Hagen Leschanz: Paragliding in Kamshet with Nirvana Adventures: October 2005

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During the second week of October I had another 4 day stop in Mumbai. Again I was quite late, inquiring about the monsoon this year and the possibility to fly in Kamshet. Reliable as ever, Sanjay Rao’s mail was in my inbox next day.

Ground transport from Mumbay was arranged. The driver picked me up at my hotel. Driving me safely through the crazy Indian traffic I arrived in the lazy village of Kamshet 2½ hours later.

Ravi of Nirvana Adventures already awaited me in the Rangoli Restaurant, and up we went for flying at Tower Hill. Seeing the familiar landscape with a new green cover colored with thousands of flowers was a new, beautiful experience for me.

In no time I was in the air, soaring the steady northeasterly wind. Around 11am some thermals started kicking off, allowing me to fly further away from the hill, watching the villagers deep below me going after their daily routine. Landing in the big LZ, I was picked up by the driver and brought to Native Place.

After delicious Indian food I had time to relax by the lake, letting pass the hottest hours of the day before venturing out again to hike a few kilometres to “earn” my dinner.

After three relaxing days with mostly great flying among the sympathic Nirvana staff I had to go again. I will be back, that’s for sure. Thank you guys from Nirvana Adventures for a really good time in the Western Ghats! Besides the smooth flying the beautiful landscape and seeing authentic Indian rural life was and always is a great experience for me.

See you next time, have fun
- Hagen Leschanz

Pilot-Profile

Flying has been the center of my life since almost two decades. I started flying gliders and small motor planes in my home country of Austria and the USA. I trained to become a commercial pilot with instrument and multiengine ratings, and worked my way up through free lance flying single engined planes and small twins for Corporate operators. After getting my Airline Transport Pilot Licence I was hired by a regional airline in Austria. Today I fly widebody freighter jets around the globe for Lufthansa Cargo, with an experience in excess of 7000 flying hours.

My enthusiasm for free flight started even earlier, although I started paragliding not before 2001. In this lightweight, foldable wing I saw the perfect chance to link my passion for mountaineering and flying. Until today, hike & fly and vol bivouac are favourite sides of this sport, but how much more should I discover! I have close to 700 flights with about 300 hours in the air, not including between 2000 and 3000 takeoffs & landings on sand dunes all over the world, and literally hundreds of hours of groundhandling my canopies. My longest flights to date include several in excess of 100 kilometres and up to six hours airtime with altitudes up to 4300 meters over the Alps. Out of several SIV courses I developed a love for exploring the limits of my gliders and started to engage in freestyle flying, although I did not progress further than “soft acro”. My paragliding experience includes all five continents and all climatic zones from arctic through tropic, although I have almost no experience in competitions: just recently I started to compete in the Online Contest (OLC) and some minor XC and precision flying championships. My present wings include an Airwave Magic3 for XC and Acro, an Airwave Biboo tandem, and a Gradient Aspen for travelling and mountaineering.

My paraglider travels around the world with me, always ready for flying a small hill with 3 minutes airtime, or the big XC flight munching up mile after mile, or just groundhandling and making a few jumps in a decent wind. Have fun with this marvellous sport. If you take care and respect the limits, you will earn unforgettable moments over and over again!

Cheers,
Hagen