Bastienne Wentzel

The Stubai Cup 2014 was already on the way to becoming a perfect, sunny weekend with lots of flying, testing and great people. However, when I heard the announcement of Pál flying acro tandems I didn’t hesitate very long and jumped in. It was a fantastic experience, really the icing on the cake of the weekend! Pál took a lot of time together to discuss which manoeuvres we would fly, all up to my own choices. He explained that this tandem is much more than just sit back and enjoy. For pilots wanting to improve their own flying there is a lot to learn. There was a lot of time for instruction: what are the manoeuvres like, how do you fly them and what is expected from me, the passenger (with only a little experience flying simple things like spirals and very low wingovers). And how can I use that information for my own flying. The flying itself was of course great! We did a helico, SAT, wingovers, asymmetric 360s and a looping. It all felt really strong, much more powerful even than with my own glider. I tried helping out with weight shift but the forces are so great that I felt I didn’t do much. Exception is the helico: what a nice, smooth move that is! Every move felt really controlled even though it is very fast. At no point was there any loss of control, and I never felt dizzy or scared. Pál is just a really talented and experienced pilot and there was never a doubt in my mind that we would get down safe. The disadvantage: it is over sooo quickly! This tastes like a lot more! I can recommend the flight to everyone: it will help you build confidence and trust in the glider and provide great fun at the same time! Cheers, Bastienne