IGG Winter Event: Visit to Glasflügel and Schempp-Hirth

I usually say, “The early bird can kiss my ass,” but of course not when there’s a winter event coming up with 40 IGG members. So on February 18, I, too, was standing in Horw with the other IGG members before 6 a.m., ready to board the Gössi bus. In Henggart, we picked up the folks from Zurich and Eastern Switzerland and set off for Grabenstetten (DE) toward the Glasflügel Gallery. At the Schaffhausen highway on-ramp, the uniformed officers pulled in front of us. It happened as it was bound to—the unmistakable message “Please follow” lit up on the roof of their vehicle. I immediately assured our Schaffhausen president, Don Attilio, that I would let his family know which police station to pick him up from. The police, however, were more interested in our state-of-the-art tour bus, so it was thoroughly inspected and weighed at the freight yard. As we were parked on the pit so the police officer could inspect our tour bus from below, someone shouted loudly from the back: “Everything’s ready—we can empty the sewage tank!” Nevertheless, we passed the heavy-duty vehicle inspection with flying colors and were able to continue our journey 30 minutes late. Our driver, Franz, had masterfully overcome this minor hurdle and spared us any unplanned stops for the rest of the trip.

Upon arriving at the Glasflügel Gallery, we were warmly welcomed by Christian Walliser, an employee of the Streifeneder company, and Wolfgang Binz, author of the book *Glasflügel – Eugen Hänle – the Pioneer of FRP Aircraft Construction*. We split the group up and drove with one half straight to the Grabenstetten airfield, where our member Erhard was waiting for us with coffee and butter pretzels. A big thank you to Erhard for sponsoring the butter pretzels! Of course, we also marveled at every nook and cranny of the hangar there and searched for rarities and curiosities. The other half of the group first went to the Glasflügel Gallery, where Wolfgang Binz personally told us IGG members the story of Eugen and Ursula Hähle and the Glasflügel company. The various exhibits in the gallery were, of course,

It is worth noting that Streifeneder performs all service and repair work for the approximately 1,400 glass-wing gliders worldwide as part of its type support program and also supplies all necessary replacement parts.

We marveled at it with the trained eye of model airplane enthusiasts, analyzing all its intricate details and discussing them among ourselves. Afterward, we were also given a tour of part of the Streifeneder workshop in the main building next door, where their employee, Christian Walliser, explained to us what work was currently being done on the gliders there.

Of course, the groups were rotated after about an hour so that everyone got to see everything. After we were reunited at Hahnenweide and enjoyed lunch at the local ski restaurant, we headed straight on to Kirchheim unter Teck

to the hallowed halls of Schempp-Hirth. Our host there was none other than Schempp-Hirth’s longtime sales manager, Hans-Georg Berger, known to everyone simply as “Biggo.” It was immediately clear that Biggo, despite being “restlessly retired,” still puts his heart and soul into Schempp-Hirth. During a guided tour lasting about an hour, we were able to see, step by step, how our great role models are created. Biggo, of course, always had a confident and fitting answer ready for all the many questions from the IGG members, and with his stories and anecdotes, he made the time literally fly by.

After an event that was a complete success, we arrived home happy and with many new experiences under our belts, without any unplanned stops along the way.