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 October 21,
2000: The first female pilot over Annapurna / Expedition pilot reaches a height of 30,000
feet
After the successful flight over Annapurna I (8,091 meters) and several other
flights over the Annapurna mountain range, the Annapurna High team flew to an altitude of
30,000 feet (9,144 meters) over sea level. The flight was by pilot Zbyněk Adam on October
19. In addition, during the final days of the expedition, the first female pilot in
history flew over the Ananpurna peak - expedition member Alexandra Tilingerová. Having
accomplished all goals, the expedition then returned home.
For photos click here, high-resolution photos for print can be
downloaded here: http://web.quick.cz/AnnapurnaHigh2000/download/fototisk3.zip
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October 6,
2000: Celebration of Bada Dashain.
This day marks the beginning of the ten-day holiday Bada Dashain, celebrated throughout
the Nepal Kingdom. The holiday is roughly comperable to Christmas, and celebrates the
victory of the god Devi Durga, the protector of the weak, over the forces of evil. The
people of Nepal visit relatives and friends, and it is coustomary to make a sacrifice of a
live animal to Devi Durga, for the good of the family and its belongings. In the major
cities, the sacrifices are often made for good luck concerning public transportation, the
reasoning being that giving blood to the machines will keep them from taking blood during
the remainder of the year. Generally, poor families will sacrifice a chicken, while the
better off sacrifice a goat. A fantastic spectacle occoured at the Pokhara airport
during the departure of a Royal Nepal Airlines flight to Jomoson. In a twenty minute
ritual led by the local priest, a goat was sacrificed in front of a Twin Otter turboprop
passenger plane. After beheading the goat with a swift machette stroke, the Priest siezed
the goats legs and made his way around the perimeter of the plane, blood from the animal's
neck leaving a trail on the ground. The remainder of the blood was then applied to the
body of the airplane. The blessed plane then rolled to the runway for takeoff.
Not to be left out, members of the Annapurna High expedition had a small goat and well
as two chickens sacrificed for the benefit of the ultralight and the essential motorized
parachutes. The ceremony was accompanied by the flicker of candles and rythmic chanting
***. In preparation, the Priest drew a version of the astral map on the ground, while the
unsuspecting goat enjoyed a breakfeast of mountain grass. After the vehicle and crew
members were suitably blessed, further flights were conducted for the filming of the
documentary film.
For photos click here high-resolution photos for print can be
downloaded here: http://web.quick.cz/AnnapurnaHigh2000/download/fototisk2.zip
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The new
world record was set by Czech Ultralight Expedition on Friday, September 29th, 2000
at 7:40 a.m. local time in the Himalayas, near Pokhara, Nepal. After 12 years of
preparations and experiments, including an unsuccesfull attempt to fly over the highest
peak on Earth - Mount Everest (8,848 meters) in 1993, pilot Jan Bém, leader of the Czech
Ultralight Expedition, succeded in flying over the Annapurna I peak with the ultralight he
modified himself, powered by a special turbocharged engine. The weather was good, there
was a westerly wind 90 km per hour above the peak at 8,400 meters above sea level,
temperature minus 35 degrees Celsius. The peak was reached 45 minutes after takeoff from
Pokhara airport.For photos click here, high-resolution
pictures can be downloaded here: www.volny.cz/avioncz/download/fototisk.zip
A map of the route flown is also available: www.volny.cz/avioncz/download/mapa.gif
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September
25, 2000: Expedition's first flight
On this cool Monday, Jan Bém made the first flight on his Rotax-914 powered
ultralight from the Pokhara airport in Nepal. The freshly assembled craft was transported
to nepal by Aeroflot. The expedition hopes to fly over the peak of Annapurna I, 8,091
meters. Complicated preparations for the historical flight then continued. Jan Bém before the first takeoff
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back to
main page
Written by Patrik Sainer, translation
by Alesh Houdek
Annapurna High 2000 Expedition, e-mail: annapurnahigh@hotmail.com
Web design: (c)2000 Avion, Patrik Sainer, webmaster: patrik@avion.vztlak.cz |
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