< Previous10 SKYWINGS MAY 2020 Carabiner sense A number of pilots have been alarmed by a document circulating on the internet that suggests that pilots stop using aluminium carabiners of all types. The document, put out by southern French freeflight club Les Toiles du Sud, draws heavily on a December 2018 FFVL safety notice that followed an investigation into a number of catastrophic carabiner failures in tandem use. In fact the FFVL report does not conclude that pilots should not use aluminium carabiners, or that the failures were the result of design or production flaws. Its main conclusions were to warn against the use of carabiners designed for solo use for tandem work, and the use of any carabiner beyond five years or 500 hours from first use. The FFVL also advises pilots to inspect their equipment regularly, ensure that carabiners aren’t too old, over-used or in poor condition, and not to use aluminium ones to connect emergency parachutes. The pros and cons of alternatives – soft links, pin-lock carabiners, maillons and steel karabiners – are also discussed. In short, aluminium carabiners which are older than five years, have more than 500 hours use, or are not in good condition should be removed from circulation. Manufacturers’ leaflets, etc, will always stipulate the safe life of their products. Pilots should be confident in using new alloy carabiners supplied by trusted brands when following the manufacturers’ guidelines. Let us not forget that they usually cost only £15 or £20 each. The original FFVL safety notice, in French, is at Manufacturer’s Safety Notice Woody Valley X-R7 Critical – Mandatory Before Flying. X-R7 paragliding harnesses with serial numbers 001-1134 may have faulty parachute compartment elastic loops that could lead to a deployment failure. The full safety notice, dated March 30th, is at safety matters 19 Jan 2020. Male pilot aged 57, AP rated Site & conditions: Bradwell Edge, 5-10km/h, not turbulent Glider: Moyes Rx3.5 Pro Incident: Pilot approached a paraglider pilot who was invisible to him due to low sun. At the last second the pilot dived under and to the right of the paraglider, narrowly avoiding a collision. Injury: None 21 Jan 2020. Male pilot aged 54, CP rated Site & conditions: Jerbourg cliffs, Guernsey, 15-20km/h, not turbulent Glider: Skywalk Cayenne 5 Incident: Pilot was soaring coastal cliff when a drop in wind forced him to bottom land. With limited options, pilot landed on rocks. Injury: Serious 22 Jan 2020. Male pilot aged 55, AP rated Site & conditions: Famara cliffs, Lanzarote, 10-15km/h Glider: Gin Explorer Incident: Pilot misjudged lift and made emergency landing on rocky beach. Glider and harness were dragged into surf and pilot was benighted. Was able to escape from beach the following morning. Injury: None 30 Jan 2020. Male pilot aged 42, EP rated Site & conditions: Villaricos, Spain 5-10km/h Glider: Sky Fides 5 Incident: Student lifted legs on launch before the wing had taken the full load. The paramotor made glancing contact with the ground and the prop punctured the fuel tank. Instructor immediately stopped the flight as pilot was unaware of the damage. Injury: None 3 Feb 2020. Male pilot aged 71, AP rated Incident: During repack session pilot noticed that the emergency parachute control handle sticks had been threaded through the metal rings. They should NOT have been put through the rings but simply inserted into the sleeves. 5 Feb 2020. Male pilot aged 49, P rated Site & conditions: Ansermanuevo, Colombia 5- 10km/h, light turbulence Glider: BGD Cure Incident: Pilot made emergency turn on final approach to avoid low level power lines. Pilot’s seat made contact with bump in the ground before legs could fully absorb the impact. Injury: Serious: lumbar spine 7 Feb 2020. Male pilot aged 61, CP rated Site & conditions: Mala, Lanzarote, 10-15km/h, llght turbulence Glider: Avian Puma Incident: Pilot misjudged final flare on landing, allowing nose Paramotor code of conduct A new Code of Conduct for pilots of paramotor and other types of SPHG is available on the BHPA website. It provides general guidance for foot and wheel-launched powered paragliders and powered hang gliders. Among other topics, the Code covers minimising nuisance, securing permission for launch sites, respect for the public, livestock, airspace strictures and BHPA club sites, and the care needed in selecting outlanding sites. It also covers the requirements for display flying. The original ‘Foot Launched Self Propelled Hang Glider Code of Practice’, published in 2005, was out of date and had fallen into disuse. All power flyers should make a point of studying and absorbing the wisdom – mostly sheer common sense – of the new Code of Practice; it can be found on the BHPA Member Documents page at BHPA accident and incident digest The following is an edited digest of Incident Reports submitted to the FSC between January 19th and March 17th 2020. The complete list of reports can be found MAY 2020 SKYWINGS 11 to drop after touchdown. Pilot hit rear edge of speed upright with upper arm. Injury: Serious: hands, arms, shoulder 9 Feb 2020. Male pilot aged 59, CP rated Site & conditions: Nid d’Aigle, France, 10-15km/h, light turbulence Glider: Advance Alpha 6 Incident: Pilot made steep turn towards ridge to avoid a collision with another paraglider; flew into terrain having possibly spun glider. Injury: Serious: feet, legs 10 Feb 2020. Male pilot aged 47, P rated Site & conditions: Poniente (Lijar), Spain, 0-5km/h, moderate turbulence Glider: Phi Tenor Incident: Pilot took off but did not notice he had snapped an upper brake line and had a twig snagged in his lines. Once flying the pilot spotted the issues and was able to make a safe bottom landing using big ears. Injury: None 11 Feb 2020. Male pilot aged 68, CP rated Site & conditions: Poinente (Lijar), Spain, 10-15km/h Glider: BGD Epic Incident: Pilot exited spiral but failed to correctly manage the resulting dive. Stalled glider and landed heavily. Injury: Serious: lumbar spine 5 Mar 2020. Male pilot aged 55, P rated Site & conditions: Kettlewell, 10- 15km/h, moderate turbulence Glider: Advance Sigma 9 Incident: Pilot lost thermal while flying up a cliff face and landed heavily on a shelf on the cliff. Injury: Serious: feet, legs 6 Mar 2020. Male pilot aged 44, P rated Site & conditions: Butser West, 15-20km/h Glider: Ozone Swift Max Incident: Pilot was forced to take avoiding action to avoid a collision when the other pilot did not give way. Injury: None 6 Mar 2020. Female pilot aged 42, CP rated Site & conditions: Cats Tor, 10- 15km/h Glider: Phi Symphonia Incident: Pilot slope landed but tripped on tussock once feet down. Broke fibula; no further injury. Injury: Serious: feet, legs 6 Mar 2020. Male pilot aged 21, rating not recorded Site & conditions: Devil’s Dyke, 15-20km/h, light turbulence Glider: Ozone Zeno Incident: Pilot attempted to cobra launch his paraglider but was dragged into a group of people. Injury: None 6 Mar 2020. Male pilot aged 38, P rated Site & conditions: Frocester/Nympsfield, 10-15km/h Glider: Gin Bonanza 2 Incident: Pilot misjudged top landing approach and decided to collide with a small tree rather than making an extreme turn. Injury: Pilot: minor; Passenger: feet, legs 13 Mar 2020. Male pilot aged 60, CP rated Site & conditions: Dunstable, 15- 20km/h Glider: Airwave Calypso Incident: Pilot flew into hillside having apparently misjudged the amount of available lift. Injury: Minor: head 17 Mar 2020. Male pilot aged 65, CP rated Site & conditions: Dune du Pyla, France, 15-20km/h, front influence Glider: Nova Ion 5 Incident: Pilot intentionally stalled wing over sand from 2m to find stall point. On impact the emergency parachute deployed. Pilot noted that this had happened before from the Advance Progress 3 harness. Injury: None 12 SKYWINGS MAY 2020 hang points Lured Down Under by Steve Blackler’s breathless descriptions of the 2019 Championships, the Sopermen were far from alone in the British camp, joined by the esteemed company of the Chitty clan and Steve himself. There were more Brits to be seen on the summit of Mt Murchison, South Island than at most UK flying sites. On this occasion, determined to let only an inherent absence of talent deprive him of respectable flights, Soperman bucked his trend by renting an actual hot ship, courtesy of ex-Brit Dennis Thorpe. Said hot ship was still on board a slower ship crossing the Cook Strait as the practice days dawned, and comp organiser Matt Barlow kindly lent me his spare Combat. Off we went up the hill, 7 km of continuous, increasingly-steep ascent, in convoy with a mix of high- and low-geared cars and a recipe for burning oil. Those who made it to the top were rewarded with a magnificent panorama once the cloud dissipated. Abundant thermic activity, however, was not forthcoming – or perhaps the thermals turn contrariwise in the southern hemisphere? Bombing after a glide and a bit, I learned that if a paddock is conveniently lengthways into wind, the chances are that it’s divided into infinitesimal sub-paddocks by electric wire, only visible to the naked eye after turning finals. Apart from comp co-organiser Shane McKay, who prematurely played his super- low-save trump card, not many got far. I contented myself with a swim in a crystal- clear river – New Zealand’s pristinely potable waterways spoil the avid outdoor swimmer rotten. The second practice invited a dash downwind along the Hope range until Nelson airspace got in the way. The airspace appears to have been modelled on a blindfolded spider’s web and does not lend itself to visual navigation. A good pilot might have turned around and flown back; a bold pilot could have tried their luck on the marble slabs of Mt Owen. I focused on not turning Dennis Thorpe’s shiny full-carbon Litespeed RS4 nanotubes into buckminsterfullerene on our first outing together. A successful first landing was rewarded with a punnet of juicy raspberries and a blissful drive through vineyard country to the shipwreck at Motueka. Whenever I’m Soperman at the NZ Nationals First rule of Flight Club – don’t talk about the weather. Nothing tempts weather gods to mischief more than excited meteorological forum chatter in the weeks leading up to a hang gliding comp. Either the Kiwi pilots hadn’t received the memo about such loose talk or they felt assured that, following the pyrotechnic disruption at Forbes, some good XC weather karma was due for the 2020 New Zealand Hang Gliding Championships in late January. Dennis Thorpe’s mint Litespeed RS – slippery as an eel. It’s like the Lake District – on steroids! Photo: Dennis Thorpe Photo: J erem y SoperMAY 2020 SKYWINGS 13 practising parallel parking on England’s congested motorways, playing dodgems with potholes on our country lanes or mimicking a snail when driving in towns, I’ll be dreaming of South Island’s enchantingly quiet, primly-surfaced network of flowing curves and hair- raising straights. It’s not every day you land next to a World Champion. Nearly everyone had the privilege of joining Christian Ciech at Tutaki ‘International’ airstrip on Day 1 of the comp itself. Clearly our glide ratios are all much of a muchness when it comes to sled runs. Not so without VG, however. Day 2 was to be the big one: 117km over the back, along the Buller river, down the Travers and up the Arnaud. Yours truly neglected to tie his VG cord securely, which promptly vanished into the upright upon launching. I resisted the urge to attempt a top landing and took the first start gate, hoping to pre-empt the main gaggle to the first turnpoint. Of course this didn’t go entirely to plan. As I squeaked out of a bowl at bushwhacking height and skedaddled down the lee slope in rotor, the main gaggle sailed past way overhead. I’ve no excuse for falling short, though. Steve Blackler, whose VG cord broke at the first turnpoint, provided a masterclass in tenacity, clawing his way into goal after six hours. By that time I’d swum with eels as wide as my legs in Lake Rotoiti and made a large dent in an all- you-can-eat buffet, small consolation for missing out on the majestic serrated ridges that dominate the second half of the course. Only one more task was flown due to a combination of wind and the safety committee’s aversion to it. This ridge race took us right down the Tutaki, up onto the lofty Ella range and back again, presided over by an eerie smoke haze blown across the ditch from the Aussie wildfires. Highlights include chiselled rocky pyramids studded with pearly Alpine lakes, bold ravines plunging down through the bushline to the verdant Matakitaki far below, meeting the lead gaggle with a closing speed of 120 mph, and the 32km glide from Turnpoint 1. If only we’d found just one climb on the entire glide to surmount Mt Harte. Alas, most of the field dashed our hopes of goal on its flanks. The post-flight analysis, appended to Christian Ciech’s well-attended Cloud atlas over the Wharepapa The road to the kingdom of heavenMAY 2020 SKYWINGS 15 seminar, revealed how his inspired early crossing of the valley enabled him to power on to goal with characteristic efficiency for 6th place overall. Matt Barlow scooped a well-deserved overall victory, the only pilot to reach two goals. Shane McKay’s deviant upwind route showed that there’s more than one way to skin a cat – if you know your way around these mountains and are prepared to risk a multi-day hike out without your glider. My most memorable flight, on the other hand, was a vindication of blind faith, a triumph of clueless tourist over local knowledge. When the wind was forecast top-end for Mt Murchison we decamped to Takaka Hill, 2.5 hours drive away drive away on the Wharepapa range between the Golden and Tasman bays. We rigged and waited for the breeze to come up the western face. Clouds formed, the sky was mockingly perfect, yet still the breeze remained easterly. The start gate was postponed, and postponed again. Some started derigging, but sadly their sacrifice to the weather gods was not sufficient. Eventually the task was canned and all but four packed up and left. Steve’s conviction that the tailwind would drop enough for the onside thermals to dominate, though earlier derided, ultimately proved correct, and he launched in a momentary nil-wind lull. He made it look too easy. Next up was Glenn Meadows who, who despite having reminded everyone to run hard and fast, tiptoed down the rocky slope, caught a wingtip and spiralled inverted into a bush. No physical harm done, but it did little to assuage my mounting apprehension. Lulls were becoming even fewer and farther between. Suddenly Steve, who had disappeared low around the corner, reappeared high up in the wispies. This prompted John Urlich off the edge, only just avoiding a similarly premature top landing as the streamer flicked back to tail after he commenced his run. Faced with a less than propitious precedent, with the clock showing 17:24, I mustered my inner lemming and ran … Straight into the fastest, smoothest thermal of the week, up to cloudbase so fast that condensation materialised on my camera lens, then on up the side of the cloud in convergence. Whooping with delight, I soared this line of clouds along the primordial vale, then crossed over and did the same on the far side, keeping my glory halo company. Golden sunlight wafted down through the nebulous firmament, illuminating the panorama of two azure bays ahead and the rugged, antediluvian forest of the Kahurangis below – the stuff of dreams. I frolicked until the clouds began to disperse for the evening and pootled back to take-off, closing my first non-negligible triangle. The next challenge was to see how far down the valley towards the beach I could get. Buzzing along the ridge on a 19km speed run, green chasms flashed by. The beach was in sight; I could almost feel the sand between my toes! Brusquely shaken me from my reverie, I collided with the sea breeze. An invisible hand pushed me, no longer feeling like Wolfi Siess, down towards terra firma. Squeezing crossways into an anorexically slim paddock, my first convergence flight was over and I will never forget it. Over breakfast the next day, Steve confessed feeling close to tears as we danced with the clouds, such is the strength of feeling engendered by flights like these, even in seasoned champions like him. It’s a rare invitation to ascend into the kingdom of heaven as a guest without recourse to religion or an engine. The South Island weather may not have been the most conducive to consistent XC flying; nonetheless the Land of the Long White Cloud was unreservedly worthy of the pilgrimage. Steve bagged the most airtime, I had the most flights and Ollie Chitty performed the most inversions in a kayak – the British contingent was not without its accomplishments. Legend has it that, two days after we happy few, we band of hang gliding brothers disbanded, the sailplane world out-and-return record was broken by an absolutely monstrous 1,730km flight from Otago, over the Cook Strait to North Island, and back in mountain wave. When we reached Otago the following day on our motorbike tour of South Island, Dad and I could barely see the road signs through the driving rain. But at least we could see the road, unlike the unfortunate Southlanders, where a biblical 1-metre downpour in 48 hours washed away many thoroughfares. 1 Matt Barlow NZ Moyes RX5 Pro 1921 2 Jonas Lobitz NZ Moyes RX3.5 1696 3 Piers Throssell NZ Moyes Litespeed 1690 4 Geoff Christophers NZ Moyes RX3.5 1654 5 Steven Blackler GB Moyes RX3.5 1628 6 Christian Ciech Italy Icaro 2000 Laminar 1555 19 Jeremy Soper GB Moyes Litespeed RS4 921 30 Ollie Chitty GB Moyes RX5 Pro 679 Full Report by Jeremy Soper Flawed drag-reduction technique: declutter basebar by stowing VG cord in upright Photos: J erem y Soper dead centre Jamie Robe and Parafoil 252 at last years Classic Nationals Photo: Andre w W ebsterAt the annual EPAC meeting in February it was agreed that a 2020 fallback date for an additional competition, if required to ensure at least two Grand Prix competitions are validated, will be October 10th - 11th. For 2021, provisional dates will follow the usual routine, i.e. France at the end of May; UK on the August bank holiday and the Netherlands in early September. The dates were changed this year to avoid clashes with the BPA Nationals and the Paragliding Accuracy European Championships. Following a vote at the EPAC meeting the ‘15-second rule’ will now become the ‘10- second rule’, whereby a pilot can only get re-flight if their final approach is less than 10 seconds. The UK wanted the rule to be changed so that a pilot should fly away if they considered they did not have sufficient height for an acceptable target approach, as in paragliding accuracy, but was outvoted. It was also agreed at the EPAC meeting that there would be more videoing of flights this year, to assist judges to review cases where there is doubt about the first point of landing. Judges will also log occasions when the ‘advantage pilot’ rule is used to resolve simultaneous landings. Minutes of the 2020 EPAC meeting can be found on the bhpa-accuracy.org.uk website. Following concerns raised by some accuracy pilots, the BHPA Accuracy Panel has agreed to change the rules for the Classic Nationals eligibility whereby only parachutes or parascending wings can compete for the national individual and team titles. There will still be an award for best paraglider pilot, and all wing types will be able to compete for the Grand Prix awards. bhpa- accuracy.org.uk A reminder that all 2020 competition dates and the latest League positions can be found on the bhpa-accuracy.org.uk website. Pages have been set up for this year’s Classic and Paragliding Accuracy National Championships, where competition details and entry forms can be found. New pages have been set up for technical articles and a history of classic accuracy competitions, both of which have previously appeared in Skywings. An Unofficial Records page has also been set up to record UK pilots’ achievements in various categories. This is work in progress and pilots are requested to provide information to add to the records. If you have any photos you want adding to the photo gallery, or any other information you would like to see on the website, contact Andy Webster at BHPA Accuracy YouTube channel A YouTube channel called ‘BHPA Accuracy’ has been set up to collate BHPA members’ accuracy videos into one place. Within the channel are playlists that scroll through videos of similar subject matter. At the moment there are three playlists for Classic Accuracy, Paragliding Accuracy and the 2019 World Championships in Serbia. The Classic Accuracy playlist has videos of last year’s Classic Nationals and Birdwings competitions, and other classic accuracy contributions, mainly by Dave Crowhurst. The Paragliding Accuracy playlist has videos of this year’s tow competition in Lithuania, last year’s Paragliding Nationals and many more historical accuracy videos. The 2019 World Championships playlist contains a daily record of the UK team’s exploits at the event, professionally filmed by Jaroslav Jindra, as well as some great drone footage. If you have any videos you want adding to the playlists, contact Andy Webster at Reports by Andy Webster Classic Accuracy News At the time of writing it is known that the French Grand Prix will not be taking place in May and the Dutch Grand Prix is unlikely to take place in June, both due to the coronavirus. The European Parascending Accuracy Committee (EPAC), involving Arthur Bentley, will be reviewing new dates as the situation develops. Discounted paramotor deals Ex-demo and part ex-gliders - Great A-wings to Fancy B wings Harness and Reserve Offers Brilliant part Ex Deals - Save £££ FREE UK Delivery Deliveries from our base in Devon Wicked discounts off future holidays Advice is Free - Get in touchI am proud to be able to announce the pilots selected to represent Team GB in the 2020 FAI European Championships, scheduled for Sićevo in eastern Serbia in July. Although the event is unlikely to go ahead, the BHPA Competitions Panel believe it is important to recognise – and celebrate – the pilots’ talent, and their dedication in securing rankings high enough allow them to be selected. In a remarkable demonstration of team spirit, Russ Ogden, Seb Ospina and Guy Anderson, all of whom who were ranked higher, stepped aside to give others the opportunity to gain high-level experience and compete for the British team at the Europeans. The full GB Team, conforming to the 4 + 1 formula, comprises Martin Long, Theo Warden, Idris Birch, Harry Bloxham and Emma Casanova, with Alex Coltman in reserve. I will reprise the Team Manager role I played at last year’s Kruševo World Championships. Earlier in the year, many Nationals pilots were fortunate to have competed in the British Winter Open at Roldanillo in Colombia. Pilots flew four tasks, two of which were races to goal of over 100km. In the second task, a 128km race to goal, Seb Ospina and Martin Long were the highest placed Brits in goal, coming in at a blistering speed on three hours and 40 minutes – that’s flying at an average speed of approximately 35km/h in nil wind. This demonstrates the high level of competition ability we are lucky to have in the squad. Theo Warden will be defending his 2018 European title; both he and Idris Birch flew for Team GB for the 2019 World Championships at Kruševo in August. Harry Bloxham and Emma Casanova have also been doing great things. Harry achieved huge 500+km flights and a World Record in Brazil in October, and Emma has been doing well in PWCs and flying in the French Alps in preparation for the 2021 World Championships in the area. Alex Coltman, our Reserve Pilot, is a well established name in British paragliding; it’s great to see him back at the top of the tree. Together this squadron of talented and motivated pilots will make a formidable team, capable of a podium place. Our fingers are crossed for the Europeans to go ahead. The Serbian organisation are still optimistic; if the event does go ahead this team will be available. The event is planned to start on July 19th and finish on August 1st. If it doesn’t go ahead we still hope to get together later in the year to practice as a team in preparation for the winter series of competitions. Report by Jocky Sanderson 18 SKYWINGS MAY 2020 Europeans team selection comp lines Harry Bloxham, British Champion, new world record at 510kmIdris Birch, Gin development pilot, 6th at Linzhou PWCMartin Long, 4th at Argentina PWC, No. 2 Brit at Roldanillo Jocky Sanderson, three-times Worlds team pilot, World Bronze medallist, tactics Grand Master Alex Coltman, 10th at Roldanillo last year, 4th Brit this year Emma Casanova, best British female pilot at Roldanillo and female task winner at Brazil PWCTheo Warden, reigning European ChampionEuropeans 2018 action at Montalegre, Portugal Photo: Theo W ardenNext >