No. 374 JUNE 2020 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding AssociationThe BHPA had lobbied both the Department for Transport (DfT), the CAA and the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS), pretty much from the start of the lockdown, saying that hang glider and paraglider pilots could perfectly well maintain social distancing whilst engaging in flying. We also sought to persuade them that we were sufficiently safe that any additional load we might place on the NHS would be insignificant. The statistics show that there are approximately 55 visits to A&E each year as a result of participating in our sport. The lockdown for airsports in England ended in a tense and chaotic few days. We received word in early May that DCMS were compiling a list of sports that might be allowed to resume following the Prime Minister’s speech on May 10th. I wrote to the Secretary of State at DCMS on May 6th asking to be included on the list. At the same time we knew that the Department for Transport (DfT) and the CAA were also working on revised guidelines for GA. In the days following the PM’s speech we were in close contact with DfT officials. As the days passed, everyone was becoming frustrated. The final hurdle was to get Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport and – from a GA point of view – an all-round good guy, to sign off the revised guidelines. On May 14th, the officials were literally chasing Shapps around trying to get some of his time, but as he was doing the Ministerial Press Conference that afternoon they could not get at him. It looked as if we were in for another glorious non-flying weekend. Then, out of the blue arrived a somewhat template letter from DCMS saying that all outdoor sports were now permitted. We sent this letter to the CAA and DfT, without response. However on Friday the DfT made their announcement that recreational GA was once again permitted. We cannot say whether the authorisation from the DCMS pushed the DfT into a corner, but either way it got us back in the sky! The BHPA team had already produced guidelines about how we might fly, and the minute the authority from DCMS came through we were ready to go. Friday was a great flying day. I had hoped that we might restart in a low key boring- soaring type of way. However, despite most pilots following the guidance, at least one well-known paraglider pilot flew around 80km to the coast at Weymouth and then self retrieved on the train. A well known hang glider pilot flew from Carlton Bank down to the Wash having arranged a family retrieve. My blandishments to the authorities about how little pressure we put on the emergency services were also put in context, when there were at least two air ambulance evacuations of seriously injured pilots out of, I believe, three serious accidents, plus possibly one uneventful mid-air collision. Many people believe that we will see another spike in the spread of the virus leading to a second lockdown. It has always been my hope and plan in such circumstances to be able to say to the DfT, DCMS and CAA that we had proved during this restart that we could operate responsibly and safely, and that there was no need for us to stay off the hills and airfields so that we can avoid a second shutdown. I fear that plan may now lie tatters. I am hoping that was a bubble of bad luck; certainly no one ever goes out flying intending to have an accident. So let’s all get back in practice in a careful and cautious manner. Please develop a sense of imagination: ‘How could this go wrong and what might happen?’ Fly safe and fly often … and abide by the BHPA Guidelines that we spent so long drafting! Let’s not also forget that England is the only home nation where we can fly. We must now try to get the same return of freedom to those members in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Crown Dependency islands. I hope by the time you read this that we will have made progress there also. I also hope that pilots under those jurisdictions will learn some lessons for how the re-start went in England. 2 SKYWINGS JUNE 2020 attitude Deconfinement MARC ASQUITH, BHPA CHAIRMAN I am sitting at my desk on a slightly overcast Sunday afternoon at the end of a turbulent weekend, knowing that you will not read this for three weeks at least. This has been the first weekend back flying after the March 24th start of lockdown. 4 SKYWINGS JUNE 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 At Westbury White Horse on May 15th on the resumption of UK flying Photo: Matthew Burton THIS PAGE Confined to cloudbase! Location unknown. Photo: Tiago B 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 June issue enter the username Jun_2020 and the case- sensitive password H[r32%Je For the July issue enter the username Jul_2020 and the case- sensitive password 92V#u$L7 DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the August issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Wednesday July 1st. Letters for the July Airmail pages should arrive no later than Friday June 19th. Advertisement bookings for the July edition must arrive by Friday June 12th. Copy and classified bookings no later than Friday June 19th. regulars reviews features JUNE 2020 SKYWINGS 56 SKYWINGS JUNE 2020 Nova’s Airtime – a lockdown buster! Nova are celebrating 30 years in the flying business with an 80-page online and print magazine. Airtime is Nova-centric of course, but not an unashamed advertising-heavy platform. Content and design are both of high quality and there’s a lot of useful non- partisan information within. Edited by Nova PR guy and Pilots Team captain Till Gottbrath, it leads with a big – and very good – article about improving your XC flying skills. There’s a feature about a 300km EN B triangle (arguably the bee in Nova’s bonnet, but one I applaud), a lot of stuff about Nova personnel and loads more useful and interesting material. In short: well thought out, well executed and, er, very Nova, but easy to read and highly informative. Airtime is available in print form free from Nova dealers and schools, and can be downloaded as a PDF at Email addresses The BHPA holds email addresses for many members, but not all, and some of those we hold are out of date. As we have discovered during the Covid-19 pandemic, this means the Association is unable to speedily and reliably contact all members. Additionally, the long awaited digital membership system, now close to completion, will not be available to those members for whom we do not hold a valid email address. Once this system is fully rolled out we anticipate substantial savings in the costs of postage, allowing us to continue to press down on subscription increases. In time, it will also obviate the need for members to carry a membership card as they will be able to access their membership info, including ratings and licences, online via a smartphone. We request that all members contact the office with their current email address. We anticipate using this information to process your membership information and renewals, and for changes to ratings and licences and other routine communications. We will also use it for passing urgent safety information or time-sensitive urgent news which cannot wait for Skywings. Please ‘Member e-mail address update’ in the subject line and sufficient information in the email to let us identify you as a member, i.e. name and address or name and membership number. Prepare to Fly 3 The third edition of Simon Blake’s essential guide to pilot improvement is now available – with added colour, and greatly expanded to 212 pages. This latest version has a good deal more on electronic navigation and flight planning and introduces electronic conspicuity, as well as including the lessons learnt from Simon’s expanding XC experience. The difficulty of making progress in free flying is that after leaving school there isn’t always much help out there – some clubs’ excellent coaching schemes notwithstanding. And of course, in the air you’re on your own. Whether you’re part of your club’s active red streamer coaching set, or a pilot who often flies outside that welcoming support network, Prepare to Fly is essential reading. Take advantage of the lockdown and study it from end to end! Available from Lulu at £16.66 plus postage. New FAI bod German pilot Markus Haggeney has been appointed FAI Secretary General having been acting in the post since December. As FAI Sports and Events Director since 2014, Markus has driven air sports forward and cultivated ties with Federation stakeholders. ‘I’m delighted to take up this challenge, he writes. ‘The objective now is to ensure that FAI gets stronger and stronger as an organisation – stabilisation and consolidation is the key for the times ahead.’ A leading light in German ballooning circles, Markus is currently undergoing paraglider training. news BHPA 500 Club WIN CASH PRIZES AND HELP THE ASSOCIATION! April winners Wayne Gregory £128.40 Richard Holland £64.20 Barry Woodhead £32.10 Peter Tustin £19.26 David Whittle £16.05 Robert Bradley £16.05 Sean Biggs £12.84 Douglas Johns £12.84 Barry Woodhead £9.63 David Forty £9.63 BHPA £321.00 If by the time you read this you have not received your cheque, please contact me on 07802 525099. Marc Asquith Hold those horses! We (in England at least) are back in the air. Exciting it may be, but please note that our first flying weekend saw two serious ground- handling incidents and a mid-air collision. The cost: three injured pilots, the use of three rescue helicopters and far too much emergency-services time. It’s not a good look – we must do better! We'll are now at least 11 weeks into the most disruptive episode in free flying history. Individuals and clubs have been exemplary in adhering to government strictures; there have been very few reports of flying anywhere in the country. Extreme restraint has been practiced by all, and the sport and the Association comes out of it well. We commend members on their restraint; to the schools and businesses struggling to stay afloat: we salute you all! But if we ever again find ourselves under strong pressure go flying after a long lay-off, let's remember this lesson from Covid-19. Comprehensive guidance for safe flying under Covid-19 conditions can be found on the BHPA website under ‘Latest News’. Remember … the wind will always blow, and the hill will always be here.'STOCK LOTS OF GOOD STUFF. After 45 years I am selling off stock as I wind the business down to suit my age and inclination. This is one of two as-new Moyes Malibu 2s I have at present (£3150) – only one of which will be sold. Treat yourself - anyone will tell you just how great these gliders are. I have several more intermediate gliders: Sport 2 Large £2495, Calypso £399, WW U2 £1995, Pulse, Disco and Sonics coming soon! Check the full list here: This amazingly clean Ozone Buzz Z is an ideal beginners glider, at only £599. I also have a Firebird Spider M £499, Spider L £425, and Cross Country (new) £1999. Advanced gliders include Cure M at £1799 and Sigma 8 tba. All superb and priced to If it is a new harnesses you need, I have one large Skyman lightweight X-Alps Pod - £200 off. Used harnesses from £150, including a Karpofly X-Alps at £424 and two reversibles from I have loads of new and used hang gliding harnesses from £50 - £1000. This full-race Moyes Matrix is coming in soon – price TBA. I have small, medium, large and XXL sizes in This is rare, but typical of the sort of thing you can find at the Flying Circus - a splitter bar for £75, so you can fly your hang glider in supine. I make a point of buying in unusual stuff. Have you got anything you want to sell? Not so unusual is my stock of reserve parachutes for both disciplines. Used reserves from £50 - £350, including a Metamorfosi Conar 16 HG (2015) and a Suppair Light medium in a PG front container! I have lots of new Independence reserves, some of which are reduced to clear, because I’m majoring on the fantastic new Independence Cornetto Squares – priced from only £545 Same applies to my stock of Charly reserves – prices reduced so that I can reduce my stocks! Call today – or check out the I’m also clearing out my stocks of instruments – new and used. I have Renschler, Flytec, Ascent, Oudie and Skytraxx Look at the website for the latest situation. If the human race is to have a future we have to find an alternative to the unsustainable policies of crazy growth. That’s exactly what I’m doing with Simon Murphy’s Flying Circus. Flying Circus Trade Secrets! 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! Lots of instruments - all prices reduced to clear Charly Quickout Karabiners for tandem pilots. Weighs 200 gm with a breaking load of 4000kg. £60each The Austrialpin Tropos 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 reduced to clear - £25 Accessories8 SKYWINGS JUNE 2020 news In brief Ian Currer exam videos. Although on lockdown furlough, BHPA tech officer Ian Currer has not been idle. Like other coaches and instructors he has used the time to produce a series of video sessions to help pilots and students revise for their BHPA written exams and refresh their knowledge before they get out flying again. The sessions will cover CP and Pilot theory subjects including the Power environment. Some are currently works in progress, but eventually there will be 18 or 20 videos from ten to 35 minutes in length. Note that these are not BHPA productions but Ian's own personal coaching resources – but as he is the author of many of the exam questions they should be useful! To find them go to: and subscribe to Ian’s channel. David Robertson. It is with great regret that we report the passing of longtime BHPA member David Robertson following a short illness. David, originally a hang glider pilot but later a paraglider, microlight and tug pilot, was well known in the Derbyshire and Nottingham Aerotow clubs [See opposite]. He died at his Nottingham home on April 4th with his family at his side. X-Pyr postponed. Among the many flying events cancelled or postponed, the X-Pyr hike-and-fly race, scheduled to start at Hondarribbia, Spain, on June 21st, is off. However X-Pyr hasn’t expired – the organisation is hoping to run the event in late August or early September. Race director Íñigo Redín: ‘The health and wellbeing of our competitors, staff and sponsors is our highest priority and we are trying to find a workable solution to running the race this year.’ Updates will be at Non-members can now join the BHPA online. The system is really aimed at beginners, but from now on, when encountering non-BHPA members flying on their sites, club members and officials can say, ‘You know you can join the BHPA on your phone?’ A free Bruce Goldsmith book will go to the first club member who secures a new BHPA member by this method! Blunder dept! Those paying close attention to April’s Bautek hang glider test may have wondered at the published short- pack length of 9.8 metres. In fact the Astir SE packs to 6.16m, short packs to 4.69m and can be extra-short packed to an astonishing 2.99m. Apologies to anyone who may have been confused. We were! Skywings online. The online version of this issue of the magazine can be found at username Jun_2020 and the case- sensitive password H[r32%Je. For the July issue enter the username Jul_2020 and the case-sensitive password 92V#u$L7. 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. Skywalk has just launched the Mescal 6 (see May Skywings). Here I’m going to look in detail at its Agility System, a feature they say delays the need to upgrade to a higher-certification glider to achieve more responsive handling. Two-stage handling – a step forward? STEVE UZOCHUKWU INVESTIGATES SKYWALK’S LATEST INNOVATION The Mescal 6 has two levels of handling, referred to as Comfort and Sport modes. Both are certified to EN/LTF A. This represents a considerable investment by Skywalk as the certification flight tests have to be flown in both settings; the development work too includes both modes. The change is easy to make and no lines need to be disconnected. In Comfort mode the glider responds at the upper end of brake travel but with less bank, and could be said to ‘turn flatter’. Brake pressure builds up early and progressively to dissuade the pilot from pulling too much. The glider is slower into a spiral; bank angle increases in response to brake position in a way that isn’t too agile for the new pilot. This is achieved by trimming the brake fan to work over the centre span of the glider first. In Sport mode the brakes engage the outer span first. When used differentially this has a much greater effect on turning – the wing reacts faster and feels more lively overall. The working range for the brakes moves down, the control pressure in that range is reduced, and the bank angle can be very quickly changed. This makes for greater confidence in small thermals or close to terrain, as the demand for a tight turn produces a snappy response. This means that a glider that’s great for out-of-school work can be altered for the next phase of a pilot’s career instead of buying a new glider. The Mescal 6 is delivered in Comfort mode; the conversion to Sport can be done by the owner, or Skywalk or a dealer will do it for a charge. The physical change to the brake fan is that the three centre lines are lengthened and the other lines shortened. Unlike gliders that offer sharper handling through a higher weight range with different certification, this offers two types of handling at exactly the same all- up weight. The conversion itself is easy to do. There’s a Skywalk demo video on YouTube and detailed instructions in the full pilot manual, which Skywalk refers to as the ‘Pro Guide’. The conversion is based on using a loop towards the end of line in question and a metal ring hidden in a small pocket on the trailing edge. The loop and the ring are used to shorten or lengthen the line, and a small piece of Nylon wire is used to hide the extra line where it’s been shortened in another adjacent small pocket. A marker lines up with the point where the line changes colour when the glider is in Sport mode. Making gliders with easily-altered attributes isn’t done often. At Airea Ernst Strobl designed gliders with variable speed system travel for different certification classes, allowing a cost-free upgrade, and the Bio Air Technologies Bionic had variable wing area, adjustable whilst flying. Firebird once made a tandem with a zip to change the area – effectively removing the centre cells. And several manufacturers make gliders with different weight ranges for altered handling. Ordinary soaring paragliders used to have trimmers but these were hard to certify and fell out of favour. Now they are only found in speed flying, speed riding/mini wings and paramotor wings where the extra certification costs are not a factor. Skywalk’s innovation could save a pilot the cost of an upgrade; certainly a significant saving over the higher cost of a super high-end A which the Mescal 6 can be transformed into. It could also help pilots comply with BHPA advice to only upgrade when hours have been built.David started hang gliding in Derbyshire in the late 1970s, although he did not really get into it until he bought an Aerial Arts Clubman in 1984. By 1986 he was flying a Magic 4, a hot ship of the day. Sometime around 1990 David began paragliding, teaming up with with Andy Buchan to buy an Airwave Black Magic between them. In the summer of ‘92 David took instruction in microlight flying from Andy at Light Flight and became owner of a Q Wing 462. Two years later, in August 1994, he was part of the historic microlight rally from London to Paris. Andy takes up the story ... ‘David was part of Brian Milton’s flight of 25 flexwings from Heathrow to Paris Le Bourget. This was the only time microlights have ever flown from Heathrow! Due to bad weather we all had to land out before reaching Headcorn. From there we made it to Abbeville, where we stayed overnight, making Paris the next day.’ The following year, David became a tug pilot with Notts Aerotow Club, facilitating many a grand flight by the hang gliding XC hounds of the day. David was multi-disciplined, flying three different types of aircraft, and an accomplished skier too. He liked keeping things straightforward and simple so that gadgets did not dominate his flying; he was a pilot who could fly by feel. Despite having a very long flying career David was never one for the limelight. He picked his days carefully, looking for those special XC moments rather than clocking up kilometres, and was always the gentleman on the hill, never greedy for launch space. In more recent years, and typically on a nice XC day at Bradwell, he could be spotted, up there with the best, setting off on a crosswind adventure towards home in Nottingham. A perfect day would end near Nottingham where Lynda would meet him and make the retrieve a day out for both. Above all David was a family man; he leaves behind his wife Lynda, their two sons and three grandchildren. David Robertson 1947 - 2020Next >