The previous day had been a long one and I had slept like a dog, literally from when my head hit the pillow. We made an early start from the hotel so that we avoided the heat of the day and possible strong winds.
At Mulhouse we found DTOY & MSKY had gone already and the Jabs were getting ready. We filed our flight plans and off we went as a 3 ship with Ed, his dad & Nic. The Jabs chose to route further south than we did and were taken over Bale by their ATC. We tracked to the east before turning to route along the bottom of Lake Zurich.
In the misty morning the hills and low mountains slowly came into view. The countryside spread rich and green, rolled & undulated as we passed through Germany, over the Rhine and into Switzerland. Gradually the undulations became more sharp until we could see the high craggy mountains in the distance covered in snow.
This fantastic flight just kept getting better, the mist was clearing and it was smooth. We picked up the main road out of Zurich towards Mollis along the lake. The contrast was incredible, the large dark lake surrounded by houses & green hills flanked by huge grey craggy mountains!
Our joining instructions led us to the north of the valley where we reported and joined downwind along the valley wall. What an airfield! The mountains either side rose to 6, 7 and 9k feet! The downwind leg was along the sheer wall of grey rocks and green trees towering massively above. I felt giddy with the excitement of such a fantastic arrival. Downwind went fast as we skirted along the mountain wall at what felt like inches, it also felt as if the mountain was pushing me into the airfield!
Most of the UK contingent seemed to have reached Mollis before Ed, Nic & myself and were enjoying finals with 4 others! Clive went round at least once but it could have been twice. I think he was enjoying it really. I turned in after Ed and followed him in over the town.
It looked busy on the field with quite a few planes there already as we taxied off the runway to the grass. Getting out the beauty of the location continued to assert itself. The narrow valley bathed in bright sunlight flanked by grey, green and a now clear blue sky.
Nic's shadow caused the biggest stir with people making b-lines straight to it! Apparently Shadow's are not common in Switzerland. With everyone down we booked in, stuck our flags in the map and relaxed in the midday sun to watch the world fly-in.
What a Relaxing day, good food, some beer & excellent company! Through the day we met with our fellow UK flyers. Eventually 18 planes turned up with Eurostars and C42 being by far the most numerous. The typical mouthwatering Euro-micros began to arrive after us; Pipistrel Sinus, Polaris, Fascinations and Dynamics with a few Tecnam's among them!
That evening I had plumped for the tent as is traditional. We had been warned of thunderstorms forecast and we certainly were not let down with a belter crashing into the mountain tops. We sat and watched over a beer before adjourning to the main hangar for some entertainment! Our gracious Swiss hosts presented a good show with the highlight a short educational film describing the dangers of microlight flying in Switzerland pre 2006!
On to the presentations, unfortunately no UK X-Air, Thruster or Spectrum had arrived during the day so that £1000 prize went un awarded. The longest flight competition was close with a few of us coming from the UK, Ed, Myself and the Eurostars from Manchester doing about 1000km. The winner was a pair of Danes from far north Denmark who had already gone on somewhere else.
My individual flights were;
