On Friday August 24th a small group of select Flemish people travelled with a bouncing heart to Bavaria in the South of Germany. Destination: Augsburg, THE most important German balloon town.
May 30th, 1901: birth of the Augsburger Verein für Luftschiffahrt.
May 27th, 1931: the Swiss physicists Auguste Picard and Paul Kipfer reached for the very first time the stratosphere in a balloon filled with hydrogen. They flew up to 15.281 meters and landed after 17 hours of flight on the Hochgurgler glaicier in Tirol, Austria.
In September 1976 Augsburg organised the first World Championship for gas balloons; the Belgian pilot to defend the honour of our country was Albert Vanden Bemden.
Since 1986 Augsburg is also the hometown of Ballonbau Wörner ... and there started the latest adventure of our four travellers. A brand-new white balloon was waiting for them at Wörner's, nickname: "Albert"!
On Friday August 24th the moment had finally arrived for D-OAVB to meet his natural environment: the deep blue sky. Philippe and Ronny proudly took off in their new "toy". In the balloon it will never be pitch-dark anymore. The graphite coating has been replaced by a silver-coloured coating that conducts the electricity. For this reason the balloon is "bright and shining" at the inside.
No ... they did not reach high altitudes nor did they make an endurance flight, but "Albert" certainly came up to the expectations of his new owners. Philippe, Ronny ànd Albert are absolutely ready for the upcoming Gordon Bennett race !!!
We sincerely congratulate the men and women of "Cercle Belgica" with their acquisition ... and most of all we wish them a safe and perfect flight !
Glück ab - gut Land...
Flight report in Dutch : Click here
