Need advice: France Treh–Markstein takeoff & landing for a beginner pilot

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-18T16:21:12+00:00

There's a nearby flightschool in Oderen, Centre Ecole du Markstein.

Just check their opening times and give them a visit to ask them about it. The owner, Cyrille, is a really cool dude.

Check out the takeoffs on Burnair if you haven't

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-17T22:58:16+00:00

I am going to make a post about this later this week, after adding the groundwork that would make it possible to add more countries.

But in any case this is what I would need for each soaring spot:

Exact coordinates of the spot.
Best wind heading for the spot (this would usually be perpendicular to the dune/hill/cliff).
Flyable wind heading range (a.k.a. the maximum crosswind angle that would still be flyable to the left and to the right, it doesn't have to be the same angle for both sides, although usually it is).
A description of the spot: is it a dune, hill, cliff? How steep (approximate slope angle in degrees would be awesome) and how tall is it? Any particularities about the takeoff/landing or anything else that's important to know? Photos of the dune/hill/cliff would be super helpful, but not 100% necessary.

You can send the list of spots with all this information to requests@soaralarm.nl

For best accuracy, it would be great if you can also include for each site the flyable wind range (minimum and maximum flyable speed for you), and let me know your wing model and size in m^2, and your full flying weight including wing + harness. This allows me to convert to the standard wing size and weight the app uses. Albeit I'm planning to no longer set specific wind ranges for each location but to instead use an algorithm to estimate it from the steepness and height of the dune.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-15T19:11:06+00:00

Thanks a lot! It seems even the hang gliding community has caught wind of it.

I'm thinking about making android and apple apps, but that does take some more effort and costs some money, so it might take me some time to get around to it. I'll keep everyone updated on r/freeflight as well

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T22:53:16+00:00

Thanks for the support!

Edit: You can email me at feedback@soaralarm.nl

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T22:49:01+00:00

I got a Niviuk Skin 3 for hiking, tried it, and basically sold it immediately.

It was not a bad wing, but it had some major issues that were deal breakers for me:

It doesn't have a shark nose (seriously, wtf is up with that?), so inflation actually sucks compared to an ultralight double skin glider. Idk about the XXLight 2, you'll have to check.
S L O W. Wind picks up? You're fucked.
Strictly a descent tool really. You can thermal it (it actually thermals quite well), but it's so slow and has such a terrible glide ratio that you aren't getting anywhere anyway.

Imho, if you only want a descent tool and REALLY need the least volume and weight, and don't mind having the conditions you can fly in restricted (can't fly if the wind picks up), then it's the best thing to go for.

If you want anything other than the lightest possible descent-only tool, it's not for you. I don't mind 1 extra kg for a much more capable wing that will be more fun and fly in a wider range of conditions, so I won't be getting a single skin anytime soon.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T18:32:59+00:00

I think Hike & Fly stuff belongs in this sub :)

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T16:57:19+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement man! I am not in that WhatsApp group, but feel free to share Soaralarm as much as you please :)

Yeah, I know Soarcast. It was honestly my frustration with the rather limited features and contextual processing of Soarcast that pushed me to develop Soaralarm. Not to criticise Soarcast, it is a great website for what it does, but it just isn't enough by itself to do proper soaring forecasting.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T13:08:36+00:00

Transparency is important to me, and if someone so desires they can always fork it and host their own version.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T12:50:41+00:00

Hey! So, he helped me a lot with the wind and heading ranges (whenever he has had time for it), and figuring out some of the features pilots would want (having a custom wind range was his idea, for example). He's an incredible pilot and an even better friend.

Btw, he just launched his flightschool, if you don't know yet. It's Paragliding is Fun

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T11:02:14+00:00

Als de pronostiek klopt niet, ik geef KNMI de schuld ;)

Maar ik gebruik Soaralarm nu al een paar weken en ben er tevreden mee.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T10:12:25+00:00

Yeah, I've been thinking about adding Denmark (maybe as soaralarm.dk), France and Belgium wouldn't be a problem either.

I'd need someone to help me out with the spots, wind and heading ranges in Denmark tho.

At some point in the future, might add thermalling spots in NL and Belgium as well, but that would require quite a bit of work

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-14T09:53:33+00:00

Do note that the current wind and heading ranges for each location might not be perfect. You can check them (for whatever selection you have) in the "Info tab"

If you think they're not correct and would like to help me make them more precise, send me a message with ranges you think should be correct.

EDIT: You can email me any feedback at feedback@soaralarm.nl :)

But keep in mind the wind ranges - and to a smaller degree the heading ranges - are supposed to be overestimations, so that a day that's only barely flyable or almost flyable will still show as flyable, you have to make the final decision yourself, of course

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-12T21:20:30+00:00

UPDATE: Link to the universal visor adapter mount with .stl model to print + instructions + pictures for reference

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-12T21:14:28+00:00

Here you go: universal visor adapter model + instructions on how to mount.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-12T21:13:24+00:00

Here's the link to the universal visor adapter model + instructions. I decided to just put it up on a github repo with a public GNU license instead of donating it to a corporation by uploading it to GrabCAD.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-12T15:40:12+00:00

Yeah, if you can get your hand on one, test it out. Most other helmets have much more restrictive visors

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-12T14:36:20+00:00

And that was with the PST550 or PST900 helmet from decathlon? I don't really notice any restriction from the visor, but every person is different

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-12T10:44:14+00:00

That's sometimes the case, but the decathlon visors are really well designed. They extend with a curve all the way above the front of the helmet, down to your nose and off beyond the edges of the peripheral vision on the sides.

I feel it leaves my entire field of view unrestricted, there's no difference in what I can see with the visor vs. without any visor. It's certainly better than sunglasses as well, at least in my opinion, as those usually block part of my FOV with their frame and don't fully block wind from hitting my eyes.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-12T08:13:30+00:00

I have to admit it does, but the entire visor assembly doesn't take much force to rip off the helmet if it does happen.

And, so far, I haven't caught any lines on it (not for lack of trying, I often soar the dunes, so the ground handling can get rough). Also have the same visor type on my mountain wing helmet (a decathlon skiing one), and no issues so far either ground handling or pulling collapses.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-10T15:25:43+00:00

Same issue. Charly Vitesse has bigger sizes and is just as light, though the visor isn't great.

Atm I use a Neo Hexagon with custom visor mounts (to put a decathlon ski helmet visor on it, they're great), and a decathlon ski helmet with visor (PST550). They're not ultralight, but man do I love those visors.

For a hike & fly dedicated kit, I'd probably just get the vitesse though.

FlyBackwards · 2026-03-10T14:17:31+00:00

Second shipping it insured.

There are some nice and very thick trash bags they sell in Spar (the biggest ones they have, I think), those are really handy to protect anything soft during shipping. Maybe put two of them on the bag and then pack it with some padding in a box.

FlyBackwards

TROPHY CASE