Podz-Glidz, the Lu-Glidz podcast, stories from the cosmos of paragliding, today with Ralf Böhm and I am Lucian Haas. Everyone
A flight is a flight. I heard this sentence recently in the English-speaking paragliding podcast Cloudbase Mayhem by Gavin McClurg. It was about the awareness that when you take off into the air with a paraglider, the risk of falling is always, always there. We like to tune that out. But if it ever happens, we wake up even harder into reality. Then the question arises: how do we deal with that? If we've just narrowly escaped death? One person who can talk about this is Ralf Böhm. The 54-year-old completed an SIV training at Lake Achensee last September. On the last day of training, he lost control of his glider during the final maneuver and then hit the water at full speed in a fully developed spiral dive.
He was admitted to the hospital with life-threatening internal injuries. A few
A few days later, his condition was stable enough that the doctors could give him a good prognosis for recovery. Ralf immediately made the plan to fly again once he had fully recovered. He defined the path to getting there for himself as a project with several phases. One of them was to be the consistent processing of the accident. In this episode 128 of Podz-Glidz, Ralf Böhm talks about his rather unusual way of dealing with the experiences of the accident. And about the consequences. How he has since refocused both his approach to flying and his rest of his life. If you enjoy this podcast, then please support my work on it as a patron.
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Ralf, in an email last autumn you wrote to me, and I'll quote you here: I've started writing my own obituary. Tough nut to crack. How far along are you with your obituary?
The obituary is finished. I've put the topic into writing and I'm done with my story. It's finished.
Why or how does one come up with the idea of wanting or needing to write an obituary for oneself?
Well, I had the paraglider accident and a long time ago I read a book by Harald Welser. Obituary for Myself. And I had that book in my hands again. I had some time and started writing down my story because I thought it was a good way to process it.
How serious was your situation, that you were actually already thinking about death and an obituary and all that?
I reflected on my accident with the friends who were there. And I think they were of the opinion that they'd be fishing my dead body out of Lake Achensee.
Now we're talking to each other. So you're not dead.
No, of course not. You see
it's still vividly alive in my mind. But I want to talk to you today about that accident and what came out of it. But before we talk specifically about the accident, one other point. In this email you wrote to me—the email was from September 14th, which was four days after your accident.
It was very interesting for me when I got this email, because you already wrote there that the accident had started a project for you. And you formulated a project goal. Do you remember what you wrote as your goal?
That I want to fly freely again, like I used to.
Exactly. And you said you want to fly without fear again. And then you immediately defined three project phases. Yes.
Physical recovery, processing the accident, and flying again. So, I was struck by this incredibly structured approach from someone who basically jumped off a cliff four days before dying, is now lying in a hospital somewhere, writes me an email, and has already laid out so precisely, "Okay, I'm turning this into a project and I have these milestones and everything." Do you always approach your whole life in such an organized and planned way?
I'm a very structured person and I'm a project manager by profession. And when you do that for 25 years, it rubs off on you and carries over into your private life too. And yes, I work within these structures. I think that way and I live that way too. Yeah, that's how it is.
Now tell me briefly, what actually happened? How did it even come about?
to this accident? This accident happened during a maneuver in SIV training at Lake Aachen. I flew an accelerated collapse and was overwhelmed by the result of that maneuver in its radical form. I fell into Lake Aachen, didn't get the rescue out in time, and may have also started the maneuver at an altitude that was too low for me, hitting Lake Aachen at 80 to 90 km/h without braking.
80 to 90 km/h, a lot can get damaged at that speed. So, it's good that you're back on your feet now. Let's jump straight into your first project phase: physical recovery. How far along are you with that? And first off, tell me, what was actually really damaged?
Okay, so in the end, not much was actually broken. I had a grade four splenic rupture, I'd slightly messed up my ankle, and I had a hematoma on my kidney—an internal injury. That was treated at the university clinic in Innsbruck, and they didn't have to perform surgery on me. And for what happened to me, relatively little was damaged or happened to my body. And through strict bed rest. For the first few days, they treated it, how should I put it, alternatively, and decided to leave the spleen in my body, which I really appreciate if the spleen is in the body. And I'm basically recovered and can go about my business 90 percent of the time again. The next marathon has to wait a bit, that's not until May.
In that sense, I'm feeling optimistic.
Grade four splenic rupture. How many grades are there? Five. That means grade five, it would be completely torn through, or what do you call it?
that? Yes, and that's the kind of injury the doctors told me that motorcyclists basically bleed out from when they fall, because so much blood goes through the spleen and you then bleed out internally very quickly. So, I just got lucky.
Now the spleen has grown back together. It works like before too, right?
Everything is fine. The doctors are happy with my body and my spleen, and everything is back to the way it should be. That
So you didn't end up with any permanent damage from it either?
No, I don't have any permanent damage and I'm very happy about that, and I'm basically enjoying my second birthday.
Okay, so Phase 1 is successfully completed. Let's move on to Phase 2. You wrote about processing the accident. From the moment the accident happened, what do you actually still remember yourself? Or now you probably know quite a lot because you've processed it. But at the time you wrote to me, what did you already know about the accident back then? Could you still remember it fully?
No, I don't have any memory of the accident myself. From initiating the maneuver to waking up in the helicopter, I have no memory of what happened. I had this flash of an image in my head of hitting the water and the rescue boat being out on the water but not yet reaching me. However, that image was then confirmed by the video. So that's how it was. I basically have a photo in my head somehow.
But everything else that actually led up to it and all that, you didn't know any of that anymore?
No, that's completely blocked out. I have no memory of it. All there were were the reports from the other passengers, who of course visited me in the hospital immediately, and what was said then. I let that sink in and process for a while. And then I met with the trainer from Achensee. I went there and we analyzed and evaluated the video together. And for me, it was already relatively clear at the beginning, it was my mistake. It's my own fault. There's no one else I can blame now or struggle with. I didn't get to the rescue in time. It was a period of about four seconds in which I, so to speak, didn't react.
Whatever the reason. Maybe we'll get to that. From
...this processing here, I mean, it's basically a traumatic experience. The body blocks it out, too. Have you actually even considered saying, I'll just leave it at that. I'll just let it stay blocked out. Maybe that's actually quite good for my mental health.
I think I'm more the type who really wants to know. I dive into the matter, listen to my inner self, and I want to process it. To have my peace of mind, so to speak. I don't think suppressing it would be the right way to be able to fly free again and enjoy it.
Looking back now, I'm jumping the gun a bit, but you've processed it, you've watched the video, and you've certainly discussed a lot of that with the security officer and such. Nothing negative has stuck with you, where you're saying, "Hmm, I'd rather not have known that now."
Hmm. I watched the video again before our podcast. Of course, it's already, how should I put it, I have to swallow it two or three times when I see it. And I'm not going to watch it regularly, no. But I've sort of put it in a folder on my PC called "Cabinet of Horrors."
You also have to type in two passwords before you can get to it, don't you?
Yeah, yeah. And I have it well-kept, I know where it is, and I don't look at it every day.
So that the people listening now can still follow along a bit, what exactly was the maneuver you flew there? And where might the mistake have been, if it can even be analyzed that way, or what did the analysis with your safety trainer show as the potential error?
So the maneuver I flew was an accelerated collapse. I did that—it was the second maneuver in the flight—I flew a left spiral before that, which was substantial, it was good. And then I flew the accelerated collapse. I underestimated the maneuver; I had flown the unaccelerated collapse before, which was easy to handle. I could handle turning the glider well. That was, for me, more of an everyday maneuver that wasn't critical. And I simply underestimated how differently the accelerated collapse behaves, the radicality that then arises. The glider flew off to the left. The glider turned away to the left, so it was pulled left. I was on a speed bar. I then saw a second pilot in my field of vision, who may have slightly distracted me from the thermals or taken my attention away from my maneuver to some extent.
And then after the collapse, I took a counter-collapse that was even more radical than the collapse I had initiated. And in flight, the left turn turned into a right turn. The instructor reacted correctly on the radio. Looking back, I didn't realize this change in rotation and didn't react to it in the slightest. A bit like the rabbit in front of the snake. So I didn't register the change in rotation and then, of course, with two collapses, transitioned into a relatively radical steep spiral and then a spiral dive.
Rabbit in front of the snake, you say. Are you someone who also tends to freeze in stress situations? I mean, do you know that about yourself psychologically? There are all sorts of different reaction types—people who really do just freeze and say, "I'm not moving anymore," others who literally run away from a situation, and then others who remain very composed and sometimes even still take action and stuff.
Actually, no. I'm actually the type of person who goes through with it until the end. The one who holds out and doesn't just sit there like a rabbit in front of a snake, paralyzed, waiting for some outcome, but I'm actually the one who acts, reacts, and gets things done.
Did it surprise you to see a video like that, where you see him calling for help, help, help, and you don't actually react for seconds?
So, I didn't react for four seconds before I hit. I don't know if I was already impaired on the way there, whether my consciousness was clouded by the rotation. I simply don't know. I wonder what the reasons were. Maybe I couldn't grab the rescue handle. Maybe the centrifugal force was so high that I couldn't reach it properly. I don't know. And with that, I've also found my peace of mind.
From the analysis you did, also with the safety instructor, did you somehow identify a mistake? A flight error you made? A steering error? Maybe something to prevent the situation, the stall you then had, from even getting to that point?
So we looked at it together. I think the trainer from Aachensee was just relieved that I made it out of that situation alive. We couldn't identify any direct mistake, other than the fact that I didn't react to the instructions over the radio.
So he said multiple times that I should take the left brake, take the left brake. I also don't know if the earpiece might have slipped out of my ear. I just don't know.
It can happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you can't remember it anyway. And what you hear as audio on the video is just the radio audio picked up by the camera being transmitted. Of course, you don't know what actually reached you. Was that the first accelerated collapse you've ever flown?
I also flew an accelerated collapse during an SIV training the year before. However, with a different glider. With a Geo 6. So a Low B. And
What kind of glider was that?
That was a Swift 6, also from Ozon. A High B. And the accelerated collapse with the Geo was also easy to handle and manage. However, I don't think I initiated it as, how should I put it, as radically. I mean, I pulled the collapse down quite a bit. And it was also quite far from the wing. So maybe I should have initiated it a bit more calmly.
Yeah, but I mean, in SIV training they also just say you want to try out what happens and how a glider can react. And how it might also react violently. And it's not just about pulling a 30% accelerated collapse and saying, "Yeah, look, I pulled an accelerated collapse." It's actually useful to see and experience how a glider can then go off. You just had the bad luck that the ground, or the lake in that case, came close to you relatively quickly. It's
So, yeah, exactly.
And 50 meters more height would have completely defused the situation, and I would have just fallen into the water with the rescue, yeah.
Would you fly an accelerated collapse again in an SIV training as part of processing it and all that? Or is it something where you'd say, I think that's something I just don't want to do anymore?
I would approach it gradually. I'll attend an SIV training again. That's how it is. And the accelerated collapse isn't the first maneuver I'd fly in the SIV training. I'd approach it step by step, but I wouldn't opt out of it from the start. No, I'll fly it again in my life.
That means, out of your three project phases, project phase 3 was flying, and you've already reached that point again.
Exactly. I reached this project phase. I flew again on October 16th of last year at my home mountain or my home edge. And I was there almost alone with a good friend. And I unpacked my old glider, the GEO, and I didn't take the liege harness, but a seat harness. And I stood there at the edge, inflated the glider, and basically flew as usual. I just did one glide first and was very happy, but that was already a very significant day. And I was happy that I could inflate the glider again, that I had the feel for the glider, that I wasn't afraid.
I didn't know what would happen in that situation, whether I might, well, not break down in tears, but if some things would come up. I've actually been flying again like before since October 16th of last year.
That was basically six weeks after your accident, or five weeks after your accident. Exactly. So relatively soon after.
Yeah, exactly. You had
Have you already done that debriefing with the safety trainer, or have you seen the video yet? No. So you basically started out with no memory of the whole thing?
With a sense of uncertainty. I only had the descriptions from the comrades who were there during the SIV training. I only heard it from people who had experienced the accident live. I had it in my ears. So I only had the acoustic description of these things. I hadn't seen it at that point yet. We only did that before Christmas.
Do you think that might have even helped you? Not having seen those images and then not having them in front of your eyes during that first jump or whatever, but actually standing there with a blank slate and saying, okay, something happened, but I actually feel good now. Now I'm just going to give it a try.
Now that you ask me about this, it sounds logical. And I think, looking back, the order was the right one. Taking the video as a second step, the processing. And having already taken a flight before that.
People often say that even if you fall off, it's best to get right back on and keep riding so that nothing gets stuck. And maybe for you too, even if you didn't get back on immediately, in a way you did. So, after a hospital stay, the first time you got back out there after a few weeks, you said, "Okay, at least I'll do a light slide."
Yeah, I flew twice that day. And the second flight lasted longer, about half an hour. So in that sense, it was right back out on the horse for me, which was quite good. The conditions were also really good that day. At that point, I was still having some issues with my ankle and thought I might prefer to land on my butt. But everything went great. I landed on top once, and on the bottom once. It just worked again. And I think it was good to see the video later on. We watched it together in December.
So that means you probably already did a whole series of flights before that?
I had already done a whole series of flights before that. I then flew regularly again starting in October. Did you go back to Achensee specifically to process everything? Yes, I went to Achensee specifically. That was important to me. I was also in contact with the trainer the whole time and we had agreed on that. And just like those project phases you mentioned earlier, I had sort of verbally agreed on three things with him. We'll review the video together. We'll go flying together and then we'll go somewhere to eat something delicious together afterwards. We haven't gotten to the flying or the eating yet, but I'm optimistic that it will happen.
Was this unusual for the safety instructor, someone coming up and saying, "Look, I fell into the lake and now I want to go back there and have you explain exactly what happened"? Was that something that surprised him personally?
I think he was also surprised by what happened. And he was, I think, also very relieved that I was back; we hugged and were happy to see each other alive again. I think he was also terrified and glad that he could see me healthy again. I also prepared the conversation with him, and I mean, we chatted for a bit first, and then I already asked him if I had been his first dead person, and he confirmed it. Well, yeah. I think it was a dramatic experience for him too.
So you prepared for the conversation, you basically thought of questions you could ask him or what?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we did it calmly, and of course I also wanted to know how he feels about it, because it's his job. I sort of settled on that phrase, it's basically like a train driver, and statistically speaking, every train driver runs over two to three people in their life. And if you're a safety trainer, then you're out there in a similar way to a train driver. That's just how it is.
So, you mean you have to expect a fatality at some point?
Yes, but the counterargument to all of that is that you can also say how many people it taught something to and potentially prevented future accidents. That's the positive side, and that's what SIV training is there for. That's the important thing.
Yes. Yes. Could you say that you learned something positive for yourself from this accident?
Yes, definitely. As I said, I have a second birthday. Every day is a gift. I view it with a certain, how should I put it, second chance—maybe that's the wrong description. But I'm perceiving it more intensely at the moment, and I think I'm more open-minded about the future direction of my life. I'm looking around more and thinking about what I'm going to do with this last stretch of my life.
That means an accident like that doesn't just shake up your flying career, but your whole life, basically. So, you're doing just as well as before, I'll say it again, more or less. But it's still like you're saying, hello, wake up, whatever, look at what's still out there.
Exactly. I have this saying that I don't read font sizes three and four in my life anymore. I don't have to open some letters on the very first day anymore.
So, leave out all the fine print, just the important stuff. Exactly. Although sometimes the important details are actually in the fine print or something like that.
Yeah, you have to be clever about it and find people who will read that for you.
What has actually changed in your life because of that, other than you saying you're looking back a bit more, but has anything really changed yet?
Not quite yet. I mean, I'm thinking. Yes. What happens next with my job? I might have to turn the screw a bit. How should I put it?
How do I interact with my family? Do I take them more seriously? Do I do the beautiful things in life? Do I just prioritize the present and say what's important to me? What do I want to occupy myself with? How do I want to spend my days? And in the beginning, we had conflicts. I briefly mentioned Harald Welser's book once. And he had an interesting phrase in his book that I've adopted. How do we want to have lived? Future perfect—that's a project. And what's actually supposed to be on your tombstone? Is it supposed to say he was a hardworking project manager who started his day's work every day at eight? Or that he was a family man who leaves behind many friends and had many shared experiences?
Did he plant trees or did he do something else, right?
Speaking of being a family man. I know a few people who didn't have accidents like that, but maybe not such pleasant experiences while flying either. They then decided because of that, no, I can't do that to my family—this risk you take with flying and all that, I can't do that to my family. Have you ever had thoughts like that too?
That's the thing. I've already said, what am I actually offering the others? Who do I want to be? Do I want to be an ambitious performance pilot? Do I want to be a hobby pilot or a vacation pilot?
I also wrote in my story that my wife scolded me mildly, because she's a very sweet person. Well, she can't act out things so dramatically. And I decided for myself that I'm more of a hobby pilot who takes every opportunity to fly. But I would opt out of this performance orientation now and wouldn't follow that hype of higher, faster, further, and would move a bit more calmly. Because, how should I put it, I've already come to terms with my own death, and actually, your own death is only really terrible for others. For yourself, it's not a problem, it's over. And I also reflected for myself that if I had died, I experienced so many beautiful things in my life and didn't miss out on anything; I've had a really great time so far.
And everything that starts now is bonus material.
Bonus material, that's nice. Back to your family again. It didn't get to the point where you said I should stop. So, flying means that much to you?
So, flying holds a special place in my life. I'd actually say I'm a recreational pilot and I fly every chance I get. That transition from being a pedestrian to becoming a bird, or to flying—I think that's a huge experience for all of us, how we get into the air with such minimalist means. My accident wasn't actually that bad after all.
You haven't been flying for that long, from what I can see. I think it's about four years now. Exactly. What drove you to do it at all, at your age? How old are you now?
I think
58, right? No, I'm 54 at the moment. Sorry, 54. But what drove you to start flying at 50?
So, I did some model aircraft building as a teenager and flying always fascinated me. And then, for my 49th birthday, my wife got me a tandem flight. That was the initial one, it was in Sölden, and that was the start for many people. I said to myself, I have to do that too. And I don't know if it's a midlife crisis or whatever. Whether 50-year-olds buy a motorcycle, look for a younger woman, or start flying. It's just how it is.
What does flying give you?
It's wonderful, just experiencing nature out there on your own terms. And in my professional life, I'm very structured and very inclined to control things. And with flying, using this small window, this weather window. The wind has to come from the right direction. It has to fit, have the right strength. And that's determined by the outside. And that you also meet so many people while flying who act the same way. And who simply act the same way in terms of attitude and mood. And say, okay, it's not negotiable now. It's not about compromises. I don't know. So I was out last week too.
And you meet other pilots and they say, yeah, we're going flying today. You don't have to explain yourself. And in our time today, I experience it—or I think we all do—in such a private environment.
This multi-option society we live in, where you do this and you do that. That doesn't exist in flying. Either I go flying or I don't.
So, basically 100% commitment. Exactly.
Well, you said you don't want to be so performance-oriented anymore—or at least you're not thinking that way about flying right now. Was it like that before, during your four-year flying career, that you already developed some ambition? Like, you'd say, I want to go higher, faster, further?
I think I'd be lying if I said I wasn't subject to that or that it didn't influence me. Of course, you look at other pilots. What they do, what gear they fly. They're just a notch higher. We fly in the lowlands, and besides piloting skills, I think the equipment is also decisive. And it brings that performance advantage that you then take with you in the lowlands.
And that's why you felt you had to keep up. And then you said, okay, for example, I'll upgrade to a High-B and fly with that.
Exactly. So it was sort of about time. I thought about whether I should do it and decided to. I've flown quite a bit, too, and I actually felt capable of it. Looking back, I don't know if all the pilots using higher-end gear actually know what they're doing out there. And we're probably also subject to a bit of manufacturer hype and the general trend of higher, faster, further. That's just how it is.
You just said flying in flat country. So you
Where exactly are you from? I come from near Halle. And the nearest place to fly is the Laucher. That's just a ridge with a good 100 meters of elevation here in the flatlands. And of course, you have to squeeze out every meter of height.
And from your perspective, does one have advantages with a higher-performance glider?
Yes, I think that's the case. When I look at my flight statistics, it's like, with a higher-class glider, the number of top landings I had was higher than with the GEO before.
But now you've switched back to the GEO.
Exactly. So I put it a bit casually. The old friend showed up again. I had him lying there and we're flying again. And I'm nurturing him. And we get along well. And we're going to have a good time together.
Don't you feel like, maybe, backing off a bit? I've already seen what kind of performance the Swift 6 delivered in that case. Or I was able to land at the top more often or something. Don't you think it could happen to you soon where you're standing at the bottom and thinking, maybe with the Swift that wouldn't have happened to me today, or something like that?
No, that's not the case. I'm not shying away from the climb. It is what it is. Whether I land at the top or the bottom doesn't matter in the end. The way up is just training for the next marathon. Okay.
That means you've oriented your performance needle a bit differently now.
I think... well, this accident has put things into perspective a bit. And I'd already started opting out of risky top landings before, just landing at the bottom for safety reasons. Because it just seems easier to me to hike back up for 20 minutes or have a friend pick me up, rather than potentially tripping up somehow at the top and hurting myself. And then being able to fly for a longer period of time.
So those are the lessons you've drawn for yourself from your incident. What lessons can other people, or your fellow pilots in Laucher, draw from it when you talk to them? I mean, what do they take away from what you tell them, or perhaps from what they've observed themselves? How does your flying community basically deal with this, and what are they learning from it?
So that's pretty interesting. We were in an SIV training from our club. Six pilots were in that SIV training and we already talked about it afterwards. And there was also a second Zwift in that training with a pilot who then went into the water during the rescue with a similar maneuver, who was also simply overwhelmed by the situation that arose. We already talked about it there and it has already, how shall I put it, formed like an inner circle that talks about the dangers, or rather the risk, and exchanges views. It is
your colleague with his Zwift 6, did he also get out again and say, "No, that thing is just too hot for me, maybe I should fly a Low Bay or something"?
He's still flying the Zwift, but I think he's grumbling a bit about it inside.
Well, lower or lower-classified gliders can also sometimes get into trouble. So theoretically, an incident with a hang-up and a spiral dive or something like that could also happen with a Low Bay.
Well, a roof tile could still fall on my head when I step out of the house. So the risk is lower, but the passion and joy of flying outweigh that risk. I'm willing to take that. Yeah, that's how it is.
What are you looking forward to in your second life as a pilot?
That the season starts, that we have flyable days. And that the season starts, that we have flyable days. That I'll go on some beautiful tours this year. That I'll associate this year with many beautiful flights and flying experiences. And it's not just the flying alone. It's the time spent outside. It's the trips you take. It's the different clubs you get to know. Pilots at various hotspots. These are all encounters that create joy and are a clear enrichment.
Do you plan a flying year like a project with different phases?
Yes, of course. That's how it is. Last year, we also went on a spring tour with a group of people. It'll be the same this year, where we just head out and see where we end up. And we'll fly wherever we can. And those are friends of mine, too. We're all kind of friends in the flying community. We just say, "We're heading south," and whether we fly in Kössen, at the 12er, or go to Bassano, that just happens along the way.
And locally with you? I mean, in Laucher, are there any specific goals you have for what should be possible at your site?
Well, aviation-wise, I think I've experienced everything there already. Now I have to think. We fly there in a good group. It's fun meeting these people there. And every time you're there, standing on that edge and looking out over the wide countryside, it's like a day's vacation. The goal for there might be to shape the before and after of the group we have there a bit more, I'd say. So, we have club grounds there. We also have a building standing there. We basically have a campsite with a fire pit. To liven this whole thing up and use it more. And to decorate the surroundings a bit. That would be, I think, a pretty good thing for the club as well.
I read that your club is celebrating a major anniversary this year.
Exactly. This year we have an anniversary. 100 years of flying in Laucha. And we have an anniversary, 30 years of flight days in Laucha. So, 100 years ago, flying in Laucha began with gliders. It was the second hotspot in Germany, alongside the Wasserkuppe in the Rhön, where aviation began with rudimentary means.
At the edge where you now fly paragliders, they were already soaring back and forth with gliders 100 years ago.
Exactly. That's how it is. And I think there was also a world record in the 50s where someone flew for 24 hours. There's also a description of how he soared back and forth along the edge at night with some kind of fires. Insane. And there are also videos of how the gliders were launched with rubber ropes 100 years ago. One person sat on it, had maybe a minute or two of pure joy on the glider, and then 20 people had to use some kind of means to get that plane back up there. Yeah, insane.
What's on the agenda for the 100 years of Laucha? What's this big aviation festival you're planning? I mean...
The air show in Laucha takes place on May 9th. It's happening for the 30th time this year. And it's always a pretty big public festival that takes place there. As paragliders, we've already had it. We have a bit of a lump in our throats because, of course, it's dominated by the fixed-wing flyers—so the sailplane pilots, ultralight pilots, and motorplane pilots—and we're more on the sidelines. That's just how it is, we accept it. Let's see how it develops this year.
But that means you as a club, you're a total mixed club. That means there are glider pilots in there, and paraglider pilots, and motor glider pilots.
Exactly, UL pilots, yeah. And the funny thing about this club is, it currently has about 70 members. We've had a good influx in the paraglider section over the last few years and we make up the majority of the club. And the others haven't really understood that yet. They think
still traditionally in old stories.
Exactly, they still live in their own world and I think they're still a bit jealous of paragliders. They always roll their eyes when I come and say the paraglider is a shy deer because he appears whenever it suits him. And we take our bag out of the trunk and just head off. And I think you can see a certain envy there, that they just say, okay, we're not getting into the air here, we have to set up a winch first, we need several people, and they're just not that spontaneous and can't use it like that. And one episode was, at the last meeting, it was about how many hours who flew where. And the sailplane pilots were happy that they flew 100 hours in the year, all together. And we can say, yeah, I also flew 100 hours.
But
then alone.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that's a bit of a jealousy factor. But okay, I think we can live with that.
How many glider pilots have already switched or moved up? What does "moved up" mean? So not just switched, but saying, as an extra, I'm also getting a paraglider license, because then I can also go flying in between if it's not possible with my glider.
So that's already happened with one person. That's also a glider instructor who got a license. There are also several glider pilots who have already held a glider in their hands, have already launched one, and have already approached the thing during ground handling. So there is some interest there.
And have you also flown in a glider already? No, I
but I'm already committed to that.
That might also be an option where you say, okay, paragliding, I'm not taking that risk. I'd rather go for soaring instead. Although, you could argue over which risk is greater, soaring or paragliding. So
I've already signed up for a flight in a glider, where a friend of mine is taking me along. He's already agreed to it. He's the one who, well, the flight instructor who got a paragliding license and who also flies a paraglider ambitiously. I consider it ruled out that I'll switch to gliders, because the material and time investment is just not in proportion. This flying with minimalist means is unbeatable. So paragliding, yes. There
you're sticking with that too. And in between, you'll do a marathon at most somewhere.
Exactly. The Rennsteiglauf.
Wonderful. Let's end it with that. Thanks for your great stories about how you survived the "Return to Aviation" project after a pretty heavy crash on a lake, after a severe collapse during SIV training, and how you rose again in top shape. I think that's great. And it's awesome how you did it.
Yes, thank you very much. I'm glad you gave me the opportunity to tell the story here. And it's also part of my processing and an important point for me as well.
That was episode number 128 of Podz-Glidz with Ralf Böhm. By the way, the original audio at the beginning of the podcast is a recording from the crash video. The video itself, however, is not available publicly on YouTube or similar. But you can find other relevant links in the show notes on the Gleitschirm-Blog Lu-Glidz. If you enjoyed the episode, then please subscribe to Podz-Glidz. You can do that anywhere podcasts are available. If you also leave a positive rating there, you're helping to make Podz-Glidz even better known. Or tell your flying friends about it directly. Podz-Glidz and Lu-Glidz are free of paid advertising. I do this out of conviction and in the interest of independence.
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