One is having dinner at Christmas, the other is flying in the air with a glider. This also applied to Peter Mink (63) from Breda. He set a new Dutch gliding record on Christmas Day by reaching a height of 1838 meters. That is about a hundred meters higher than the previous record.
Dressed up – with thermal trousers, good jeans, three T-shirts and two sweaters – Peter flew to a record height around two in the afternoon. “It’s actually a Belgian record,” he jokes.
“It’s a very nice thing to do,” says the experienced glider pilot. “It’s exciting and special to be so high. The sky was super clear, but it was cold.” There is no heating and there is a bit of wind in the cockpit. “You sit still and you can get hypothermia.”
A glider has no engine. To get into the air, the aircraft is pulled up by another aircraft or by a winch. Then a strong motor is on the ground with a long steel cable attached to it, the so-called winch cable.
Opulence
This cable is attached to the glider and rolls up so quickly that the aircraft is pulled into the air.
Normally such a winch cable is about a kilometer long and a glider reaches a height of about 400 meters. Peter used a special three-kilometer winch, which was made in 2001. Longer is not possible. “You can’t fit more cable, it puts a lot of force on it.”
For his record attempt, he moved to Weelde, Belgium. According to Peter, there are no suitable airports in the Netherlands. “The airspace is too busy and there are too many buildings around airports.” The runway in Weelde is longer and in December and January the airport is specially equipped for record attempts.
The record attempt was not simple. “You need a good airport, no other air traffic, the right wind and no clouds.” Modern aircraft fly largely on instruments, but glider pilots must fly by sight and are also not allowed to fly through clouds.
Peter has been floating since he was fourteen and also attempted records fifteen years ago, always around Christmas. “Then air traffic will be calmer.” The last successful attempt was nine years ago. “Now everything went well: it was nice and cold and the wind was just right. The more headwind, the easier it is to get to altitude.”
The record breaking leaves us wanting more. “It motivates me to try again next year. I still want to reach those 2000 meters. It’s a hobby that has gotten a bit out of hand.”
