No. 373 MAY 2020 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association2 SKYWINGS MAY 2020 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 Crowded skies at the 2015 World Championships at Valle de Bravo, Colombia Photo: Ozone THIS PAGE The 2019 British Championships at Pedro Bernardo 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 Email: SKYWINGS ONLINE Go For the May issue enter the username May_2020 and the case- sensitive password egPE3#vn For the June issue enter the username Jun_2020 and the case- sensitive password H[r32%Je DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the July issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Monday June 1st. Letters for the June Airmail pages should arrive no later than Friday May 15th. Advertisement bookings for the June edition must arrive by Monday May 11th. Copy and classified bookings no later than Monday May 18th. regulars features regulars reviews 4 SKYWINGS MAY 2020 attitude The BHPA too has had to consider, and reconsider, its advice to members, and its way forward in the evolving situation. Following the Prime Minister’s March 24th statement, we realised that we had no choice but to close the Office and equip our admin staff for working at home. Having set all that up, we turned to our schools. A virtual conference between senior Directors and staff from both the Admin and Technical teams resulted in our statement: Help for Schools and Instructors, published on the BHPA website and Facebook pages. It says: In these times of difficulty, the BHPA acknowledges that our schools and instructors are part of the lifeblood of the sport. It is therefore imperative that the BHPA offers the maximum support to the schools and their instructors right now. Some of us were involved during the Foot and Mouth outbreak of 2001, and I am pleased to say that this time round we believe we are able to offer even more support than we did back then. Before I set out what we plan to do, one of the difficulties we face is not knowing how long the shutdown will last. It could be the three months suggested by the Prime Minister; it could be much longer. For the purposes of a working hypothesis we have planned for a six-month shutdown, with provisions to be made in the event that it is shorter. If it turns out to be longer, we will revisit the hypothesis and change our plans. Exec has agreed that the following measures can be put in with immediate effect. School Fees Schools that are due to pay their renewal fee of £400 during the shutdown can defer paying anything until the shutdown is finished and they start teaching again. For ease of administration we do not intend to change a school’s renewal date. When a school eventually renews and starts teaching again, it will pay a proportion of the £400 depending on the number of months left in its membership year. If you were due to renew on April 1st 2020 and the shutdown ends in September, and you start teaching again from October 1st 2020, your renewal fee will be £200 for the remaining six months (assuming a wonderful Autumn!) If you have already renewed we will give you a discount on next year’s renewal, equal to the discount allowed to those schools who were due to renew in the next few months. This highlights the problem of not knowing when it will all be over; since we don’t know how long this will go on for, at this stage we don’t know how much of the value of your last renewal has been lost. Individual Instructor Renewals All Instructor Supplements will be waived for this calendar year (2020). If you have already renewed your membership and licences in 2020 you can seek a refund of your supplement. You will temporarily lose your licences and revert to a full flying membership. Licences will be automatically returned if you start teaching again within a six-month window with no need to show currency or competence, as long as you have retained full annual membership during the period. Tandem Licences (non- Instructors) On your next renewal, Tandem Licences will be renewed automatically, whether or not you have achieved the normal currency requirements, again as long as you remain a full annual member in the interim. Finally, new members joining the BHPA for the first time as annual members before the shutdown, in anticipation of undertaking their first training course that has now been disrupted by the shutdown, will have their membership extended by six months at no cost to allow them to undertake the training next year if necessary. Please contact the office with confirmation of your booking on a course. We emphasise that during the shutdown, if your licence has lapsed or been suspended you are not insured to undertake any of the licensed activities. If your Instructor Licence has lapsed you cannot teach students who would otherwise require an Instructor. Flying Members We do not intend to make any reductions for normal full flying members. If we are to survive this period we need everyone to renew as normal and provide the cash flow to support our schools. Once all this has passed, with all the waivers, etc, BHPA reserves are going to be seriously reduced. We hope not to have to make any of our staff redundant, and plan to use the government schemes to keep them all employed. Those we have had to furlough (see below) will cease to work for us during the shutdown; we hope that we will be able to deploy them as usual once the crisis passes. Members who delay their renewal simply enhance the risk that our staff, who have worked for us for so long, face redundancy. We must all pull together at this time. My own membership renewed on April 1st – I feel your pain! Should you need to contact us during this shutdown, the Office phone is diverting to the mobile phones of those office staff who are not furloughed. The BHPA Office email accounts are being monitored and dealt with. For the Tech Staff, Mark Shaw is the first point of contact. Snail-mail post is being dealt with. BHPA staff We have agreed that two of our three Technical Officers and three of our five office staff would be furloughed using the government scheme. We agreed that for the first three months we would make up any shortfall in wages for the staff between what the government scheme provides and what they would normally earn. Mark Shaw remains the active member of the Technical staff, and Michelle Lanman and Steph Blankley the Office staff. If you phone the office, it will divert to Michelle’s or Steph’s mobile phones and they are set up for home working. Mark has always worked from home. BHPA members A number of members, not least those who have just renewed or will soon renew, have asked if we could freeze or suspend memberships for the period of the shutdown. Some have suggested that they might move to non-flying membership. We have considered these issues against a background that some might not have considered. Firstly, the largest cost to all the full members is our insurance. Our reserves are £550,000 including the value of the Office. The insurance premium due in January 2020 was £388,000, based on the assumption that membership numbers would not change significantly. So long as everyone renews, we will be in a position to pay next year’s premium when it falls due. We have asked if the insurance might be suspended for the duration of the shutdown, but have been told that the answer is ‘no’. With our current claims history that is hardly surprising; we are not The Association’s response to the Covid-19 emergency MARC ASQUITH BHPA CHAIRMAN The pandemic which has spread across the world since the turn of the year has seen all forms of government (and I use that word in its broadest meaning) tested, particularly in their ability to respond promptly to continually and rapidly changing circumstances. Continued on page 6Still Trading! Nobody is flying, so business is slow. That’s OK, no hurry - time to enjoy the sunshine. I’m open, though and can deliver everything except hang gliders. Somebody should be in a hurry to snap up this gorgeous large BGD Epic! Priced at £1550, and I am open to offers! The updated website reflects changes I’m making in the business. I will concentrate on selling Charly, Finsterwalder and Zoot products, along with my huge selection of secondhand kit. But there is a lot of other stock to clear out - some prices are unchanged, others have been slashed. What a shame I can’t ship hang gliders! I have a lot of lovely intermediates, like this superb large Wills Wing Sport 2 175 for only This Firebird Grid Large is far too good to just use for groundhandling, but the price would suggest otherwise - £225! I have new and used harnesses for both disciplines. This Karpofly X-Alps looks new, but isn’t. At only £424, the price reflects that. There are more harnesses for both disciplines on the website, of course. Lots of Hang gliding harnesses, too - including this rare outfit for supine flying. You get an almost unused harness, fitted reserve and splitter bar for £700 - about half the retail cost! Try me with an offer I can’t refuse! I have a small number of new reserves to clear out, too. Just one Charly Clou 2 HG SAS, reduced from £620 to £499, with a DHV weight range up to 140kg. There are cheap paragliding reserves, too - new and used, various makes. Lots of instruments are here at Turf! How about an as- new Ascent H2 vario/GPS for £225 - that is £70 off list? I also have a similar H1 model at £175, plus Renschler, Skytraxx and Oudies, too. Get on the ‘phone! Renschler instruments have been favourites here for over twenty-five years, and I have new and used ones in stock for immediate delivery. Of course, I also have four different models of Zoot headsets, for various radios and helmet types. They are in use around the free-flight world, with prices starting as low as £34.95. Jeremy Soper flew the UK’s longest HG straight-line XC of 2019 on my gorgeous Carbon Litespeed RS3.5. He was under strict orders not to get my glider wet, so would have gone further had the coast not got in the way! Soperman won the BHPA President’s Trophy as a result, and my glider is up for grabs (after the lock- down) for only £1999. Probably the best value on the planet - perhaps you could win with it, too? Charly Helmets The aerodynamic Charly NO Limits is available as an open - or a full-face helmet. The pressure-formed aerodynamic Kevlar- reinforced fibreglass shells are renowned for their quietness, and come in four colours and four sizes, starting at £225. A clear visor comes as standard with optional Tinted visors available. The Charly Insider is probably the top-selling free flight helmet of all time. The Kevlar-reinforced fibreglass shell is fully-lined, and I stock eleven colours and six sizes from XS to XXL! Prices start at £158, and weight is only 660gm! The stylish Charly Loop costs £120, weighs around 505gm and comes with a helmet bag included. There are three sizes and six colours: Gloss White, Matt Blue, Matt Black, Matt Red, Matt Orange and Nova Silver – see them all on my website: The Charly Ace has a polycarbonate shell and comes in four sizes, with a choice of Gloss White, Matt Red, Matt Black or Carbon-look. Weight is around 560gm, and prices start at £84. The Charly Breeze has a swoopy polycarbonate shell, comes in four sizes in either White or Matt Black - with contrasting removable ear covers to suit different seasons. There is also a version in two adjustable sizes for commercial operators schools and tandem. It weighs about 480gm, and costs £87. I stock all the Charly helmets optional accessories, too! The Ace, Breeze and Loop will all accept the optional visor, available in Grey, Yellow, Orange and Mirror finishes. Prices start at £28 per visor, with the fixing screw set costing another tel: 01404 891685 Turfhouse, Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA in a buyers’ market. Many members forget that the insurance does not simply cover flying activities but provides Occupier’s Liability insurance to those clubs that own sites and Public Liability cover to the clubs. Even if no flying is taking place, the clubs still have a small exposure to liability and their committee members will rightly demand that insurance remains in place. The only good news on the insurance front is that, in the absence of much flying, claims for the year should be low (the premium is based upon the last five years claims history). We will need a reliable stream of income in the short term to service our overheads. Staff costs are amongst those and we are making the most of the government furlough scheme, but once this is over we will need those staff back. Any significant fall in membership risks staff redundancies, the costs associated with that and a loss of skills and experience which we would struggle to recover from. We also have to make efforts to keep the schools in business – without new pilots the Association will die. Skywings We have considered moving Skywings to an online magazine in order to save costs, but since that is the only reminder of our sport that many members will have for some months to come, we are holding off going down that route. It’s unlikely we could terminate the contracts in time to make a significant difference in any event. The future The effects of the shutdown are likely to be relatively short lived. Those of us who were involved in the shutdown due to Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001 saw a short-term blip – we lost 250 members over the summer but within 18 months we had recovered. We need to repeat that exercise. At the best estimate, we might be back out flying in July. It seems possible that different disciplines will return at different rates. Power pilots flying from private fields adjacent to their homes will be able to fly as soon as the pressures on the NHS ease and public opprobrium wanes. Hill flyers in the empty rural quarters may be next. Busy hill sites close to major conurbations may be amongst the last to resume. In conclusion, if we are to bounce back from this pandemic in the same way we recovered from Foot and Mouth. We all need to maintain a steady course, hold our nerve and wait for the good times to return. I have it on good authority that this autumn is going to produce some of the best flying conditions in the UK ever! 6 SKYWINGS MAY 2020 news Not over … just paused With all comps and other events cancelled or postponed, flying everywhere shut down and most of us confined to our cages … there's little cheer for anyone in the immediate future. However we would like to encourage all pilots to think about their flying aspirations. In particular, CPs who have held the rating for a couple of years and might like to raise their game. The BHPA has published mock Pilot exams to allow candidates to test themselves, understand the subject areas that they need to revise and prepare for sitting the real exam. The BHPA Pilot rating itself will eventually migrate online, backed by a redesigned Pilot Development Structure. Mock Pilot and Power Pilot exams are up and running at Having had a go at the mock exam, we hope pilots will contact their club or school and make plans to obtain the Pilot rating itself. This also applies to pilots of many years’ experience who have not had the opportunity or incentive to take the written exam. Meanwhile, we commend the initiative of Airways Airsports who have been streaming live ground school sessions for weeks to massive acclaim (check their Facebook page for details), and John Turczak of the Southern Club whose excellent 'Introduction to RASP' videos are at The BHPA's response to the coronavirus crisis is outlined on page 4 of this issue. CAA leans towards compulsory EC At a CAA General Aviation Partnership meeting in March the CAA’s head of Airspace and Air Traffic Management outlined moves towards mandating Electronic Conspicuity for all UK aircraft, with a view to widespread adoption by January 2024. The CAA’s ambition is for all aircraft to provide EC transmissions on protected common frequencies. This is to facilitate the refashioning of UK airspace in line with their Airspace Modernisation Strategy, mitigate mid-air collision risks and enable the safe integration of UAS (drones) within UK airspace. In the CAA’s view the 2024 deadline gives manufacturers, and those required to comply, time to develop and purchase the technology. They seem confident that an approved device can be made available for around £500, and that they would be able to offset the cost by around 50% per aircraft as was (sort-of) done with the recent introduction of 8.33kHz VHF radio spacing. The BHPA response so far has been – at every opportunity – to present our facts: approximately 7,500 pilots with their own aircraft, flying from hills, fields and airfields anywhere in the UK. And at least 1000 pilots that are not BHPA members. We fly open cockpit aircraft and cannot carry the large batteries needed by the majority of currently available transponders. Only one device, SkyEcho 2, may be compatible for free fliers but has not been tested. Finally, the projected cost is prohibitively expensive for a device of limited usefulness. The BHPA have repeatedly expressed concern that (eg) 150 ADS-B signals, pinging from hang gliders and paragliders within, say, a one-mile radius of (eg) Devil’s Dyke, will cause signal saturation and be filtered out by other users. And the group of gliders that have departed downwind will not be acquired by potentially conflicting aircraft, increasing the risk of collision. The proposal to mandate EC on our aircraft would throw up compatibility, licensing and signal-saturation issues, inevitably driving some pilots to operate ‘rogue’, ie. without a transponder. This reasoning has been conveyed to the CAA and the Department for Transport. attitude Continued from page 4 BHPA 500 Club WIN CASH PRIZES AND HELP THE ASSOCIATION! March winners Richard Clark £130.20 Rajdeep Patgiri £65.10 Michael Rouse £32.55 John Wreford £19.53 Beverley Reardon £16.28 Lewis Bagge £16.28 John Aldridge £13.02 David Forty £13.02 Andrew Thorpe £9.77 Tony Mitchell £9.77 BHPA £323.50 If by the time you read this you have not received your cheque, please contact me on 07802 525099. Marc AsquithBMAA-LAA merger is off On March 20th the LAA board informed the BMAA that they had decided to suspend merger discussions between the two associations (see October 2019 Skywings). LAA CEO Steve Slater said: ‘It’s disappointing, because a great deal of work has been done by volunteers from both organisations.’ The fly in the ointment appears to be that the BMAA Council position on the merger is less than unanimous. Some voices were keen to see the exact post-merger position on the table when members came to vote, rather than head into a merger without clear details of the likely arrangements that would exist. The merger idea was brought about, in part, by proposed changes to legislation about the upper weight limit for microlights. The projected 600kg class would be outside European certification and handled by each country individually, and the two associations sought to avoid conflict over which of them would oversee airworthiness. A merged association would have had over 11,000 members and overseen 4,000 aircraft on Permits to Fly, as well as representing some SSDR members; as the UK’s largest GA body it would have wielded considerable influence. Arguably, an opportunity missed. And not for the first time – the idea was originally discussed and abandoned in 2007 when the LAA was still the Popular Flying Association. Nevertheless the LAA expects existing collaborative efforts between the parties to continue, and have indicated their readiness to enter further discussions if and when a unanimous BMAA Council position is established. Sub-70 relief! It was reported last month that the CAA had signalled their intent to renew the ANO Exemption for Sub-70kg trikes at the end of March but hadn’t actually signed off on it. In the end Mark Shortman of the CAA’s GA Unit pulled out all the stops on this despite many distractions and renewed it until March 31st 2022, to the relief of many Sub- 70 owners. Pilots and prospective pilots of Sub-70kg SPHG machines are reminded that the Exemption demands a stall speed (or minimum steady flight speed in the landing configuration) not exceeding 20 knots, and a maximum unladen mass, including full fuel, of 70kg – or 75kg if a parachute recovery system is carried. The aircraft must not fly with more than one person on board. Cisco engines Production of Cisco engines is at an end following owner and designer Francesco Arduini’s retirement, although support and warranty cover will continue. To fill the gap importer Airplay have become dealers for Corsair and Vittorazi. ‘The 25hp Corsair Black Devil Pro and 33hp Black Bull are outwardly the most similar to Cisco engines,’ writes Airplay’s Dave Broom. ‘With no balance shaft they are lighter than the equivalent Cisco motor and priced more competitively. The most suitable Vittorazi engine for the Snake is the 25hp Moster Silent; the Plus is also available but a clutch generally harms flexwing trike performance.’ Airplay will continue to hold spares for C-Max and Bull Max engines. 8 SKYWINGS MAY 2020 My father John Beedell, a member of the Dunstable club, was a paraglider pilot for the last 13 years. He had flown everywhere from Sharpenhoe to Turkey, Spain, Tenerife, Cyprus and Bulgaria, and had also become proficient at paramotoring. In 2011, an accident in Montenegro left him with an ankle held together with a few screws, but he was back in the sky after a year of rehab and physio. Skywings was Dad’s favourite magazine and he pored over the adventures and kit from cover to cover, glass of cider in hand. His weekends were spent obsessing about wind speeds and directions, stepping outside and assessing the sky and deciding whether Dunstable, Sharpenhoe, Newbury or Milk Hill were the place for a flight; ours were spent tagging along and watching precarious dots in the distance. His fascination with wind sports was evident throughout his adult life. He windsurfed competitively in Lanzarote, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and sites across the UK. He instilled in us his love for sports and his determination to succeed by incremental progression; as he grew older paragliding took the place of windsurfing. My dad worked as a software programmer and developer. His taste for adventure led to a role with the UN Development Programme in the Philippines, and I grew up with tales of living and working in Manila and visiting China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The friends he made across the world gave me safe contacts to use when following in his footsteps as a young adult traveller. He was a very giving person and had a strong moral compass. He supported my mum as Treasurer for the local allotment association, and together they created a charity to safeguard these sites for the village. He had been a university lecturer in IT and taught generations of schoolchildren about bike safety and computers. Staff at the Open University at Milton Keynes where he worked were preparing to fly the flag at half mast on the day of his funeral. Dad has left behind my mum (Jane), me (Natasha) and my brothers Jonathan and Adam, along with friends from the Dunstable club, the OU and the wider community. He will be remembered for his kind and giving nature. I look up at the sky and smile if I know it would be a day that would take 40 years off him, seemingly lightened by the 25kg bag on his back, into a cloud highway. Natasha Beedell, Milton John Beedell 1956 - 2020 news In brief Fargher microlight record is ratified. Colin and Louis Fargher’s microlight distance record set last September (see News, October) has been ratified by the FAI. Colin now holds the weight-shift two-seater (RWL2) record for straight-line distance at 783.9km. With his son Louis aboard and doing some of the flying, Colin flew his Air Création Skypper from Vesoul in eastern France to land, after nearly eight hours in the air, at Plobannalec just 3km from the Atlantic coast. Colin says more record attempts are being prepared. Lakes Classic postponed. The Lakes Charity Classic scheduled for June has been postponed. The new dates are September 18th – 20th (subject to favourable developments elsewhere), at the same venue and with all details the same. Those already entered will be allocated a September place or can choose a full refund – or donate their entry to a local Cumbrian charity. AirDesign expands. One bit of uplifting news – AirDesign have opened a new office at Saint Hilaire, next to the famous Coupe Icare take-off. Aimed at French and International sales and marketing, the new start-up space is a response to AirDesign’s recent rapid growth based on the SuSi, Vivo, Rise and Volt wings. Flying in Greece. The Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority advise us that BHPA members wishing to fly in Greece must contact them HAAF to be advised of National Regulations and the locations where flying can take place. Blunder dept. Last month we described the BGD Cure 2 as an EN D wing; it is not. The Cure 2, and the Cure before it, are EN C wings. Apologies to anyone who we have confused, and of course to BGD.. Skywings online. The online version of this issue of the magazine can be found at username May_2020 and the case- sensitive password egPE3#vn. For the June issue enter the username Jun_2020 and the case-sensitive password H[r32%Je. These details can also be found on the contents page of each issue. Magazines with a cover date over six months old can be viewed online or downloaded without the need to log in. A number of members have asked – in the light of the guidance issued by the College of Police on April 16th in respect of the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020, and what constitutes a reasonable excuse for going out – whether the BHPA intends to change its stance on members going flying. We can confirm that the Government Guidance on the lock down has not changed. The CAA guidance on Recreational GA flying has not changed. And, as yet, we are seeing no change in public perception of people engaging in what they perceive as risky activities. The BHPA stance therefore remains unchanged. BHPA members must refrain from flying – including ground handling – for the time being. Marc Asquith, BHPA Chairman, April 17th 2020. See See COVID-19 UPDATEMAY 2020 SKYWINGS 9 propellerhead In early March it was confirmed that – along with just about every sporting event – the 11th FAI World Paramotor Championships in Brazil would be postponed. The British team had held off booking flights due to the growing spread of the virus, and a formal decision to postpone the event was made around March 12th. The new provisional dates are June 16th – 26th 2021. This is disappointing for the organisers and teams, but there was no option given the developing pandemic. The postponement effectively means that we have another year to prepare. While we do so we’d welcome any pilots that would like to become involved in the team, with the possibility of gaining a place for the next World Championships Anybody interested in becoming involved in the British team should get in touch with me at and consider entering the British Paramotor Championships 13th – 16th August 2020. (See Mike Page’s write-up of last year’s championships in March Skywings). Note that these dates will need to be reviewed given the ongoing Covid 19 situation – for updates go to Given that flying is currently out of the question, it’s a good opportunity to carry out maintenance on machines, and possibly make a map board and planning tools if you haven’t already got them. Details can be found at Stay safe and stay at home. We’ll fight this together and be back in the air once it’s all over. Paul Martin, British Paramotor Team Photo: P aul Smith Paramotor team news We’re currently in uncertain times and unsure when we can get back in the air. This is very frustrating, just as the clocks change and the weather seems to be improving. But fighting the Covid 19 virus must be everybody’s priority and we all need to stay at home to do our part to fight it.Next >