swiss alps FPV trip

Summer was coming to an end, and I hadn't done any FPV trips since January. So yes, it was about time for another trip to the mountains to have some good old fixed wing FPV mountain surfing fun with some friends.

In 2015 I visited (the best fixed wing FPV pilot in the world) Guigui86 in France. I promised to fly again with him in 2016 at another location. He suggested to fly near the village of Grindelwald in Switzerland – a place where I had flown several times before but without him. Another reason to meet there was that it happens to be in the middle between his home in France and my home in Germany.

That set the goal for our trip in 2016. The more friends I told about that plan, the more decided to join us. In the end we were seven pilots: Aeroman, Dijay-I, Guigui86, LKTRSMG, Piepmatz3000, vierfuffzig and myself.

Aeroman organized a small camping bus for the trip which was super awesome. It was old, dirty and exactly what we needed.

For those who have never been to Switzerland: The scenery there is truly breathtaking. For me it's easily one of the most beautiful countries in the world. To go there to fly FPV once in a while is always something I look forward to.

We flew at several different spots in the area on Friday and Saturday. I fly FPV for around 5 years now and I think that I'm an okay pilot...but seeing Guigui86 fly is a humbling experience. His skills are far beyond mine. It was a true honor to fly with him in formation again.

On Sunday morning vierfuzzig and LKTRSMG had to leave us as they had the longest way back home. The rest of us also left Grindelwald but only to move to our next spot near the Rhone glacier. To get there we had to take the “Furkapass” up to an elevation of 2429m (7,969 ft) above sea level. That was a little to much for the old VW-bus, it overheated and the water inside it's radiator started to boil. When Aeroman wanted to have a look at it a big fountain of hot steam burned his left arm quite bad. I have a picture of his arm but believe me, you don't want to see it. We did some improvised first aid (wet tissues and some duct tape) and went on. At the top of the Furkapass we took a photo from us with our new rat shirts. :-)

Having finally arrived at the river Rhone below the glacier we set up our FPV gear and started what we came for. Flying above a glacier was on my to do list for a long time. I'm really glad it finally worked out.

We also did some formation flying with four wings above the river which was a lot of fun.

Now I'm back home dreaming of new FPV adventures...but at least I have a video to remind me of how awesome that trip was. :-)