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Dear friends from the NPT,

Those who attended the ‘10 Years Anniversary Team Meeting’ on Penken will probably agree: It was an unbelievable event! On the one side, there was and is the pleasure of having created a team that is highly successful as well as a family of real friends. On the other side, there was the loss of Steve Nash who was not only a role model for a team pilot but also a very close friend of many of us. So this blog post is more than just a wrap-up of the team meeting. It has a very personal side.

 From NOVA’s side I would like to thank all the team pilots for attending. Even though flying was poor (except Friday), I think and hope it was still worth coming. It was also great to meet the friends from Switzerland and France as well as the folks from the factory in Hungary. Simba travelled from Chile, Max from Canada, Kay from the US, Vago from Greece – what a commitment!

I would also like to thank all team pilots for their contribution to joint presents: The ”10 Years NOVA Pilots Team” magazine with 56 pages (revealing the “whole story” – including some internal secrets), the personalised coffee mugs and the deck chairs for the staff in Terfens and in Pécs (Hungary). Special thanks goes to those who helped making the magazine: Werner Luidolt, Grazia Maria Crippa, Christian Lobensommer, Micha Pohl, Judith Mole, Hannes Kronnberger, Cornelia Voigt, Christian Pichler (and his Marketing assistant), Kerim Jaspersen, Carmen Grissemann-Lechner, and Dan Crosby. Thanks also to those whose texts and photos were used in the magazine: Adrian Lutz, Mario Eder, Robert Schaller, Berni Pessl, Joe Edlinger.

As the team Captain and on behalf of all team pilots, I would like to thank NOVA again for making the team happen. We hope you enjoyed our surprises and nobody is angry because of the jokes in the “10 Years NOVA Pilots Team Magazine”.

 

Personally, I would like to thank all of you: Thanks for all the presents. I will wear my Captain’s jacket and the beanie with pride when flying my PHANTOM. Wolfi, Christian and Pipo in particular: You were so unbelievably generous with your present, I was lacking the appropriate words to express my feelings. Overall, I am happy and proud to be the Captain of the best team in the world. Thank you!

 

And then there is the dark side of life… I think the meeting was an emotional roller coaster for all of us. Here all the partying, the success, the spirit and the fun. There the loss of Steve, the „perfect team pilot“. When we heard about his death, the first thing that popped into Wolfi’s and my mind was: let’s cancel the team meeting. But I am sure that wouldn’t have been Steve’s will at all.

With his open-minded attitude, his love for travelling and two X-Alps participations, Steve was probably the team pilot with the highest number of personal and close friendships within the NPT.

He and his wife Shirley were also very close friends of my wife Nicole and me. Actually, I am surrounded by things that make me think of Steve – my running shoes, the almost faded print on my “Paragliding-in-Wales-coffee-mug”, my plum jam, the sign on the toilet to sit down when peeing, just to name a few. I am still completely speechless and full of the deepest sorrow about this tragedy. And I know I am not the only one.

I think, we managed reasonably to ride this emotional roller coaster. And I wish that Shirley could take home some strength from the meeting and from all the hugs and the – hopefully encouraging – conversations with Steve’s friends. She showed unbelievable strength when accepting NOVA’s invitation to the team meeting and it was nice to hear that she said it was the right decision to come.

I sincerely hope that 20 Years NPT will be full of sunshine again, but I hope with less shadow.

Till

 

 

 

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