No. 361 MAY 2019 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding AssociationAllround TourerXI Series – realise your StoryAs a light and compact Performance-Intermediate from 3.4 kg the XI satisfies the most diverse pilots’ needs; and does it in style. Whether near or far, difficult flying or exciting adventure. The light high-end B goes with you for bivouac flying, Hike & XC-fly tours, traveling or discovering new routes in remote regions. What will be your XI story?More Stories in /advancedadventures#xiontourTravelling to CappadociaVisiting a Wold Heritage Site by airRoad Trip to MongoliaOn the road through Central Asia; and above itVolBiv with the windSetting off from the front door – only on foot and with gliderXC-Flying in the Indian HimalayasTriangle route on the track of the Dalai LamaCrossAlps ExpressFrom the South of Franceto Austria in three flying days4 SKYWINGS MAY 2019 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 Antoine Girard above the summit of Aconcagua, highest peak in the Americas Photo: Antoine Girard THIS PAGE Hard gliding at the PWC, Baixo Guandu, in March Photo: Harry Bloxham 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 Go issue enter the username May_2019 and the case-sensitive password C2Ni6G$p For the June issue enter the username Jun_2019 and the case-sensitive password %fsjVT8 DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the July 2019 issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Monday June 3rd. Letters for the June Airmail page 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 Saturday May 18th. regulars regulars reviews features attitude6 SKYWINGS MAY 2019In the middle of the year we had two record days, the first being Taka Kosaka’s six-hour 150k defined triangle flight in June, and the second his even bigger 6.5-hour 172k defined triangle in July to break his own record. There were multiple other attempts at personal and UK records by club members and visitors, with the map of 2018 flights on the UKNXCL showing just how much fun was had. Some people also just enjoyed visiting, to be aerotowed into thermals at 2,000ft and spend a few hours playing around within gliding distance of the airfield on light-wind days. We are not all out-and-out XC hounds! We also completed the aerotow conversion training of two club members, Niall McCarthy and Marek Pisarek. More pilots are now lining up for aerotow conversions this year so that they too can enjoy hours above the flatlands of East Anglia. 2018 started off with two major club projects in progress. The first was to settle-in a refurbished Rotax engine for our trusty 26-year-old Pegasus XL tug, to replace the original 1,500+ hour engine that has been our workhorse since 1992. The second was to build the groundwork and funding for a new and modern Foxtug to replace the XL. The XL engine was sorted and run in by February and drove all of the aerotowing through the year, a total of 285,000ft by the end of the year. With the majority of people taking just one 1,000 - 2,000ft aerotow per day to initiate hours of flying and XCs, that’s an awful lot of flying launched by the tug. The groundwork for the Foxtug involved the club membership agreeing to personally fund as much of the cost as possible. We also realised that the increased participation and access to hang gliding we wanted to achieve with the Foxtug almost perfectly matched the Sport England goals. A few of us worked hard during January and February on putting together a proposal to obtain Sport England funding to help us achieve these. The proposal was submitted in March, and in early May we were happy to hear that the powers-that-be agreed with us and would provide a very helpful grant, which came through in June. After some detailed discussion about the exact specification, the Foxtug order was placed in July using loans, funding from members and the Sport England grant. By the end of the year Ben Ashman at Flylight had built and test-flown our Foxtug, and we took delivery in January 2019. We are now building up experience in the operation and flying of this modern, light handling, slower airspeed, 1,000fpm aerotowing machine, originally sponsored and designed by Donald MacKenzie and Ben Ashman. The people who have been aerotowed behind it are already impressed with the two-minute climb to 2000ft at slower airspeeds. We’ve also found that it pulls up a flexwing dual hang glider at a nice 600fpm climb rate. A number of hang glider pilots have commented that the Foxtug is giving them the easiest, most relaxed aerotow they have ever had. Its work rate is good as well – we did over 31,000ft of climbs on our second aerotow day this year! Now that the Foxtug is operational we are starting to work on our plans and our Sport England mandate – to not only get more hang glider pilots participating but also to encourage and help more young people, more women, more ethnic minorities and, working with Flyability, more disabled people to experience and participate in hang gliding. Part of this entails training more dual aerotow pilots to help others experience the wonders of free flight. We have two dual aerotow pilots at present, and another two are progressing towards this licence. If you know of anyone who wants to try hang gliding, or who wants to gain their dual aerotow licence, please contact us! We are also working on training more tug pilots. Anyone in the aerotow community knows that tug pilots are like gold dust – the more there are the easier it is to get out aerotowing more frequently. Similarly, we are keen to encourage the creation of more aerotow coaches to help others and to run the operation. With three (going on six) tug pilots in the club, two others outside the club who we requalified last year, and now four aerotow/senior aerotow coaches, we are starting to build up a track record in these areas. Again, anyone interested in these qualifications should let us know and we’ll see what we can do to help. The arrival of the Foxtug has created an increased level of interest in aerotowing. We welcome new members, as the more people who are interested the more often we can get out flying. Our airfield at Sutton Meadows, just north of Cambridge (since moving there from Norfolk in 2001), is shared with a microlight club and microlight schools. We can fly in any wind direction and have electricity, running water and proper toilets! Originally established in 1992, the Cambridgeshire Aerotow Club is the oldest continually-active hang gliding aerotow club in the UK. We hope to continue flying there well into the future. If anyone notices Taka planning another trip to fly with us, we suggest you jump on his coat-tails and join him. He seems to have cracked this ‘forecasting a good day’ lark!Photo: Andrew HollidgeOver the years we’ve had some excellent flying at the Cambridgeshire Aerotow Club, but 2018 was a real cracker! Despite a slow start due to the Beast-from-the-East type weather, it turned into one of the best years we’ve ever had for aerotowing in East Anglia. As the conditions matured into late spring and summer we had a number of light wind aerotowable days with thermal activity to over 6,000ft agl, and a couple of days when climbs were available to over 7,000ft – not bad for the UK. And there were many more ‘normal 5,000+’ days.The wind of change CHARLIE RICHARDSON, CAC CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF COACHSame Old, Same Old!Todor came down to Turfhouse to collect his first glider, and seemed pretty impressed by the whole event. Of course, the glider is a good’un, but he enjoyed the total experience of dealing with the Flying Circus. He gave me a great big bear-hug to emphasise the point! Stuff is coming and going all the time, and many of my customers have been with me for decades. One unusual event happened last month, when I used a BRAND NEW cardboard box to ship a harness. Normally all my packaging is re-used, because I’m trying to save the planet: Recent arrivals include this delicious Nova Ion 4 (EN B 80-100kg). You’d be looking at about £3100 for a new Ion, but this one has only 26 hours flying, looks new, and will save you £1101! I have used paragliders for sale from about £295. This rare Airwave Fly 2 Tandem hang glider arrived courtesy of Rona, Tony, Maggie and Clive (Thanks all!). It sports the full tandem towing set-up. Must be worth £1750, because tandem flying is the best way to introduce newbies to the delights they can expect when they start training. I have used hang gliders for sale from about £395. It isn’t just the big items, though. I have new and used harnesses from £80 - £999, and this superb Karpofly X-Alps 3 in the large size would set you back only £499. It is like new in all except price! New and used hang glider harnesses run from about £100 to £1500. At £125 this superb old Pod harness is a sensible first harness for somebody with more sense than money. Lots more choice at I have new instruments from Renschler, Flytec and Oudie, and secondhand ones from Renschler, Digifly, Oudie and Brauniger. I have two as-new Ascent GPS varios, at £90 less than new price. My lovely carbon Moyes Litespeed RS3.5 won Team Gold at the Florida World Championships, but since then has languished in my hangar. I lent it to Jeremy Soper, and KAPOW!! He has just flown from Malvern to the west coast of Wales at Towyn. That is a real across-a-country! You could buy this glider….. Jezzer, always willing to suffer for his art, flew without adequate protection, and got frostbite in his fingers. We could prize it out of his Just prior to this, Jezzer felt the need to enter a comp. Not easy in the UK in April, so Team Soper went to the Guatamalan Open. They had a great time - exploring the jungle for signs of ancient Civilisation and lost pilots. Jezzer also had his first flight to goal (note the surprised expression!), and won the comp!tel: 01404 891685 Turfhouse, Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA Forty years in the business - my extensive range allows you to choose what best suits your needs. Find lots more on the Zoot headsets: Four models for open- and full-face helmets and various radios. Prices from £34.45. Zoot Radio outfits: A great radio and a choice of Zoot headsets for just £77! I stock various speaker/mics and antenna, too! Instruments from lots of manufacturers, priced from £79.95. Charly Quickout Karabiners for tandem pilots. Weighs 200 gm with a breaking load of 4000kg. £60each The Austrialpin Delta Steel karabiner for hang gliding, weighs 215gm and is rated to 32Kn. £24 each Charly Pinlock alloy Karabiners: Weighs 80gm, certified to 25 Kn. £27.50 each. The new Charly Snaplock alloy Karabiner, weighs 75gm and certified to 30Kn. £23 each. Tow releases from £48. Hang glider wheels from £51.10 a pair. Zoot Camera Mounts £29.50. Zoot Pip-pins, three lengths from £10.75, and Zoot Caps at £2.75. SMFC Speedarms, assorted colours and sizes at £29.50Acessories8 SKYWINGS MAY 2019newsParamotor distance record at 1,132km! In Australia on March 9th Estonian paramotorist Lauri Kadakas flew 1,132.7km to claim the straight-line-distance world record, eclipsing the 1,105km flown by Ramon Morillas in 2007. Using a Zero Gravity HPR225 motor under a MacPara Paradox 27 wing, Lauri flew from Queensland’s Charters Towers airport and followed the Barkly Highway – Australia’s Route 66! – westward, to land in the bush in the middle of nowhere after 15 hours in the air. He took off carrying more than 70 litres of fuel including 55 litres in a bag-tank on his lap; the gravity feed to his smaller tank failed and he was only able to stay in the air by continually squeezing the primer bulb. His take-off had been at an all-up weight of 200kg! Most of the flight was accomplished at between 7,000 and 9,000ft. We salute Lauri on this tremendous feat of endurance!Girard conquers the Andes French paraglider pilot Antoine Girard recently returned from Chile having completed the first ever paraglider crossing of the central Andes. In doing so he became the first ever paraglider pilot to fly above the summit of Aconcagua, at 6,962m the highest peak in the Americas. His 100+km flight from Argentina to Chile took three and a quarter hours and reached 7,200m. During his expedition he also claimed Rob Whittall’s 25-year old world height gain record (see April News) and recorded Chile’s biggest-ever FAI triangle at 129km. In 2016 Antoine soared to over 8,100m in the Karakoram and in 2017 was nominated National Geographic magazine’s Adventurer of the Year.X-Alps The ninth iteration Red Bull X-Alps, frequently described as the world’s toughest adventure race, starts in Salzburg on June 16th. The route this year covers 1,138km of alpine terrain including Davos, the Eiger, Mont Blanc and the Cheval Blanc before the descent into Monaco. Chrigel Maurer will be seeking a 6th successive win, with never-missed-an-X-Alps Tom Coconea hard on his heels. Antoine Girard (see above) hopes to improve on last year’s 4th place. This year’s new entrants include Polish experts Kinga Masztalerz and Dominika Kasieczko, Ironfly runner-up Patrick von Kanel and PWC star Maxime Pinot; there are no Brits in this year’s race. The event will be fully covered by live tracking offering news feeds, live rankings, the flight/hike/rest status of each competitor, weather overlays and more. Red Bull publicity carries the following health warning: ‘Live Tracking is highly addictive … we cannot be held responsible for reduced levels of productivity, or damage to relationships during the race!’Next >