No. 421 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association2 SKYWINGS MAY 2024 attitude My destination was Liddington Castle, a north-westerly ridge near Swindon. On arrival I couldn’t help but notice that there was nobody on the hill. The wind direction was fine but it was very, very light. Undeterred, I selected my lightweight Pi and set off for the top, stopping for a moment to watch a red kite soaring above the hill fort. Unfortunately he was scratching the slope, and on the westerly section of the hill. At least the sun was breaking through the gloom, and I remained positive. At the summit, the wet grass and the 2-4 mph wind did not inspire me to lay out my wing. Mr Kite had flapped over onto the fence-ringed fort. After eating a banana and looking at my options, the idea of a top-to-bottom sprang to mind. A chance to practice my forward launch and fly down in my lightweight harness. I love the simple Gin Yeti harness/Pi combination. My Pi 1 is a great, featherlight hike-and-fly wing. It’s a 23, but with an amazing flying weight range from 65 to 115 kilos! With trim tabs on the risers it can be speeded up or slowed down. At the light end it’s classified as a B wing, but get really heavy on it and you’re riding a C-rated speed wing! With lightweight clothing, helmet and no instruments I weigh in at 65-70 kilos all-up. I’m still waiting for a heavy pilot willing to give it some airtime! At the bottom a car pulled up and parked. Could this be another optimistic pilot? But no. Two young guys and their girlfriends walked over to say hello. ‘Are you going back to the top to fly again?’ said one, a confident lad. ‘I could be,’ I replied. ‘How old are you? Would you like me to carry up your paraglider?’ ‘Thank you, yes. But I’m only 56, even though I look about 76,’ I chuckled. The five of us walked slowly to the top of the 250ft hill, one carrying my harness, one my hemet, one taking my bunched-up wing and one with a large bottle of an unknown liquid! I had nothing to carry up, other than my old ‘worn out’ body. As I laid out my wing, clipped in, donned my skid lid and checked myself ready for flight, a question drifted across to me in the feather-light wind: ‘All right to film you, Mike?’ ‘Sure, Sam. That’s fine.’ I enjoyed the short descent. Then, with the wing folded up, I put it back in my car. My four new friends made it back down in record time, and thanked me profusely. Time to go home maybe? As my new friends drove off, I looked up the hill … and there he was again. My feathered friend was soaring, with consummate ease, in the company of three other red kites. What else could I do, but hoof it back to the top again. I enjoyed half an hour of blissful soaring with four kites. Obviously I couldn’t match their aerial grace and expertise, but I had a wonderful, unexpected flight. [February 24th 2024] For the benefit of Mr Kite MIKE HIBBIT, LONGTIME HANG GLIDER AND PARAGLIDER PILOT As I set off from home at 2pm on a winter’s day there was a slight drizzle that seemed reluctant to stop. Then, as I turned onto the M4 westbound at Junction 11, I noticed that the wind turbine there was hardly moving. Not a good start to an afternoon’s flying! In the back of my car were two wings: my small Advance Pi 23, and a medium Axis Venus 4, on permanent loan from Daniel Games, my good buddy from London.4 SKYWINGS MAY 2024 regulars reviews features THE BHPA LTD 8 Merus Court, Meridian Business Park, Leicester LE19 1RJ. Tel: 0116 289 4316. SKYWINGS MAGAZINE is published monthly by the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Ltd to inform, educate and entertain those in the sports of Paragliding and Hang Gliding. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, their Council, Officers or Editor. The Editor and publisher accept no responsibility for any supposed defects in the goods, services and practices represented or advertised in this magazine. The Editor reserves the right to edit contributions. ISSN 0951-5712 SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERY ENQUIRIES Tel: 0116 289 4316, THE EDITOR Joe Schofield, 39 London Road, Harleston, Norfolk IP20 9BH. Tel: 01379 855021. COVER PHOTO Andy Scott and Litespeed RX over Meduno, on the edge of the Italian Dolomites Photo: Andy Scott THIS PAGE Tandem hang gliding work over Sywell Photo: Ollie Chitty MAY 2024 SKYWINGS 5 DESIGN & 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: 07624 413737 SKYWINGS ONLINE All issues of Skywings magazine are now freely available DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the July issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Friday May 31st. Letters for the June Airmail pages should arrive no later than Friday May 17th. Advertisement bookings for the June edition must arrive by Saturday May 11th. Copy and classified bookings no later than the following Saturday May 18th.6 SKYWINGS MAY 2024 The poor spring weather finally turned good on March 30th, when no fewer than 14 100km + paraglider flights were recorded in the UK XC League. Ludek Munzar of Grupa 303 top-scored with 134.9km from Milk Hill, landing just short of Wolverhampton. Milk Hill was the the launch point for half of the 100km+ flights including 104km from Kirsty Cameron. Further north, Derbyshire’s Eyam Edge proved a good springboard for several pilots. Still further north, Pete Southern got away from Wind Bank to end up on the coast at South Shields for 118km, and Alistair Guthrie landed only 10km short of the coast, east of Sunderland. In all, 68 pilots amassed nearly 4,000 points in the XC league on the same day, Wessex’s Gary Puhl making no less than three attempts on the south coast. Respect to all concerned; let’s hope the near-record day signals the start of a bumper year. On the same date the hangies hadn’t really got going yet. Or maybe they aren’t so keen to log their flights the minute they land … [Photo: Andy Brown] GBAR just gets better! When you read this there are probably only 15 days to go to the start of the 3rd Great British Aerotow Revival in Northamptonshire on May 25th. There will now be four tow groups attending (CAC, MAC, MATG and Upottery) with five tugs, including two Foxtugs, to get pilots into the sky. ‘Super Organizer’ Lorna Hawkins is keeping everything on track and has arranged on-site catering for breakfast, packed lunches and evening meals with the Village Kitchen. At the end of the day, beverage in hand from the on-site bar, you can regale fellow pilots with tales of your epic flying! The Suffolk club, who last year were able to get pilots aloft when it was too windy to aerotow, will again be bringing their winch. And Green Dragons will be relocating to Deenethorpe for the week (May 25th-June 1st) to run a Midlands-based BHPA tow school. If you, or someone you know, wants to learn hang gliding, contact Green Dragons directly. A tug has been operating at the site throughout April for refresher training – check the GBAR Telegram group for opportunities to fly. It’s GBAR’s team of volunteers that enable the event to run smoothly and safely. If you can help, let Lorna know. The organisation will provide lunch and, subject to weather and resources, help with training, aerotow conversion or a tandem flight. Finally, there are still a handful of competition places open. Don’t miss out on the fun, the chance to rub shoulders with some of the great and good in British hang gliding, or the chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Register at (tent £5, van £10 per night); to secure a pitch, message Lorna at number of nights required (payment in full on arrival). Parafest final call 75% of tickets for the Parafest flying festival have been sold as we go to press. These will not be available on the gate; if you’re thinking of attending, go runs at Caerwys, North Wales from June 13th-16th. In short: four nights onsite, three days of flying, close to the coast and the hills, and two days of live music and comedy – the festival you can fly at! Plus, of course, food and drink. An extensive trade fair will include manufacturers, suppliers, schools and guided holiday providers: Ace Aviation, Air Conception, Airways Airsports, BGD with demon wings, Cameron Paramotors, Evolution flying school, Flyabilty, Flylight, Foot Flight flying school, Ginger Nomad, Green Dragons, Microlite Aviation, Miniplane, Northern Skies paramotor school, Ozone, Paramotor Stuff, Paradigma Club flying school (Ukrainian), Parapente Tropical (Andalusia accommodation), South Coast Airsports, Parajet, and Fly France (guided holidays, accommodation, motorbikes, etc). Also the BHPA, and the BVHGR’s vintage hang gliders. It’s the only UK exhibition for all deregulated aviation. BHPA members who haven’t got around to adding Power to their membership can do so during the weekend. Professional headline acts, dog-friendly, kids go free. What’s not to like? More info also at Nova Safety Pilot Coaching at Lake Garda Nova team pilot and instructor Heli Schrempf is offering an exclusive training week at Italy’s Lake Garda in June, using either a pilot’s own Nova wing or a pre-booked demo glider. Over many years Heli has evolved classic SIV into Safety Pilot Coaching, in which the pilot becomes the focus of every flight manoeuvre. Heli (pictured) specialises in Codex and Xenon two-liners, but all Nova pilots are welcome. ‘The training offers the perfect BHPA 500 Club WIN CASH PRIZES AND HELP THE ASSOCIATION! March winners: David Wicks £130.60 Andrew Jackson £65.30 Gordon Hutchins £32.65 Nick Malone £19.59 John Taylor £16.33 Rob Schwab £16.33 Hugh Hutchinson £13.06 Michael Dixon £13.06 Brian Parkins £9.80 Adam Sullivan £9.80 BHPA £326.48 Winners will note that payments of the above sums have been made to the account from which they contribute to the 500 Club by standing order. In case of error, please contact Marc Asquith on 07802 525099. news 14 x 100km in March! preparation for switching to a Nova wing or stepping up to a higher class,’ they say. Included on the course will be Insider evenings, with designer Philipp Medicus and project manager Florina Eller offering tips and answering questions in a small group setting. The dates are June 18th-23rd. To secure a place register ASAP at concept at Hang glider border hassle? A BHPA member reported difficulties at French customs in February, when entering the EU with a hang glider on the roof of their car. The border guard was adamant that some kind of new paperwork has been required since the beginning of 2024. Normally a hang glider would be regarded as personal sports equipment, and the temporary export and subsequent re-import of the glider (for example having visited the EU for a competition) is declared ‘by conduct’, where the act of crossing the border counts as your declaration. You should not need to fill out any forms. In the reported case the difficulty was laid aside due to the build-up of a huge queue. Nevertheless it is unclear whether new rules regarding import/re-export (‘temporary export’) are in place. If confirmed, it might cause difficulties for British hang glider pilots heading to competitions in the Alps. We ask all hang glider pilots travelling to the EU to be careful (and polite!) when crossing borders with a glider. Please report details of any difficulties to the BHPA Chairman. There doesn’t seem to be any issue with paragliders, as these appear to be ‘just a rucksack’. Outdoors for All The BHPA recently joined forces with a consortium of 42 organisations representing UK outdoor enthusiasts, the idea being that a collective membership of around four million should carry some weight in national politics. The generic agenda of Outdoors for All is to encourage access to nature and propose new legislation to facilitate this. A Westminster launch event in March was attended by several prominent MPs, and by BHPA Sites Officer Martin Baxter. The Association would like to see acknowledgement that our sport is unfairly treated under the terms of the CRoW Act (2000). Despite the positive aspects of the recreational sports learning to speak with one voice, Martin feels that our specific concerns may be obscured by the ‘wider participation’ mantra of the bulk of signatories. ‘However,’ he says, ‘we at least have a seat at the table where we can push our own agenda.’ The CAA is working hard on making this happen in the UK, and EASA is doing the same in Europe. Both are intending to use Electronic Conspicuity (EC) to facilitate safe operation. The CAA has not published standards for the UK yet but the process is ongoing, with representation being made by the leisure aviation industry. The future policy is for ADS-B on 1090MHz to be deployed for the use of crewed aircraft, and the Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) on 978MHz to be used for drones/UAVs. EASA’s approach is to designate the shared airspace as ‘U-space’, which can exist in controlled or uncontrolled airspace. It will mostly exist in chunks below 150m/500ft. EC will allow drone operators to detect and avoid other aircraft in U-space when operating within Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS) or beyond (BVLOS). This airspace is expected some time in 2025. Manned aircraft, including hang gliders and paragliders, will need EC to enter U- space. The drone operators have to detect a minimum percentage of those aircraft, the level of detection depending on the U- space classification. In December 2022 EASA published new standards for EC in U- space; access by manned aircraft will require the use of certified or uncertified EC working to these protocols. Four types are proposed: • ADS-B on 1090 MHz, for certified aircraft using existing certified devices. • ADS-B on 978 MHz (UAT). Not currently practical as the frequency band is mostly unavailable in Europe. • ADS-L 4 SRD-860 (uncertified). Devices can now be built to this new standard. • ADS-L 4 Mobile (uncertified): Via mobile telecomms networks, using phones or discrete devices. Publication of the protocol is imminent. It’s a concept similar to SafeSky. ADS-L is ADS-B ‘Light’. It’s a way of providing ADS-B-type facilities on uncertified devices transmitting on licence-free frequencies, or over mobile phones using apps working to the ADS-L specifications. The SRD-860 variant is not dissimilar to FLARM, FANET and PilotAware (P3i) protocols already broadcast in the licence-free 860-870MHz band, but is incompatible with it. Under EASA, ‘certified ADS-B’ means certification to the full ICAO level ADS-B, not CAP 1391 or other national versions of ADS-B; this option is not currently practical for BHPA aircraft. The ADS-L 4 Mobile standard is not published yet. Therefore there are currently only two ways of being compliant: ADS-B and ADS-L 4 SRD-860. [Some existing FLARM, FANET and PilotAware devices can transmit ADS- L after a software or firmware update – see manufacturer.] The first European areas of U-Space are likely to be rolled out in a year or so. If these are anywhere near any EU flying areas or routes, devices built to the last two protocols outlined above will be mandatory to gain access. When the CAA rolls out its own protocol and follows with the first tracts of UK U-space, the same will be true here. A DfT action plan released in March anticipates ‘routine BVLOS UAS operations in integrated airspace at scale by 2027’. news 8 SKYWINGS MAY 2024 Icarus Cup dates The 2024 BHPFC Icarus Cup for human-powered aircraft will be held at Manston airfield from June 15-23rd, the latter half of the week coinciding with the BOPC. Sharing the cost of facilities with the Open worked very well last year and makes economic sense too. Manston’s 2,700m runway is ideal for HPA flying, and the absence of any other flying activity (except the BOPC) should – weather permitting – lead to more airtime. First held in 2012, the competition features tasks that include distance, speed and slalom courses, along with the Jacobson figure-of-eight, a highly demanding task only once completed in the UK. The Icarus Cup – and a £1,000 prize – is awarded to the individual pilot scoring the most points across the different tasks. Two tasks of the longstanding Kremer Prize series also remain to be claimed. It’s not yet clear which teams will be competing; the 2023 event was contested by Aerocycles 301 and 302, Southampton University’s Super Lazarus and Le Dash, a new University of Bordeaux entry (pictured). Max Polkinghorn’s Disco Volante didn’t get airborne but it is hoped he will return with a revised version of his machine. Visitors and helpers will be welcome. Details are Game of Drones – new European EC standards for sharing airspace The drone/UAV(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) sector is expanding. It offers many potential opportunities to commercial operators, who are pushing very hard for access to airspace. These opportunities are limited by the current need to segregate drones from aircraft with human occupants. We are all familiar with the Temporary Danger Areas granted to operators by the CAA, providing exclusive access to tracts of airspace for UAVs without risk to other aircraft. But drone operators are insisting on access to more airspace without constraints, or with easy procedures and rules for sharing airspace.MAY 2024 SKYWINGS 9 Quick facts ab bout the NG series: (²) Surface )(k Max load )ih (k)ih (k NG NG light The world´s leading rescue systems Use of high-q• even at low sp g, g • Available in 3 certified acco • New, innovativ • Excellent sink to a jump from • Very reliable o • Intelligent, ligh uality lightweight materials peeds gp sizes as NG and in the light ver rding to EN12491 ve X-Flare concept for high effic k rates, each just over 5 m/s, equ m a height of about 1.3 m opening and extremely good pe htweight construction for fast op pg , NG 14 NG 12 flfhX NG 10 rsion NG light, ciency uivalent endulum stability penings, 33 14040 Serie 2912020 Serie 2510000 Serie (m²)g)(k 1,49 1,85 1,3 18 1,6 ,1 g) 1,45 g)weight (k concept -FlareX- s to the , thankface -Nearly flat top sur innovative X weight (k 1, for oL r fast opening w canopy height projected surface area bution across the large -geneous load distri --flares for homoX stability pendulum outlets for air defined Precisely concept. Longtime friend of the BHPA retires Robin Friess, DHV CEO and a great friend of the BHPA, retires as head of our German sister organisation this summer. He’s planning a year-long trip with his family, and then intends to ‘reorient’ himself. DHV Chairman Bernd Böing said Robin had made a significant contribution to the DHV’s development since taking on the role from Klaus Tänzler in 2017. Robin has been a reliable supporter of BHPA proposals within the EHPU, and when unable to offer his backing would let our team – Mark Shaw and Marc Asquith – know in advance. As a result the BHPA’s was rarely a lone voice at the table. When the UK proposed a Management Committee to run EHPU affairs, Robin’s support overcame broad opposition and the proposal was approved. He will be succeeded at the DHV by his deputy, Björn Klaassen. In brief Sub-70 Exemption renewed. The Exemption from the ANO allowing the legal operation of Sub-70kg wheeled trikes, originally granted in 2017 and renewed in 2018, 2020 and 2022, was again renewed at the end of March to last until the same date in 2026. Members are reminded that the 70kg maximum weight of the unladen airframe (75kg if an emergency parachute is fitted) includes full fuel. China hang gliding comp. Longfei Yang’s Guyuan Hang Gliding Club are hosting an aerotow hang gliding competition from June 7th – 10th at their Guyuan flight park, just four hours from Beijing. Entry is limited to just 15 international pilots. For details contact Vicki Cain at Zillertal shootout After two tasks at Mayrhofen over 50 and 43km, the ‘Zillertal Battle’ between factory pilots in early April was won by Nova teamsters Nicola Donini (above) and Aaron Durogati on Mentor 7s. The event, considered a showcase for B-class wings, was contested by 68 world class manufacturer-affiliated pilots. Two thirds of these were Austrian, with 26 Germans and only four Italians including Nicola and Aaron. Although Nova took the top two individual places, the team win went to Ozone’s Swift 6 ahead of Skywalk’s Chili and Phi’s Maestro and Scala 2. Nova’s Mentor/Mentor 7 team finished fifth.Next >