Epic hang gliding flight from a building!

Since November 2016 last year I am working together with a team of enthusiastic hang glider pilots (all volunteers) to fly a hang glider from a building in the Netherlands. This all was not that easy to organise. I am happy to announce that after 10 months of hard work we are nearly ready to go.

How did it all start?

Last winter (2016/2017) we brainstormed together with about another 15 hang glider pilots on “how to promote our great sport”. Monique van Kessel mentioned a great idea to have some flying from a building. I was instantly very enthusiastic about her superb idea and we created a sub team to outline the idea in more detail. Many meetings and brainstorm sessions later we figured out what to do and we created a (project) plan.

We divided our workload accordingly:

Monique, she has her own film production company (see here) to focus on:

  • The two movies 1. a short movie from the stunt itself and 2. a story / documentary / a making of from a little boy who has a dream to fly and in the end made this really happen!
  • To create a press release
  • The organisation at the day itself

Wim, please see here my background, to focus on:

  • To create a project and proper project structures
  • Communication towards media companies, owners of the building and other key stakeholders like the chairman of the Dutch hang glider organisation
  • To create the start ramp

Other general items we discussed in the beginning between to two of us and during the project we extended the team with the pilot (Arne Tanzer) and a very experienced pilot (the godfather 🙂 ) Bob Koenders. At a later stage (from around April 2017) we again had to extend the team with Bob de Vries, Eduard van Gameren, Kees Riphagen, Pamela Berhitoe and Rens Peters. Also several managers and facility staff of the building (De Johanna of the University of Utrecht) have been consulted to make sure that we aligned closely and in good harmonisation on our activities.

The key issues we solved:

  • To find an appropriate building including a landing field.
  • To get the approval from the owners and managers of the building.
  • To get approval from the local government and the aviation authorities.
  • To get the glider on the roof of the building. The elevator and staircase are not made for a 5.20 meter long glider.
  • To make a hang glider start ramp on top of the building.
  • To select a good pilot who is capable and willing to fly from the building.
  • And now…….

WE ARE READY TO GO!!!! 

It will happen (weather depending) Friday 18 August or Monday 21 August 2017, see the press release below (in Dutch):

 Press release

Op vrijdag 18 augustus of maandag 21 augustus om 7.00 uur zal voormalig Nederlands kampioen deltavliegen Arne Tanzer een start maken vanaf een gebouw. Voor zover bekend als eerste in Europa. De vergunningen zijn rond en de weersvoorspellingen uitvoerig bestudeerd, dus het Deltavliegstunt team is er klaar voor. Donderdagavond wordt de weersvoorspelling nogmaals bekeken. Bij slecht weer zal worden uitgeweken naar maandag 21 augustus.
Starten vanaf een gebouw is in Europa niet eerder vertoond. Op het dak van de Johanna in Utrecht is een vlonder gebouwd om de extra snelheid te maken die nodig is bij deze geringe hoogte.

Naast de kick van iets doen wat nooit eerder vertoond is willen Arne en de organisatie met deze een-malige stunt de bekendheid van deltavliegen in Nederland vergroten.
Deltavliegen is wellicht de mooiste en meest bijzondere manier van vliegen die wij als mensen kennen. Wereldwijd ervaren deltavliegers een ultieme vrijheid boven de prachtigste uitzichten. Samen met vogels en andere luchtsporters leer je de geheimen van het luchtruim kennen.
Datum: Vrijdag 18 augustus 2017 om 7.00 uur.
Bij grote veranderingen in de weersvoorspelling wordt de stunt enkele dagen verzet.
Locatie: De Johanna, Bisschopsteeg, Utrecht.

Neem voor meer informatie of een plek om verslag uit te brengen contact op met de organisatie:
Wim de Gier 06 – 22 38 14 70 skywim@gmail.com
Monique van Kessel 06 – 15 82 92 49 monique@pitfilm.com

Please find below some links to external news sites who already have published articles about our challenging project:
After the stunt has been executed I will create another blog with the movie and several links to news sites about the epic flight from Arne Tanzer!

One thought on “Epic hang gliding flight from a building!

  1. Dat is maar M O O I gelukt. Gaaaaaaaaaaafffffffff. G e f e l i c i t e e r d (alle bij-dragers).