by Len Buffinton –
Adelboden Center
We arrived at the gateway to heaven, or at least what seemed like heaven. All that was left was a gondola ride up the mountain to Berghotel Hahnenmoos, nestled high above the spectacular little town of Adelboden, Switzerland.
Looking back at the lift house as we head up the mountain
Stepping off the lift onto the cement platform, you quickly realize you are 6500+ feet above sea level. The crisp cool air feels refreshing, considering its the middle of JULY. Grabbing all the luggage and venturing outside the lift house, you can hear the memorizing chorus of cowbells along with the familiar sound of sailplanes streaking through the air.
During our visit, the Berghotel was in the final stages of a major renovation, so the grounds were a bit torn up, but nothing that would stop us, or any of the other many guests there to enjoy the flying.
Berg Hotel under renovations
Checked in and on the flying slope in less than thirty minutes! You can step out the door and throw glider right into lift, as we did. The soft, late afternoon breeze was steady and smooth, but cool, even by normal standards. Steve Pasierb and I begin a daring game of cat and mouse with our Radian gliders, trying to fly formation, then touch. It’s much harder to do than you think. Soon darkness begins to settle in and we find ourselves squinting to see the little foamies. Time to call it quits, with tears in our eyes, mostly from laughing so hard, but also from the now cold air blowing in your face.
Len and Steve, concentrating on formation flying
Dinner at the hotel is excellent, served family style, so you get a chance to talk with friends and share stories (or lies) from the day. The following days were much of the same, great flying, excellent food and many new friends.
Each day starts out with a discussion over breakfast about what slope to fly. I found the best approach to success was to listen to some of the old pro’s talk about their plans, then invite yourself along. After the first day, the “pro’s” would wait for us to show up and insist we go with them to the mountains. Everyone there makes you feel very welcome. Once particular day, we went to a site called Levie. The trek to the slope was fairly easy, but when you get there, you look over the other side and it drops straight down, probably 1500 feet or more. The lift there is superb and you can fly until your batteries run out if you wish.
Levie
It was at this site, on my first full day where I met Dr. Helmut Quaback, developer of the famous HQ airfoil series. I had, for the first time, thrown my Fantasy sailplane off the cliff. I was enjoying the flight, zooming back and forth for more than an hour, now it was time to land. I started to walk over the the landing area, which is a grassy 40 degree slope. Having never landed a sailplane on a slope, I started to circle the area. On the second pass, I felt an arm on my shoulder as Helmut said to me in his calm German accent, can I offer you some advice? Of course, I gladly accepted. Helmut explained the process, saying that you need to fly straight at yourself, about shin high, then when you are about to hit the mountain, pull up and let it slide in to a stop. OK……….. I can do that. So I rounded out, started in, keeping the speed up in the event I needed to go around. As the plane approached, I apply full (90 degree) flaps and the plane slows to a walk. Helmut leans in a says, make sure you put the flaps up just before you land or you’ll strip the servo gears. Ok got it. Here it comes, flair, flaps up and the plane slides to a stop about 3 feet away! I’m standing there completely amazed, when Helmut slaps me on the back and says ” You got it!”
Dr. Helmut Quabeck and Len
During the course of the stay at Hahnenmoos, that was the best landing I made. It seemed the harder I tried, the worse they got, but fortunately I never broke the plane.
There was a group of young boys and girls at the hotel too. They would fly Zagi type planes close to the hotel every day, and they always ended up in a dogfight with each other. Well, never knowing when to leave things alone, Steve and I decide to mix it up with these kids, using our Radians. It was absolutely hysterical. These kids were trying so hard to get us, but we were just a little too quick for them, MOST OF THE TIME. Needless to say, eventually, I got taken out with a Zagi cutting the fuse of my Radian in half. Nothing a little epoxy couldn’t fix and I was back in the air 10 minutes later.
Late afternoon combat
Like all good things, this had to come to an end. The friends we made will last a lifetime as will the memories. As I was packing, I decided to give the Radian to the young man who “got me”. He was thrilled and I was pleased to see him flying it later that night, with glo sticks taped onto the wings!
The lucky new Radian owner
You can bet we’ll be back.
Please enjoy the slide show below.
