The end of the mountain soaring training course arrived. I roughly flew some 25 hours in six flying days, my mountain flying technique was sharpened a lot, I enjoyed the most beautiful sights of this part of the Alps a person can dream of and I had a very good time !

Regis Kuntz gave me during yesterday’s morning briefing the Junior sailplane of the club. “The SZD-Junior is a glassfibre glider designed and built in Poland by PZL Bielsko. It has a fixed undercarriage, 15m wingspan and a glide ratio of 35:1. Its easy handling make it a good early solo glider, it is suitable for cross country flights and is a favourite for Silver distance attempts.”

I used to fly on more sophisticated sailplanes in my youth such as the ASW-19 (in which I made my first 5 hour flight back in 1981 in Belgium – air cadets), but as I did not practice this sport enough in the last decades I have to start working my way up again.

I made my first two flights with the Junior, allowing me to familiarize myself with this sailplane. It is a spacious glider, I like to fly it.

I’m looking forward to start making overland flights with this glider later this spring.