Last weekend, Soaring club Albatros went winching at the Kempische Aero-Club, in Weelde (EBWE, Belgium). Rolling out with two Twin Astirs of our own, a fair number of members of our club joined to get a taste of winching, something which is not possible at our own airfield due to its length. And because of the long winter this year, it felt extra good to be able to start flying again.

Saturday started out with a short briefing in KACs club house, where the secrets and theories of winching were unravelled. After that, we built our two gliders and started with the pratical side of the lessons. For most of us, it became a true thrill, having only experience with towing. Moreover, it gave pilots with little experience (not unlike myself) to have a chance to fly at another airfield and environment; and a big one at that: EBWE is a NATO reserve airfield, used for military purposes. Now mainly used for storage of old aircrafts, the airfield also houses the operations of the Belgian Air Cadets, and of course, the KAC.

Despite its arctic nature, the wind direction was ideal, and the rest of the weather did not let us down either. Saturday was even very good with a number of fairly strong thermals (strong for our region, that is). Sunday was less good (practically no thermals) but still with clear weather and a little warmth of the sun - the latter was not able to squelsh the chilling cold of the NE wind.

Aside of the flying, there was also the very yummy home-cooked meals, provided in the club house. Things like spaghetti, lasagna, croque and a hot bowl of soup were available for us at very democratic prices. And even better, as it was all freshly made, it was gooooooood!

The winching experience is a thing to remember, and is definitely worth a repeat. KAC, our host club, was very open and hospitable, and their instructors really let us have a taste of winching in all of its aspects.
Aside of the experience, some of us went home with something extra: they cleared the winch testing and are now licensed pilots for winch.

Pictures: © Ben Heylen