Soaring conditions flying from Eisenhüttenstadt
Eisenhüttenstadt is located in one of the most thermally active areas of Germany. The reasons for this are the very sandy soil with dry pine forests, the already very good continental location on the border with Poland, many lakes and a varied topography. Some small ridges up to 250m height provide well marked thermal lines. Also, in the south there are the Erzgebirge or the Krkonoše Mountains, a low mountain range up to 1,500m.
We have lift averaging 2m/sec to 5m/sec, and a cloud base average of 1,500-2,500m MSL, going to 3,000m in August limited by 10,000ft airspace or 9,500ft for competition.
In the competition period at the end of July there can be three different major weather situations
A) Cold air from northeast to northwest with cloud streets and working heights up to 2,000m, in addition to partial overdevelopment and shower lines.
Wonderful cloud streets in cold air.
Overdevelopment and shower lines.
Sometimes very interesting wave systems develop along the cloud streets.
B) Cyclonic weather conditions with more humid air from southwest to northwest with overcast working altitudes around 1,500m and still a good climb
7/8 and good climbing conditions
C) High pressure weather with southern streams with blue thermals or later high clouds up to 3,000m working altitude and occasional warm thunderstorms in the evening.
Blue with few clouds on a southerly air flow and stable high, sometimes with heat thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Types of tasks that are likely to be set
No significant restrictions to the east, south, west are expected. 30km northwest we have TMA BER Berlin, Airspace Charlie. No major constraint for tasks.
The tasks will mainly be in the preferred thermal areas. In the picture you can see the flights from Eisenhüttenstadt in 2021. The ‘race tracks’ go to the west, south or northeast. There are few restrictions or airspace problems, so the task setting can be very specific to the weather conditions.
With expected speeds at around 120 km/h, tasks of 350km or more can thus be set in the best thermal time from 1 to 2pm local time.
Andreas Kühl
germany22.sgp.aero