Tim Huber flies first large FAI triangle with his Sphera RS
Tim Huber, Swing XC team pilot and DHV-XC 2021 overall winner, recently completed his first major FAI triangle with his brand new Sphera RS. We asked him about the story behind the flight:
The flight: www.xcontest.org/world/en…
At 7:30 a.m. I go up to our local mountain, the Unternberg, with Didi and Torsten. There’s an easterly wind at the top, which isn’t ideal for either of the two launch sites.
So we have to switch from the north to the south launch site and “only” get into the air at 9:26 am. The thermals are forecast to be weak, so a longer flight is unlikely.
The morning route to the Hochfelln and from there to the Steinplatte is tough and low-based. The crossing via Fieberbrunn with a base of just 2200m seems impossible.
I am not yet used to the performance of a 2-liner and am therefore surprised that I arrive at the Karstein with sufficient altitude and find the connection after a bit of searching. Here the base is already higher and I can start the traverse to the Steinbergkogel at 2400m.
As always, its southern side welcomes me with an uncomfortable lee. But the Sphera RS remains easy to control even in the strong turbulence and so I can work my way back to the base quite relaxed. When I arrive in Pinzgau, I have an average speed of just 16 km/h. But the conditions change here. But here the conditions changed abruptly: climb rates of 5-6 m/s and a base of over 3300m. From now on it’s mainly full throttle all the way to the Zillertal, where I turn around at 13:50. I can fly back to the pass turn without much circling, where I arrive low and lose some time again until I’m back at the base. From now on, I only turn in at climb rates of over 5 m/s and can quickly fly down the mountain range to Zell am See. There I change sides in order to extend my triangle to the end of the Gastein Valley. I turn around right at the main ridge at 5 p.m. and make my way home. At this point, my average speed has risen to over 26 km/h. At 6:30 p.m. I make my last thermal circles over the Hochkönig before battling against the valley wind in the valley between Saalfelden and Lofer. Here I can work my way from one rib to the next and soar until I finally land shortly before Lofer after 10:16 hours flying time and 254 km.
The start of the new season could hardly have gone better :-)
Tim captured his first flight with Swing Sphera RS in a very nice hyperlapse. He flew 23 km from the Hörndlwand to Reichenhall in under 30 minutes without a circle.