Katha Turbostern
Kathas World Joined: November 23rd 2007
Logged in: January 29th 2012
Logged in: January 29th 2012
Deutsch
"Träume nicht Dein Leben, sondern lebe Deine Träume!"
So abgedroschen diese Empfehlung auch klingen mag, ich habe sie mir zu Herzen genommen. Ich lebe meinen großen Traum vom Fliegen.
Schon als kleines Mädchen habe ich vom Fliegen geträumt, eigentlich, seit ich mich erinnern kann. Einfach abzuheben und alles hinter mir zu lassen. Hoch oben über der Welt dahinzugleiten.
Irgendwann habe ich den ersten Drachenflieger am Himmel gesehen. Und wusste sofort, dass ich das auch mal machen möchte. Damals war ich noch nicht in der Schule. Warum es bis jetzt gedauert hat, dass ich aus dem Traum Wirklichkeit gemacht habe, kann ich nicht sagen.
Ich weiß nur, dass mein erster Tandemflug all meine Erwartungen übertroffen hat. Spätestens als mein erster Alleinflug kam, war es um mich geschehen, seither bin ich eigentlich gar nicht mehr gelandet.
Das Gefühl beim Fliegen ist schon unbeschreiblich. Drachenfliegen ist aber noch viel mehr als einfach nur Fliegen. Da oben ist man weit weg von allem, geht beinahe schon eine Synthese mit der Natur ein, lernt sich selbst noch einmal anders kennen. Und irgendwie sehe ich vieles gelassener, seit ich fliege.
Ich bin mir sicher, dass ich gefunden habe, wonach ich mein ganzes Leben lang gesucht habe. Kann es denn etwas Schöneres geben?
English
"Live your dreams."
As trite as it may sound, I took it to heart. I live my great dream of flying.
I have always been dreaming of flying. Of getting my feet off the ground and leaving everything behind. Of gliding along high above the ground.
I still remember seeing a hangglider in the air for the very first time. I knew straight away that this was the thing I wanted to do one day. Hanggliding. I wasn't even in school yet at that time. It took me a while to get started, I don't even know why, but I always knew I would eventually do it.
My first tandem flight exceeded all my expectations. And after my first solo flight, I was caught, I think I never acutally landed after that.
The feelings I have when I fly are almost indescribable. But hanggliding is even more than just flying. Up there, you are far away from everything, you almost contract a synthesis with nature, you get to know yourself in a new way. And somehow, flying made me look at things more serenely.
I am convinced that I have found what I had been looking for my whole life. Can there be anything more beautiful in the world?
Travel Blog Posts
At the start
Last Sunday, I participated in my second triathlon, which took place in Wilhelmshaven, about two hours from Hamburg. This time, there were no minor catastrophes. I found the place right away, checked my bike in, prepared all my gear and made sure I knew which way I would have to run and cycle, and how many rounds there were to do. Then I just had to wait. I did not get excited until I listened to one announcement they were repeating a couple of times: All the short distance triathletes were supposed to meet fifteen minutes before the start for a briefing, and they told us to bring our neoprene suits because we would start right after the briefing. I did not have a neoprene suit, and I hadn’t even worried about it. The swimming part ... read more
My homepage
My homepage is online! I've been owning the domain www.katharinalochner.com for more than three years now, but I never managed to write something for it. Now, finally, you can find some information about myself, my work, and my hanggliding and triathlon experiences there. Feedback is welcome!... read more
Closing ceremony I
On Saturday morning, we had the prize giving ceremony. It started off with a traditional flag dance in which the dancers performed all kinds of tricks with the flags, accompanied by music. Have a look at the video to get an impression. After the show, we moved to a little park in the centre of the village, where the prizes were given to the athletes. There was a lot of cheering and many happy faces. Special trophies were given to the only three girls in the competition, Julia Kucherenko, Natalia Petrova and Evgenia Laritskaya from Russia. Amazing performance to keep up with over 100 men, well done! Then, the official trophies were given to the winners Alex Ploner (ITA), Christian Ciech (ITA), and Primoz Gricar (SLO) as well a to the Italian, French, and Austrian teams. ... read more
Briefing
Today, we went up to the North launch of Monte Cucco. Conditions looked problematic. Cloudbase was low, and although the wind at launch was coming straight up the face, the wind higher above came across the ridge to the left of launch, causing a lot of turbulence. A task was set, but it was delayed twice because we were not sure how safe it would be to launch 146 pilots in these conditions. The safety committee discussed the conditions a couple of times, and finally, at half past one, the launch window opened. The launches looked safe, but once pilots were in the air, they were literally thrown up and down because it was so turbulent. When several pilots got washed down and almost ended up in the trees below launch, the safety committee decided to ... read more
Yesterday, we went up the hill and the pilots set their gliders up. However, cloudbase was very low, and we were not sure whether it would soon start to rain. So setting a task would have been unsafe, and the day was cancelled. Most pilots flew anyway, and some of them were happy to play - which included flying closely over launch at high speed. I will post some videos. The shock of the day was when we saw a parachute deployment above a paddock just outside Sigillo. It later turned out that the pilot had attempted a wingover, and when after speeding up he pushed the bar out, one of his wires broke, which caused the glider to completely break. He threw his chute and landed on the ground without being injured. The glider is ... read more
Briefing
Yesterday, we drove up the hill and were very excited. Conditions looked great, but we could also see that clouds were becoming fairly high and that it was raining in some places. So an early task was set, with launch opening at 12 p.m. and the start gates at 1:20 and 1:40. The task went south to Nocera Umbra, then back past Monte Cucco towards Gubbio, then again down the valley to the windmills south of Monte Cucco, and then to goal at the bottom of Monte Cucco. All of us were closely observing the weather development, and close attention was paid to what the pilots in the air said. We were ready to stop the task in case flying would become unsafe, but we were hoping we would not have to so that we could ... read more
Gubbio I
What is wrong with the weather? On Saturday morning, it was raining, so the day was cancelled at the team leader briefing. Heather, Nils and I went to Gubbio, which is about half an hour from here. It is a very nice city, situated along a mountain ridge, originating from the age of the Romans. Apart from the fact that it is wonderful to walk between the old and well-maintained houses, enjoy the beautiful view and have a coffee somewhere, there is a lot of history to discover. We went to a museum in which they showed, amongst other exhibits, 2,000 years old tablet with Umbrian inscriptions. I did not even know that there was an Umbrian language. Apparently it is a mixture between Etruscan and Latin, and it is written from right to left. Pretty ... read more
Monte Subasio launch I
Yesterday, we went to Monte Subasio, which is about an hour’s drive from Sigillo, because the forecast was that the wind would not be as strong there as on Monte Cucco. Launch conditions were great, so within not even an hour, all 148 pilots were in the air. Apparently, Jeff O’Brian from the US team had problems with one of his instruments, so he top landed on Monte Subasio, fixed the problem, and launched again. I saw him later in goal. Amazing that he did not lose his nerve. But I guess that is what distinguishes a good pilot. The start gates were at 2:30 p.m., 2:50 p.m., and 3:10 p.m. The task was a 117.8 km race to goal, first to the south and southwest, back to Monte Subasio, then to Monte Falco and Trevi. ... read more
Villa Pascolo I
During the last two days, the weather forecast was not good, so both days were called during the team leader briefings that take place at 9 o’clock every morning. But in spite of that, we are far from being bored. There are quite a few issues that have to be discussed between organisation, officials, and pilots. In my opinion, it becomes obvious in many aspects that hanggliding is still a very young sport. It started in the 1970s, so we are just on the way of getting best practice examples in many areas. One example is how to ensure safety during competitions. I remember that three years ago when sprog measurement was introduced, big discussions came up whether or not this makes sense. The sprogs are metal parts on both sides of the wings that help ... read more
Headquarters
I am currently in Sigillo, Italy, where the Hanggliding World Championships take place from the 16th to the 30th of July. I flew to Rome, and there, I got a lift with Joakim and Hakan from the Swedish team, which was great. I still remember what a hassle it was when I caught a train from Rome to Sigillo last year. This year, there are 148 pilots from 35 nations. And the organisers put a lot of effort into the preparations. You can find the whole organising team, actual information, and also the framework programme on the website www.cucco2011.com. I am a jury member this year. This means that, together with my co-jury member Dennis Pagen (USA) and our jury president Flip Koetsier (Netherlands), I have to make sure that the competition is fair and safe. ... read more
Austria 
Italy 
Australia 
France 
Germany 
