Satellite Picture of Luesse

Here is a satellite shot of the gliderport at Luesse - it is a huge grass field. In the satellite shot you can see the gliders on the runway, as well as the hangars, clubhouse and campground.

For the real google satellite page click here this will allow you to zoom in and move around the area.

Landhotel Dahnsdorf

Thanks to Maria and Jerzy's research, the team has made reservations at the Landhotel Dahnsdorf located about 10 km from the airport in Luesse.

The hotel has high-speed wireless internet, so we will be able to provide reports from the contest at the end of each day.

The cost is also reasonable at 63 Euro per night including breakfast.

Things are coming together, but we still need to sort out car rentals and this is always difficult considering we need trailer hitches in case of land-out.

A Glider is Found

After sending a few emails to glider pilots in Germany I have been able to secure a glider for the contest. I have an ASW-27 booked. This is actually a club-owned glider and it was arranged through Ulli Kremer at the Schleicher factory. From what I understand the club is associated with the factory and is in the Wasserkuppe area near Frankfurt.

This glider was flown by John Coutts in the Worlds in Sweden last year and posted the fastest speed of the contest in the 15 M class. The factory re-profiled the wings last year so it is ready to go.

The rental cost on the glider is 125 Euro per day, and this is a good price!

The glider is equipped with an LX7000 flight computer, so I will be familiar with the instruments - I think I will bring an altimeter in feet though because flying in meters is just too wierd.

What Class to fly?

After deciding to compete in the World's next summer the first decision was whether to stick with the Standard class and fly an LS8 - a familiar ship, but in the Mountainous terrain around Rieti, Italy or to fly the flatlands in the 15 metre class around Luesse, Germany.

I decided that it would be better to fly in flatland conditions in the 15 metre class in Luesse. It has been four years since I sold my LS6 and competed in the 15 metre class, but with 11 years of flying in the ASW-20 and LS6 in the 15 metre class I figured that the flap hand would remember what to do.

I decided that an ASW-27 would be my best bet instead of a Ventus 2 for the Worlds. I have already flown a 27 and found it comfortable to fly and an easy transition. I have heard that the Ventus is not so intuitive.


So Jerzy and I borrowed Walter Weir's ASW-27 (2W) for the months of August and September and both managed to put in a lot of time to get accustomed to the ship. One day in September I went out for a training run with Joerg in his LS8 and me in 2W. Joerg and I typically fly together in our LS8's and are pretty evenly matched, so I was pleased to see that we were still flying about the same for most of the flight, but the 27 did pull away from the LS8 on the run.

All in all it was a good comparison!