He was a volleyball player. Jörg Seidel has been living a new dream for four years. A report on the long journey of the Moosinninger glider pilot.
Moosinning / Gammelsdorf - “I worked towards it for four years - and then I was really all alone up there. That was brilliant. ”Jörg Seidel is 58 years old and is well on the way to getting his glider license. In any case, the first step has been taken: his first solo flight.
At this one moment every pilot - whether glider pilot, motorized pilot, airliner - can tell his own story: One last check flight with the flight instructor, who tells you that you can now do it alone - and then it's time. The tension before take-off, a tingly feeling when the rope of the take-off winch tightens, the aircraft rolls up, takes off, increases - until the tow rope fades out and you know it's time: "I'm flying alone now!"
Three glider pilots from LSV Albatros were able to experience this unique moment, which is different for everyone, but always the same in the end: a huge feeling of happiness. Seidel and Elias Draxinger (15) from Essenbach and Ursula Ingerl (17) from Gündlkofen had used the days before as part of the LSV Albatros summer course to intensively take offs and landings with their flight instructors Oliver Lärz and Christoph Lansky. After the successful fine-tuning, they each carried out three solo flights with the training two-seater ASK21.
For the first time without a helper in the air - how much fear does that fly? “None at all,” replies Seidel. “Your teachers only let you up if they are absolutely sure. So you enjoy their trust. And then you are alone up there with the feeling that you have everything under control. "
Incidentally, this did not necessarily fulfill a childhood dream for Seidel. “I played volleyball at SG Siemens Ost for many years,” he says. It was only when his back no longer allowed that he looked for alternative sports. After a vacation in South Tyrol, he thought that flying could be something for him. Albatros sniffed the air at LSV for four weeks, was enthusiastic about the atmosphere and the "calm, nice people" and decided to learn to fly. Mind you: gliding. “Motor flying is too touristy for me,” says Seidel. What else impresses him about gliding: “It's teamwork. You can only get in the air if everyone helps together. The thermals determine where it goes. ”And it is a sporting effort anyway. "You always have to be focused and also be very honest: If you are not doing well, then you have nothing to do with the air." But this is an ingenious distraction from work, says the Siemens employee. “Go out for an hour or two and fly - that is not possible. You have to take a whole day for it. "
The sailing knowledge does not fly to you. "At my age you have to work hard for it," says Moosinninger. His two young colleagues, both students at Seligenthal-Gymnasium in Landshut. “It's a lot easier,” says Sedel. "That's just the Joystick generation, and besides, they don't worry as much as I do."
The first solo flight was only the first of four steps to obtain a license. For the three solo fliers, the next phase of training begins. Improving flying skills, first thermal flights and retraining for other single-seat glider types are now on the program. Finally, there is a cross-country flight of 50 kilometers and the practical test with an examiner from the Air Office South Bavaria - but the three of them still have some time until then. Seidel wants to have his license in two years and at some point he wants to do hiking gliding. “Some fly all over Germany like this. I could also imagine that, ”says the 58-year-old.
The LSV Albatros trains glider pilots on a voluntary basis. You can start at the age of 14 - well before you get your car driver's license.