FIRST PILOTS

     Firs pilot in Cerkno valey who tried with free flying was Vilko Peternelj, born 1885.

    He's entered in 1910 to a pilot school from aircraft industry Rumpler in Berlin (from other informations he started school for pilot year 1912).With school he acquire pilot permission.

    In winter 1911/12 Peternelj made his firs motorless plane, which he worked out in many stages, when he returned home from abroad. He has in mind some cind of one-wing plane, span around 6m and some longer fuselage in wich was betwen wings seat for pilot. With horse drought on sleigh they convey plain on hil Lajše above Cerkno right on the top, because there was on his meaning suitable ground: at first steep slope for inrun, then gently slope for landing.

    Peternelj has forecasted day and hour, when he had intend  flown  above cerkno, and in this time all inhabitants from Cerkno was staring in the sky, but they never saw the flight. Plain was fixed on the ski, that should slung down the snow. First impetus they gave it with rope. Propably fault was in to short span of wings- surface capacity. Surface  capacity was around 5m²  , soo the flight was unsuccessfuly. After many trial the plain flown up from snowbound slope. The plane has fell many meters down above the hill but Vilko couldn't managed the plane and landing was in the bushes. Vilko was not demaged, the rest of the plane he leaved the childrens to complete the airwreck.

    Later Vilko was very good pilot and he collaborated in many fights in firs world war. He was the first pilot who has flow from Ljubljana to capital town SHS, Beograd. Year of 1918, when the big Austria decayed, he become pilot of  importance flying group Ljubljanska letalska stotnija, which collaborate with general Maister. Newspaper articles reports, that at 29.9.1919 he has flown with general Rudolf Maister from Dobrla vas to Velikovec, Borovlje, Loče and back to Dobrla vas.

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    Around 1975 Jože Štucin, Koder Brane and Jeram Branko were starting to fly with hang-gliding, which they built them selfe. Tubes were aluminium, linen was from sailing boath.We can imagine how brave they should were, that they dare to flow with that cind of hang-glide. Hang-glide has minimum finess (around 3) and when they started from Porezen they had high only for two circles above Cerkno. Branko Jeram narationns, that the theory they learned from books and they knew it good. They had a lot of literature abouth meteorology.

    Later 1987 Jože Štucin and his son Matjaž had tried flying with paraglide.In that year they had gone to Switzerland  on world championship, wher they didn't compete.

    Matjaž Štucin is still very active paraglider.

The picture shows first hang-glide wich they made it them selfe.

    After couple years of flying they all stopped flying from diferent reasons.Jeram Branko has started last year again with flying, but now with paraglide wich he both in the storm :-).

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    In year of 1991 our president Ivan Lahajnar has siriously started with flying. Imidietly next year, this sport attract Kosmač Danilo, Ivan Laharnar, Štucin Lucijan and brothers Mavri-Ivan, Hine, Danilo and Silvo.

    We have had course in  Žabče near village Bukovo , Ivan has learned somewhere in Bled. Our instructor was Aleš Mišič.

    Any one who has started with flying know, how the course was look like.We were hurry on the first flight, and further schooling was not in habit. If we were talking abouth theory and dangerous which we must expect in the air we were on totaly null. Witness that this is true is one director from factory ETA who said to Ivan Lahajnar, that he is seriously thinking abouth buing back all our paraglides (almost all were employed in this factory in that time), because every week one of us had broken  bones. But round years we acquisitioned expiriences and now every one of us can comment it , wich are in this years of flying very rich. Accidents now are on minimum, maybe sometimes dislocation, but any harder accident we didn't have for a long time.

    I can tell that all eight pilots who started in this time with flying, are still active pilots .

    From time to time we tied someone on the rope. We have to fly on this way if the wind was to strong :-) .But we had soon seen that this is not good for paraglide, because in this case on the picture we scraped two ropes on paraglide, the wind was realy strong.

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