Jürgen, maybe you could tell us why you took up flying as a hobby.

I’ve always dreamt of being able to fly and my biggest career wish was to become a pilot. However, my eyesight was not good enough to meet the strict require­ments. So instead, I became an elec­tri­cian and worked for KOCH in the USA for about three years. I had been toying with the idea of flying for some time and flight training is much cheaper in the USA. So one day I went to a small airfield to find out more. Less than half an hour later, a flight instructor sat me down in an airplane. On landing again, I imme­di­ately signed the contract to train as a motor­ized pilot.

How many hours does such a flight training course take and were you able to transfer your license to Germany? 

First of all, you need to pass a phys­ical exam conducted by an avia­tion medical exam­iner. As there are usually other passen­gers in a motor­ized aircraft, it’s vital that you’re fit to fly. That’s why there is also an annual follow-up exam­i­na­tion. But now to the training: The dura­tion of the course varies greatly. For me, it involved about 50 flying hours and around 120 take-offs and land­ings. My pilot’s license is valid for a maximum take-off weight of five tons and for visual flight. So not for instru­mental flight and not for flying through clouds.

Pilot training in Germany consists of nine subjects. I had to do three of these again, as well as a few flying lessons with a flight instructor, so that my pilot’s license could be trans­ferred. And, in Germany, you also need radiotele­phony training and a back­ground check.

The biggest chal­lenge is taking off and landing.  You gener­ally need a certain routine and regular prac­tice in flying, other­wise you start to feel inse­cure and that takes the fun out of it.

Jürgen Welker, Director Automa­tion and Tech­nology at KOCH Pac-Systeme

And how did you get into gliding?

After our chil­dren were born, I put flying on the back burner. However, when my son started his glider pilot training at the age of 14, I joined him, because I had always been inter­ested in gliding. The only problem was that I had to re-learn all nine theory sections. I’ve been flying both gliders and powered aircraft since 2018.

Do you have your own plane, or can you rent one? 

Yes, I do have my own glider plane – a one-seat glider – but not a motor plane. And yes, I can rent one because the Nagold flying club owns two motor­ized planes, and, as a club member, I can use them for a fee.

What is the biggest chal­lenge in flying and what fasci­nates you most about it?

The biggest chal­lenge is taking off and landing.  You gener­ally need a certain routine and regular prac­tice in flying, other­wise you start to feel inse­cure and that takes the fun out of it. And it’s impor­tant to respect the dangers involved, espe­cially when encoun­tering cross­winds. In the USA, the greatest chal­lenge was radio contact, depending on the dialect.

But what fasci­nates me most is the freedom it gives you. The freedom to be completely detached and inde­pen­dent, as well as the thrill of being able to fly anywhere you want to go. With motor­ized flying, this is paired with the inde­pen­dence provided by the engine, and with gliding, the appeal stems from the chal­lenge involved and the atten­tive­ness needed to remain airborne.

So how much time do you spend flying?

In summer, I fly around two to three times a month. With motor­ized flying, you also need to complete twelve flight hours within a period of two years, which gives you routine prac­tice and makes for safer flying, as I described earlier. When I fly here in the Black Forest or in the Alps, I usually fly for between one and two hours at speeds of up p to 200 km/h in a powered plane. With a glider, however, it can be between four and six hours trav­eling at 100 to 150 km/h.

Which flight expe­ri­ence do you remember to this day?

The most memo­rable expe­ri­ence was my first solo flight, completely on my own without an instructor. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such an adren­a­line rush. It’s some­thing very special, and closely followed by the time I flew into the sunrise over the Swabian Alb (see photo gallery).