A milestone in my recovery was always going to be my first flight, something which I wanted to make sure I waited long enough to be confident that it was not too soon. However after the hike the previous weekend, I was now sure that I was ready, and with a good forecast I decided to head to Wallberg with the plan of flying east.
As per usual I arrived early as this meant the train was quieter and that there would be no time stress. I enjoyed my time parawaiting at launch and watching all the people learning to fly launch while I waited for the day to switch on.
As soon as there were people climbing out I got myself ready and launched. As soon as I pulled the wing up everything felt natural and like riding a bike. The feeling of back in the sky and climbing in thermals was really special, especially here where the views are immediately so wonderful.
The day was however not as good as forecast and there were a few inversion layers, after multiple attempts of bouncing off one at just below 1900m and then getting washed back down, I decided to just go xc the next time knowing it was too low really.
I made a good glide across the valley, but on the other side there was really no air going up, and at this point I thought I was definitely going to bomb out. However to maximise my chances I flew along the south facing woods north of Wallberg as I lost the rest of my height and much to my surprise I found a weak thermal which I took all the way up to above the summit of the Baumgartenschneid and then through the inversion at 1900m into the nice cold air.
Above 1900m the day was working well, with good air and good climbs but it was a bit bumpy in the stronger west wind. Unfortunately I had taken off wearing too many layers and the impact of my scratching low is that I was very hot, actually drenched in sweat. This would normally be ok but combine 2.5 months without flying with being way too hot and some turbulence, and one thing is inevitable, air sickness.
Despite the airsickness I continued with the flight which was really beautiful, trying my best to stay above at least one of the inversions.
As I flew off from the Großer Traithen I considered if I would just land in the Inntal for the easier journey back, especially with the airsickness, but as I was making a good glide I decided to try and get to Kössen.
I arrived at a good altitude at the Zahmer Kaiser, but below the inversion there was really not much going up. I did briefly gain a bit of altitude, but it didn’t surmount to much and after that lift there was then no more and I went on final glide to land near the Walchsee.
I was very lucky and managed to hitch all the way back to Munich, which was a much faster retrieve than taking the bus and train. All in all a great day out and a successful first flight.
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