THE STORY

I have been a full-time pilot for Lufthansa CityLine for 25 years and have been a glider pilot since I was 14. In 2021 I founded my company XCNAV UG, under which I offer navigation systems for glider pilots.

 

How did I come up with the idea?

The first public presentation of my idea took place at the German Glider Day in Karlsruhe. It was noticed how important it is for glider pilots to touch, see and understand the products that they know from magazines, the Internet or from hearsay! Unfortunately, our sport hardly offers the opportunity to simply try out and try on products in the sports market in everyday life! However, larger events were too expensive and important exhibitors were usually not represented. There was great demand for our own trade fair on thermal flying and I decided to pursue the idea further.

 

What happened next?

After weighing up all the criteria, I decided on the Karlsruhe Trade Fair, which has optimal transport connections and is also within walking distance of a glider flight site! Thanks to 4 halls each 12500m² there is more than enough space for future development. The interest survey from over 100 manufacturers via invitation, a website and hours of phone calls showed overwhelming feedback! I was particularly pleased about Klaus Ohlmann's acceptance as patron and driving force for our idea. With the promise of the German Glider Day as part of our first trade fair in 2024, we are very optimistic that we will be able to grow this event internationally and in the long term.

 

What is still open?

We have a few ideas to give our trade fair a certain event character, not least to arouse outside interest in our sport and to get young people interested in it! There are currently many ideas that need to be sorted and checked for feasibility over the next few months. We are also always open to input. Since we see a large overlap and overlap of interests with paragliders and hang gliders, we contacted the DSV, also the DHV and the organizer of the "Thermik" paragliding fair a few weeks ago with the aim of a joint event. We now, together with the manufacturers, really have the opportunity to create something big, the reach of which can leave the German borders behind. As the project name suggests: InterGlide!