No. 354 OCTOBER 2018The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association 2 OCTOBER 2018 THE BHPA LTD 8 Merus Court, Meridian Business Park,Leicester LE19 1RJ. Tel: 0116 289 4316.Skywings magazine is published monthly by the British HangGliding and Paragliding Association Ltd to inform, educate andentertain those in the sports of Paragliding and Hang Gliding.The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily thoseof the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, theirCouncil, Officers or Editor. The Editor and publisher accept noresponsibility for any supposed defects in the goods, servicesand practices represented or advertised in this magazine. TheEditor reserves the right to edit contributions. ISSN 0951-5712SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERY ENQUIRIES Tel: 0116 289 4316, THE EDITOR Joe Schofield, 39 London Road, Harleston, Norfolk IP209BH. Tel: 01379 855021. COVER PHOTO Ozone Zero prototype being tested at ParacasBay near Nazca, Peru Photo: Loren CoxTHIS PAGE Nick Bubb flies Harlech Beach on the west coast ofWales. Photo: Nick BubbDESIGN & PRODUCTION Fargher Design Ltd. Killane House,Ballaugh, Isle of Man, IM7 5BD.PRINT & DISTRIBUTION Newman Thomson Ltd, One Jubilee Rd,Victoria Ind. Est, Burgess Hill, RH15 9TL.ADVERTISING Tel: 020 7193 9133 SKYWINGS ONLINE Go For theOctober issue enter the username Oct_2018 and the case-sensitivepassword C*UZyD#For the November issue enter the username Nov_2018 and thecase-sensitive password #gR38@UDEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for theDecember 2018 issue must be submitted to the Skywings office byFriday November 2nd. Letters for the November Airmail pageshould arrive no later than Wednesday October 17th..Advertisement bookings for the November edition of Skywings mustarrive by Wednesday October 10th. Copy and classified bookings nolater than Wednesday October 17th. regulars regulars reviews features 4 OCTOBER attitude‘Don’t worry; you’re not making the samemistakes! If you keep making the samemistakes then we have a problem.’ Thesewere the wise words spoken to me by myinstructor whilst I was training for myPrivate Pilot’s Licence back in 1995 (heobviously hadn’t noticed a catalogue ofrepetitive mistakes made only momentsearlier!). I regularly recall his words becausethey are so true, so often applicable andthey always make me smile!Learning from our mistakes and going onto improve our skills as pilots is somethingI am sure almost all of us are doing, nomatter how experienced or overflowing innatural talent we may be. Because, at thevery least, we will become slightly betterpilots and it may make us live a littlelonger too!Before learning to paraglide I started out inlight aircraft and I worked in air traffic at abusy airfield for a few years. I alwaysrespected the rules, the system, theweather and my fellow pilots. I saw a lot ofthings during this brief previous life. I triedto learn from others’ experiences as well asmy own, and to not make the samemistakes. I’m still trying to do that now.Paragliding is such a great sport. You turnup and get your kit out, and minutes lateryou can be rocketing up to cloudbase. Idescribe this scenario to so manyuninitiated (and uninterested) peopleevery year, and I do so with suchenthusiasm because it is, of course, noexaggeration of reality. I will inevitably goon to say, to each and every one of thesehapless strangers I corner in the pub, thatyou can fly for hours on end, over a mileup, without an engine, skimming thebottom of the clouds, and then land in afield in the middle of nowhere! This sportis everything I thought it would be:adventure, the stuff of dreams … and it isjust as amazing to me now as it was 12years ago when I first started!When something is this great,unfortunately there is always something tospoil it all. What could it be? The rules?The system? The weather? Before you sayit, it is of course all of these things … butnone of these so much as the only reallyunquantifiable factor: fellow pilots!Who are the pilots I’m referring to? Thosewho obviously don’t learn from their ownmistakes. I have a theory about this groupof pilots. I have met some; they don’t learnfrom their mistakes, either because theydon’t believe they make them, or becausethey don’t care. Can you think of the last time you got itwrong? No? Well then you are definitely inthe first category, so please read on. Forthose that don’t care, I only have this tosay. Why are you reading this? Is itbecause you thought it was about you? Itis! You should read on too.Now I have the attention of, I hope, at leasttwo or three pilots I would like to say this:Many great people have worked very hardto make this sport what it is today, andthere are many that continue to do so. Weowe these people a great debt. We all surelyappreciate everything they have done toenable us to be able to enjoy the sport inthe way that we do.The very least we can do, if we givenothing else back to the sport, is to respectthe rules, the system, and most of all ourfellow pilots so that we can all enjoy thisamazing thing together, in harmony, formany years to come, in the way thesepioneers intended.Next time you think of selfishly ruiningsomeone’s day for your own egomaniacalreasons, next time you keep some low-airtimer on the deck because you wanted todo wingovers on launch, next time youpotentially put yourself on the local newsbecause you wanted to stroke that cliff facewith your wingtip, next time you focusattention on yourself rather than thosearound you … try focusing it on yourmistakes instead and see if you can learnfrom them and make this sport a little bitbetter for the rest of us.Maybe this article is one of my mistakes. Ifit is then I will learn from it, but at least Iwon’t die in the process!freedoms and responsibilities IAN HOBBIS, WESSEX PILOT AND XC ENTHUSIASTPhoto: Al Jamescall: 01404 Turfhouse, Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA. Email: Ollie Chitty almost won the Santa Cruz Flats comp inthe States, coming in second after leading before thelast day. The meet was held in searing temperatures ofup to 45 degrees, and Ollie flew in his cool SMFCspeedarms won at the British Nationals. “I’m so glad Ihad them with me!”. At £29.50 my speedarms areamong the cheapest on the market, yet a lot of the topguys and gals have flown in them. Ollie had his first setway before he was famous!Back here in Devon,the Flying Circus hasbeen trading heavilyin used gliders. I’malways willing to tryto put a dealtogether, and thisgorgeous BGD Base(large EN B) came inas a part-ex againstone of our newSkyman gliders. Isuspect it won’t behere for long…I also did a deal to bring this stunning Calypso toTurfhouse. It is in superb condition, so I’ll fly it beforefinding a new home for it. I love them, and this onerepresents great value for £550! 2018 has been a verystrong year for used intermediates and floaters - I needmore, why not sell me yours?I’ve been selling all sorts of secondhand paragliders,too, but am quite choosy about what I buy in. Thislovely old Firebird Grid (DHV 1-2) came in because theyare still great to fly, but are so light on the pocket thatalmost everyone can afford one. £299!Where WAS Wally?Well, Soperman has turnedup again, but is keeping tight-lipped as to where hewent in September. While he was missing we found abuyer for Jezzer’s £500 Litespeed, so he has beenpromoted to one that is currently listed at £750. Somethings never change, though, and he has been flyinggreat XC’s along our amazing south west coastlines. Adash down the cliffs from Ringstead to WorthMatravers took him past several Dorset tourist traps.He says the glider is fantastic, and must be worth atleast a grand! I’ve also acquired somevery tasty usedparagliding harnesses.This Airwave GT comescomplete with a Firebirdreserve for only £299, andis nominally a medium,but I reckon it is on thesmall side. Come and tryit for size, because it isvery Another recent arrivalwas this SwingConnect. Airbagharnesses never lookgood until they areflying and properlyinflated, but this one isreversible, too, sodeserves considerationas a compact and lightharness for the recreational pilot. I fly the Skymanequivalent because they make sense to me.It’s not just the bigger items that I stock - I reckon tokeep most things that every pilot needs. Karabiners, forinstance - I probably have the UK’s largest stocks ofQuickouts, Tropos, Snaplock, Pinlock and Powerfly Krbsfrom Charly and Austrialpin. If you need something,check out my website Desert Storm!For 2018 I am stocking Charly, Apco and Independencereserves, so as to give my retail and trade customers themaximum choice.These brands have sold tens of thousands of reserves,and have many hundreds of successful deployments totheir credit. When all is said and done, that is what counts! My own deployment was beneath a Charly Revolution, andI regard that reserve as having saved my life - it wasprobably my best ever investment. Read the full accounton my website, or just ask me about Charly Second Chance from £399 Charly Revolution, from £480.Apco Mayday HG from £415Charly Clou2 from £490 Independence Annular Evo,from £545The NEW CharlyDiamond Cross,from £670Reserves6 OCTOBER newsIn August a Wiltshire paramotor pilot wasfined £600 and ordered to pay court costsof £400 and a victim surcharge of £60 forflying low over Stonehenge and a nearbycampsite. TImothy Dunham, 26, of nearbyMere, was prosecuted by the CAA on twocharges of contravening the Rules of theAir, specifically the 500ft rule andinfringing the Larkhill Danger Area whichcovers the site. The Court heard that therewere 176 visitors at the site when Dunham’sUnion Flag canopy circled the ancientmonument two or three times, gettinglower each time. He was apprehended byPolice in a nearby field. Dunham describedhimself as an experienced paramotor pilot,but also told the Court, ‘I was not aware Iwas doing anything in infringement of thelaw on the day … if I’d known what I wasdoing was wrong I wouldn’t have done it.’Some cognitive dissonance there we think.Flight of theSwanspresentationSacha Dench’s 2015 Flight of the Swansodyssey sparked a chain reaction of publicawareness, community action, politicalpledges and research collaborations, allinspired by the plight of the Bewick’s Swan.Several hundred print, online andbroadcast articles have appeared, not leastin the Russian media (who the team hadbeen warned would not be interested!).Interest continues even now with Sachaappearing on prime-time chat shows onthe BBC and in Europe. Although physicallyout of action, recovering from extensivesurgery following her injury during the trip,Sacha has contributed to a Flight of theSwans documentary to be broadcast by theBBC very soon. In recognition of the helpgiven to her team by the BHPA and anumber of British and foreign paramotorexperts, Sacha has offered to give a talkabout the expedition to interested partiesincluding BHPA clubs. If you are interestedin this offer contactHang gliding - 55 years!The 55th anniversary of the firstsuccessful flight of the modern hang gliderwas celebrated on September 8th atGrafton, New South Wales. An FAI HangGliding and Paragliding Diploma waspresented to Pat Crowe, driver of the boatthat first towed John Dickenson’sremarkable design aloft back in 1963. AtGrafton’s old water-ski club, scene of theoriginal flight, a small group of pilots flewvintage gliders including an originalDickenson Ski-Plane. John Dickensonhimself was scheduled to appear asspecial guest.Media photographs of the first successfulflight circulated in October 1963. With John’sSki-Plane the leading edges, keel, cross-boomand triangular A-frame in aluminium tube,the control by means of weight shift via apendular harness, and the ability to befolded down and transported on top of a car,all came together to form the template fromwhich pretty much all subsequent hanggliders are descended. John Dickenson wasawarded the FAI Gold Medal in 2012; he hadbeen awarded an FAI Diploma in 2007 andthe same honour was conferred on the Ski-Plane’s inaugural pilot Rod Fuller in 2012.Stonehengeparamotor pilotfinedAlard Hufner wins Icarus Trophy In late July top South African mountainclimber Alard Hufner won the IcarusTrophy – world’s longest distanceparamotor race – beating 26 othercontestants over a 1000-mile route. The racestarted just north of Johannesburg on the25th and finished three days later nearVictoria Falls in Zimbabwe. Pilots battledmountain ranges and fierce weathersystems to complete the course; tocelebrate all contestants reaching the finishin one piece the pilots were invited to makea historic fly-by of the spectacular Falls.The organisers also run a series of shortertwo-day races, known as the X-series, in theUS, Australia, the UK and South Africa, thislast also having been won by Alard back inMarch. Next year the Icarus Trophy willhead to Brazil; to get involved contact theorganisers Awe-inspiring footage of the 2018 Trophy is atemail call (spain) 0034 651736718 or (UK) 0208 144 2087Nepal & Colombia 2019Book two weeks with our team of experts in Nepal orColombia next winter. Early bird offer £50 off!Guided XC HolidaysOver 14 years experience. Southern Spains most popularthermal and XC winter destination.CP Plus HolidaysGeared ultimately for the new and rusty pilots out there.SIV & PilotageFly Spain believe your paragliding skills shouldn’t stop at CP level.Llorens is AcroWorld TourChampionSwitzerland Spain’s Horacio Llorens wascrowned Acro World Tour Champion at the2018 Sonchaux Acro Show in August. Thetop 14 pilots from the qualifying events,plus two wild-card entrants, performedabove an audience of nearly 30,000 people.A final battle on the day saw Horacio justget the better of Brazilian runner-upRafael Goberna, who finished third in theseries behind France’s Theo de Blic. Ninenations from Europe and Latin Americawere represented. Britain’s Jack Pimblettwas 7th equal at the final and 10th overallin the series; best woman was France’sClaire Mercuriot from who took the 18thplace overall.RAeC TrustbursariesThe Royal Aero Club Trust has announcedthe start of the 2019 bursary awardsscheme for young persons. The Trustawarded 50 bursaries in 2017 and 48 thisyear. Young people from paragliding, hanggliding and paramotoring, as well as thosefrom gliding, ballooning, parachuting, lightaircraft and microlight flying, and modelaircraft fliers, can benefit from bursaryfunds of up to £1,000 to develop theirproficiency. Applicants need to be agedbetween 14 and 21, or up to 24 for follow-onbursaries. Full details of the rules of thescheme and application forms can be foundat Applicationsmust be submitted through a sponsoringorganisation (eg the BHPA)‘Magic Line’ recordOn August 12th Nova Team pilot RinaldoVuerich flew a new site record from MonteCucco in Central Italy. Launching on hisSector C at noon, he flew 171.69km in justover six hours, averaging 27.93km/h. Hisflight was made possible by the spectacularconvergence that frequently sets up overthe main ridge of the Apennines, known tosome pilots as the Magic Line.APPG-GA visits theUSThe All-Party Parliamentary Group onGeneral Aviation, our new friends in theHouse of Commons, recently returned fromWashington, DC. They discussed GAdifficulties with US aviation bodies,comparing the current US and UKlegislative environments and the economicbenefits of GA. The group also visited EAAAirVenture – the world’s largest GA fly-inand show, formerly known as plain‘Oshkosh’ – to learn how the thriving USgrassroots sector compares to its UKcounterpart. Finally the group visited AOPArepresentatives to discuss ways ofengaging more young people in aviation,and GA in particular.Banish the thought that these guys andgals were off to Oshkosh on a jolly. Theyare on our side and wield a certainamount of political clout. If they havereceived insights from seeing how theFAA/EAA/AOPA run things over there it’s allto the good. Spokesperson Sheryll MurrayMP reported, ‘It’s clear from meetings weheld that there is much more the DfT andthe CAA can be doing to promote theimportance of General Aviation and thehigh-tech jobs and skills it brings. [My]colleagues will be coming forward withlegislative proposals to get more youngpeople, and particularly young women,involved in grassroots aviation jobs.’BHPA AGMAs reported last month, the BHPA’s 2019Annual General Meeting will take place onSaturday March 2nd at the NottinghamBelfry Hotel, alongside the BGA AGM andshow. The meeting will include elections forthe Association’s Executive Committee. AnyBHPA member considering seekingnomination for election should contactChairman Marc Asquith or another Execmember to find out what’s involved, andcontact the Office for the appropriate form.Completed nominations should arrive at theBHPA Office no later than Friday November30th. The current BHPA Exec will report ontheir activities at the AGM and memberswill be able to cross-examine them on theirachievements. Topics for discussion at themembers’ forum, held directly after theAGM itself, should be notified to the BHPAChairman by February 1st. Voting papersand details of candidates, and the BHPATreasurer’s Report, will appear in theJanuary issue of Skywings.Meanwhile, nominations are sought forBHPA Awards of Merit, acknowledging amember’s conspicuous service to a club orclubs, competitions or free flying in general.If someone you fly or work with has puttheir very best efforts into the sport over anumber of years, please consider writing acitation to arrive at the BHPA Office byDecember 31st. Recent recipients include LeeBligh (Cloudbase Paragliding), Richard Hunt(Tracker App), Kathleen Rigg (hang glidingexcellence), Donald MacKenzie (aerotowdeveloper) and noted instructors PaulAllmark and Alan Robertson. Certificateswill be presented at the 2019 AGM or othersuitable occasion. The Nottingham Belfry isclose to Junction 26 of the M1.Changes at NovaWolfi Lechner, joint founder, with HannesPapesh, of Nova in 1989, is standing downfrom his position as Managing Director ofthe company. Wolfi will remain with thecompany and responsible for the Austrianend of the business. Nova’s new MD will beElisabeth ‘Sissi’ Eisl, probably the firstwoman to hold such a position in aparagliding company. A 33-year-old Austrianmedia sciences graduate and anenthusiastic competition pilot, Sissi hasbeen working with NOVA since 2017. ‘I’ll be60 in January and it’s time to take things alittle easier,’ commented Wolfi. ‘I sat downwith the Nova shareholders and we allagreed that Sissi would be right for the job.’Of her new appointment Sissi said, ‘I won’trule with an iron fist. Generally that doesn’twork, and at Nova that’s doubly true! I seemy role primarily as coordinating,structuring and uniting with Nova’s top-level management team and chief designerPipo Medicus.’ news8 OCTOBER OCTOBER 2018 9BHPA website map locationsThe BHPA website attempts to accurately represent thegeographical location of a BHPA club or school based on latand long coordinates supplied by them and held in the officedatabase. If this data is not supplied, the first part of thepostcode of the correspondence address is used instead. Insome cases these locations are different to the actualoperating base of the club or school. Furthermore, the firstpart of a postcode covers a wide area and could in somecircumstances be shared by an adjacent club or school. Theresultant location on the map may not be very accurate andcan occasionally be misleading.To locate your school or club’s marker more accurately, please e-mail the Office with the relevant latitude and longitude indecimal format, or enter them on your next membership renewalnotice in the space provided on the form. Lat and long should beentered using up to six decimal places, which can be read off anycorrectly set-up GPS device. Schools in particular should note that issues may result frominaccurately entered lat/long data and potential clients may beunable to precisely locate your school training area. The BHPAOffice cannot be held responsible for such errors. We advise thatschools and clubs check their location on the website map andconfirm that this is adequate for their purposes. For moreinformation contact Stephanie Blankley at Wendy Windblows - the endIn August, with great reluctance, Rod Buck wound up the WendyWindblows operation. Diminishing returns, health problems andthe rise in other sources of weather data have all played theirpart. The first Wendy station went up at Bradwell over 30 yearsago; since then Rod’s innovative data network has coveredmany of our prime flying sites and saved thousands of usneedless driving and wasted trips. Once a cutting-edge system,the march of progress has largely eclipsed our need for Wendy.Nevertheless, hats off to Rod for inventing, improving,maintaining and subsidising the system over the years. Theman and the machines are both truly unique! See Rod’s letteron p33 of this issue.Dual pilot training in MoroccoSunsoar Paragliding will be returning to Mirleft in Morocco fromDecember 8th - 19th for winter sunshine and relaxed coastalsoaring. The trip is suitable for all levels of pilot; it’s almost fullalready but a few places are still available for anyone with therequired experience (Pilot +100 hours minimum) who would liketo carry out Dual Pilot training leading to assessment by a BHPAexaminer. Flights to Agadir are reasonably priced at this time ofyear and there will be no additional charge for the tandemtraining. Full details can be found at Cotswold discountBack in late 2013 the BHPA engaged in discussions withCotswold Outdoor, a chain of outdoor clothing and equipmentshops, over a possible discount for BHPA members. Draft flyersand a discount code were produced; it was intended to run for ayear as a trial. Sadly, a lack of budget and general confusionlead the proposed deal to die a death. Recently one of ournumber discovered that the 15% discount for BHPA members isstill active upon production of a BHPA membership card instore. There is also an online discount code: AF-BHPA-L9. Howlong this will remain active is unknown. We can only thankCotswold Outdoor for their ongoing generosity.Next >