjoy the magnificient landscapes around the Lachens mountain. I landed after having made a 3 hours flight