World Gliding Championships 2014

This evening another adventure of my summer holidays, precisely something interesting for aircraft followers - 33th World Gliding Championships 2014! :)
This year my hometown had the pleasure of being the host of these championships. The third time such an event had place in Leszno (about 70 km from Poznań).

At first shot, some info: I have to say immodestly  that when it comes to gliding, Leszno is the perfect place! You can't believe it, can you? As we regards the highest, the speed, the soaring, the landing and other stuff connected with this kind of sport and its tasks, there were reached the best scores. It may be so funny for you, especially the fact that there is no runway! This airport can host only the aeroplanes, the power gliders, the gliders and the balloons. What's more, there you can do parachuting or visit brand-new aerodynamic tunnel (only one in Poland!). Actually, I've been there, too, it was so wonderful feeling when you can FLY ^^ I mean it! ;)

Let's come back to the WGC. My cousin and me were in the grid team. We came to the airport at 7h45 at morning, went to grid and set it that the gliders could have easly find place. It was great, we could have met pilots all over the world, practise ours language skills, just had fun.

When it was about 11h we had to check out if everything is ok, and each glider is set in its right place. Then became the best part of day - the start! I was Miss Flag, I've just been waving the flags, that pilots could have seen me and some guys from grid team could have fastened a glider to a plane.

In front of you about seven plans, you hear such a noise, because of the engines. Behind you almost 130 gliders. It's sunny. No wind, just some cumulus at the sky. You're just seeing how it all works. And somehow you know everything. You feel amazing. It's so incredible!


Anyway, then we had free time, about 3h - it depended of the tasks. Meanwhile we could have had lunch and after that one we just came back to the grid to wait…

My cousin is so crazy about flying, and he tried to convince me to go to some pilots and ask them if the could take us for a flight. It was really important, especially to him, because none of us have never flied and there we had an opportunity to do it. Mateusz told me that the fact that I'm a POLISH GIRL, who speaks english, is great, so I can easly convice some pilots to take us. It was such a good idea, wasn't it? ;)

Sooo, I came... Found them... Asked... And they took me. Just ME! It was my first flight ever! Just about 7 minuts, but in small beautiful plane and the pilot even did some acrobatic stuff in the air! ^^
I'll never forget it! Actually, Mateusz was terribly jealous, but finally he flied in glider. That was something!

To sum up, it was such an amazing experience. I'm really glad that I could have been a part of it. Next season (in April) I'll perhaps come back to the airport to make a gliding licence! ^^