The Gliding Club "Pokweni Soaring Namibia" is situated about 140
km Southeast of Windhoek. Pokweni is a sheepfarm on the edge of the Kalahari
Desert. Excellent thermals in this area make it a renowned Gliding Area within
Namibia and worldwide. Flights of several hours and a few 100 km of distance
can be easily achieved in summer. Records of over 1000 km (FAI Triangle)
can be flown with ease. Flying levels of 4000 meter above ground can be reached.
The average cloudbase during the summer months lies at around 3000 meter
above ground.
On
a regular basis, the club members meet on the Farm Pokweni for gliding or maintenance
work. When the day comes to an end the members gather around the fire and start
to prepare food. Everybody brings and shares his food. General topics of discussion
range from future developments of the club to jokes, whereby jokes make up
the bigger part of the conversations.
In
the months from November to January the weather conditions are optimal for
flying great distances. Glider pilots from all over the world come to meet
at Pokweni with their Gliders to experience the phenomenal weather conditions.
Dust Devils also commonly known as "Dusties" are a useful aid in
finding strong thermals. These Dusties can become dangerous to unattended
Gliders as these can easily flipped over and be destroyed. For this reason
it is necessary to secure the glider properly when leaving unattended.
Relics
from forgotten times can be found on Pokweni. Not far from the hangar, an
old clay pot from the Bushman era still lies untouched on a dune. The Bushmen
most probably never thought about using this area of the Kalahari Desert
as a Gliding Area.
Nature lovers will find peace and relaxation at Pokweni. Some people tend
to come to Pokweni just for the beautiful nature and to wander around on
the dunes to relax from the day to day stress situations in business life.
It can happen that one can be caught in an unexpected sandstorm. These storms
normally indicate a closing-in rain front. In such situations one should
not panic. These storms normally last only for about 20 minutes.
Information ICAO Designator: FYPO |
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Contact: Jos van der Merwe Felix Kuchling Erik Lund (Webmaster) |
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