JULY 2021 SKYWINGS 1 No. 387 JULY 2021 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding AssociationI don’t entirely agree with him – most people can drive a car but few can cope with a F1 racing car – but I do agree with him about harnesses. I’ve been a weekend warrior for about 20 years now and had a variety of wings and harnesses. Getting the harness set-up right does make a big difference. Flying one day at a site I knew well, I thought, ‘It shouldn’t be this rough here.’ I noticed that the risers seemed quite far apart – the distance from my elbow to the second knuckle of my middle figure is the correct setting for my weight. I was horrified to find that the setting was further than the tip of that finger. After resetting the correct distance the behavior of the wing changed dramatically. The rough air had miraculously disappeared and my wing returned to its usually chatty self. I had set the distance some time earlier in my garage, but hadn’t considered the fact that adjustments can slip with use. Another adjustment often ignored by pilots is the shoulder straps. When weight shifting the strap on the opposite side should come in contact with your shoulder. This means there is always a little bit of pressure on the outside tip. At the time I had a ‘hammock’ seatboard- less harness. It was superbly comfortable, but when I hit a thermal on one side of the wing, that side went up and I was rolled over to the other side and had to use brake to correct the roll. My current harness has a rigid foam seat. Again, I set it up in my garage and all seemed well – until I flew it. After about an hour I felt like I had done a hundred sit-ups and my thighs were getting tired. Although my bum was securely on the seat, the backs of my thighs were suspended slightly above it. Back in the garage, by adjusting the end of the seat upwards by only 5 to 10mm, my thighs were fully supported. After the adjustment I noticed an added bonus – when I entered a thermal side-on and that side of the wing rose, the upward movement automatically put pressure on the underside of that thigh, and instantly I could weight-shift to correct the glider, and centre the thermal more quickly and efficiently. The harness is bulky and takes up a lot of space in the rucksack, and it’s heavier than my previous one. But, as Gary says, a good harness can make all the difference to your flying. These are compromises that I am more than happy with. Over the years I’ve had a few accidents. Once, flying low over the back of take-off at the Model Ridge, I hit sudden turbulence and the wing went into a spiral dive. I had completed a SIV course on the wing and knew two things – I was too low to recover before impacting the ground, and I was also too low to deploy my reserve successfully. Recalling that the manufacture’s bumf stated, ‘The airbag is designed to never transfer more than 17g of energy to your back – most spines can survive an impact of 19g,’ I stalled the glider and impacted the ground on my back. I ended up on a back stretcher for four hours and was kept in hospital for observation. I don’t recommend anyone else trying this! The harness seemed undamaged, but after an impact like that I thought it prudent to get a new one. One other thing. After an encounter with really rough rotor, I decided to experience a deployment and throw my reserve, over the sea. I organised a rescue boat, found a life vest, attached a float to my reserve handle to aid recovery of the reserve bag, and set off up the hill. The reserve deployed successfully and I began to descend at a reasonable rate, but my wing still wanted to fly. I tried stalling it and collapsing the leading edge, but every time I released the lines it reinflated. In the end I had to haul down on a stabilo line to drag it in. The majority of water landings are fatal, and I soon found out why. Even with the life vest on the buoyancy of the back protection held me face down. By moving my head to one side and using a swimming stroke I could just get my mouth out of the water enough to take a gasp of air. I tried to release the buckles of my harness, but my gloves had no feeling at all – it felt like my hands were encased in blancmange (the BHPA Pilot Handbook recommends removing your gloves if you are going to land in water – I can see why.) I tried to remove the gloves, normally difficult but impossible under water. Only when the rescue boat arrived could I get both hands clear of the sea, pull one glove off and release the buckles of the harness with its murderous intent. After that experience I decided I really should stop messing about and complete a proper SIV course – but omit any offered reserve throwing. As my harness took ages to dry out I borrowed another one, and was shocked to find it was better set up than my own. At this point I knew I had to start taking a lot more care about the set-up. Setting up your harness before flying is a good idea, but it is also a good idea to check – frequently – that it is still set up correctly. 2 SKYWINGS JULY 2021 The post-flight pints were going down well. We were sat around, chewing the fat, when Gary Stenhouse, a friend of mine, said, ‘Most gliders are about the same. If you can fly one you can fly most of them, but a harness can make all the difference.’ Harness finesse Correct adjustment is key At titude Photo: Adv ance/Felix W oelk FRED WINSTANLEY, LONGTIME PARAGLIDER PILOT attitude4 SKYWINGS JULY 2021 regulars regulars 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 Simon Sykes reaches for the spot at the 2019 Classic Accuracy Nationals at South Cerney Photo: Arthur Bentley THIS PAGE Annecy’s fabled paragliding culture at the Doussard LZ Photo: Gareth Bird JULY 2021 SKYWINGS 5 regulars tests and reviews features 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 For the July issue enter the username Jul_2021 and the case-sensitive password sTa&27_h For the August issue enter the username Aug_2021 and the case-sensitive password Vp*93J&2 DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the September issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Monday August 2nd. Letters for the August Airmail pages should arrive no later than Friday July 16th. Advertisement bookings for the August edition must arrive by Monday July 12th. Copy and classified bookings no later than Monday July 19th.6 SKYWINGS JULY 2021 news Idris is on fire! Idris Birch recently set fire to the paragliding XC League with several consecutive big distances, culminating in a 250km goal flight on June 1st. Enzo 3 mounted, Idris left Kettle Sings in the Malverns after 12 to arrive six hours later at Valley in Anglesey. ‘What an emotional roller-coaster!’ he reported afterwards. ‘To fly from my current home hill to my home land. Passing through beautiful scenery and over Snowdon for the first time, and topped off with a ridiculously long final glide between the airspace to goal on Anglesey. A flight to remember!’ This flight comes hot on the heels of 169km from Garway Hill to Petersfield on May 26th, and 229km from Mere to Crewe the next day. Not to mention two 70km+ triangles in April and his 195k from Elan valley in May (see June Skywings). At the time of writing Idris leads the XC League at over 1300 points, nearly 200 points ahead of hard-chasing Trias Gkikopuolos (1150) and Marcin Minkiewicz (967 points). Wills Wing closes US operation Longtime US hang gliding manufacturer Wills Wing announced on June 8th that they would be closing their Orange, California business. A new business led by Mexican distributor Rudy Gotes will be starting up at Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The company, started by the Wills brothers at Santa Ana in 1973, has stayed the course and remained at the forefront of hang gliding design, competition success and record flying for 48 years. A statement signed by management team Steve Pearson and Mike and Linda Meier, and surviving Wills brother Chris, cited a range of market and economic conditions that had made their decision to wind down unavoidable. It’s very hard to recruit good people in expensive Southern California. The transfer of business to Mexico reflects a growing trend in US industry, particularly in the manufacture of electronics, automobile and auto parts, aircraft components and medical devices. Rather than the end of the road, this move could herald a new beginning for Wills. Wills will complete outstanding orders, eventually shutting down production and closing the company some time in August. Work is already in hand to support the new Mexican facility and ensure the continued supply of Wills Wing products and technical support. Current Wills president and designer Steve Pearson will be joining the new company; the existing partnership with longtime US dealer Lookout Mountain Flight Park will continue to provide domestic customer support. The Wills Wing team said, ‘We’ve dedicated our careers and our lives to this sport, and in return we’ve been rewarded with lifelong friendships and incomparable experiences. However nothing lasts forever; we thank all Wills pilots for their support over the years and wish you all, and the sport itself, all the best.’ RAeC Trust bursary winners Congrats to young BHPA pilots Kiera Wong and Tom Taplin, both of whom have gained Royal Aero Club Trust bursaries this year. Kiera, 19, is originally from Germany but now lives in Eastbourne. She trained two years ago with FlySussex and now plans to use the bursary to further progress her flying. Kiera works part-time at the Loft repair shop and hopes to become an instructor in due course. ‘For me,’ she says, ‘learning to fly was the perfect escape from college work.’ Tom, 22, is now at University but has been working towards his paramotor CP with Green Dragons for a couple of years. ‘Once qualified,’ he says, ‘I’d love to bring more family and friends into the sport to share my passion.’ He hopes to attend a Thermal Chasers camp next year, when his bursary will be a great help. Andy Shaw reports that Tom is a really enthusiastic and very knowledgeable pilot. The RAeC Trust bursaries are awarded every year to young pilots across the GA spectrum between the ages of 14 and 21, who seek to advance from one recognised level in their sport to the next. There are usually 20 or 30 successful applicants, often heavily concentrated in the gliding and parachuting fields. Several BHPA members have also benefited in recent years, not least Theo Warden and Jack Pimblett. If you will be less than 21 by the next bursary deadline (March 31st 2022), check it out. Details can be found at I’m not moving to Mexico, but as I drift into my 46th year of selling flying kit, subtle changes are coming at the Flying Circus. This picture sums up my business, flying and selling new and secondhand gliders and equipment to share the mind-blowing experience of free flight with my lucky customers. I am looking to the future, though and will be slowing down - working towards concentrating on sales of Charly crash helmets and a select range of other items. But I have 46 years of accumulated stock to clear, and that is going to take a while. I have quite a few new and used paragliders to move on, including some lovely Firebird Spiders in the medium and large sizes, a gorgeous BGD Cure and a wonderful new Skyman Cross- Country. Prices start at £495, but you could make an offer. Being the Flying Circus, there are also some lovely hang gliders for sale, of course. This Moyes Malibu is only £2750, but just £200 could buy you an early Litespeed 4, an as-new Clubman 140 or TWO small Aeros KPLs. Everything must go, but I am still buying gliders in from time to time, so check the website for the latest I’ve been delving into the recesses of my storage unit and hangar, and as you can imagine, I have got a lot of stuff together over 46 years! Like this Xcertina bag, as new in the medium size (2.9m long) for just £35. There is also a Niviuk concertina bag for £25 and several nice rucksacks. Here is something really rare – a brand new short-pack bag for a Finsterwalder Funfex or similar. A cancelled order from the days when I was selling these gliders, they cost about £200, so let’s make this one available at £100 and see what happens! I still stock lots of new items. Here is the Brand New Paralock quick-release karabiner for Tandem pilots - I have stock, starting at £68 a piece. I also have the well- established Quicklocks in stock, plus the full Charly range of proven karabiners for paragliding and hang gliding. Brand new, but not yet proven at all (on the bike) is the Zoot Mount for hang gliding instruments. Most instrument manufacturers seem to ignore the hang gliding market these days, so I have designed this zoot mount for those light instruments that need adaptation - like the Flymaster LS's. £45, and each one is lovingly hand-crafted by ME. Perhaps I should sign each of them? Call if you want more details! You have to have balls to pose for this sort of photo, and I have been feeling much better of late. This is actually a wig I bought for advertising purposes but the hair is growing back! I have a range of used flying suits from £5 upwards and new Flymike suits (mostly S, L and XL) all drastically reduced to clear. The one in the picture is really good, medium size - £50 to clear. My customers tend to keep coming back. When Mike Wood made his return to flying recently he bought this immaculate Moyes XT from me, as well as a very tidy harness. He is happy, and you could be too. I am also well-known for selling headsets and radios. Prices start at just £34.50 for either Integral or Open-face helmets, and I have models for Icom, Alinco, Kenwood and Baofeng radios. I also offer the headset of your choice complete with a Baofeng radio for just £77 all-in! Back to my secondhand stock, and I have a couple of pairs of Plastiqual wheels for round base bars, priced at just £35, and one even has the original storage bag for £37.50! New wheels in stock, too… More than just secondhand, this lovely Hiway Cloudbase is one of my collection of vintage hang gliders. Almost all of them are up for sale, so if you want a glider from Hiway, Birdman, Chargus or Airwave then make me an offer I cannot refuse. These gliders are not coming around ever again, so take this opportunity. Another rare and collectible oddity is this Reploggle barograph, which seems to be in full working order. Surely somebody must be desperate to add it to their collection? Make me an offer…. Another collectible item is this brand new Metamorfosi T-shirt from the era of Angelo Crapanzano. I’d wear it myself, but it is a medium - too tight for my saggy old body. £12 buys a gem. £1750 would buy this lovely Litespeed RS3.5, former World Team Champion with Carl Wallbank, current British XC champion with Jeremy Soper (seen here attacking Oswestry on yet another 2021 cross country flight). It will soon be carrying another logo because Soperman, constantly striving to improve his flying even when stuck on terra firma, has created a web app for instant .igc cross country tracklog analysis: check it out at XC- Buddy.com! Simon Murphy’s Flying Circus tel: 01404 891685 Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA 8 SKYWINGS JULY 2021 news Fly & Share reminder Pilots everywhere are reminded to join KarmaFlights’ Fly & Share event on August 5th – 8th. The idea is to collect sponsorship, and donate funds for every kilometre flown, in support of professional and personal opportunities for children disadvantage by the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. Distances are unimportant; the focus is on creating a worldwide community event. 50 pilots flew at last year’s inaugural fly-in at Greifenburg in Austria, raising over 8,000 euros for KarmaFlights. This year’s event will take place wherever you fly. Full details of how to participate are at New online XC book Denizens of the internet forums will be familiar with the work of Nikolay Yotov, aka Skynomad, who has now produced a downloadable 130-page book on XC flying. It’s an attempt to structure the complexity of XC flying and explain the major elements of the puzzle, he says. ‘It should help beginner XC pilots to identify their mistakes and accelerate their progress. Advanced pilots might be challenged by some new ideas ... or at least understand some techniques and tactics they’ve been using subconsciously for years!’ Cross Country Paragliding is available for free download in .pdf format – if readers like it they can donate to Nikolay’s PayPal account. He says that he’d like his readers to become authors of future editions of the book via a forum – ideas. The book is available now at BHPA Digital Membership Cards The BHPA has been working on the introduc- tion of digital membership cards and is now in a position to roll this out to its members. Emails will be sent out shortly providing a link to the new, free membership app. Members will be required to set up a password enabling them to view a digital version of their current membership card. Any members who might need to update their email details should notify the Office their membership number and full name. The existing hard-copy cards will continue to be issued for the foreseeable future. BHPA Telegram notification BHPA members can now receive notification of new posts to the BHPA’s website news section and its public Facebook page, automatically pushed to your phone or computer. Simply search Telegram on your phone/device/computer for the public channel BHPA Information and subscribe. It is hoped this new service will lead to more rapid dissemination of important news from the Association, not least advance warning of any future flying restrictions. BHPA 500 Club WIN CASH PRIZES AND HELP THE ASSOCIATION! May winners Malcolm Morrison £133.40 Adam Sullivan £66.70 Andy Wallington £33.35 Nicholas Rogoff £20.01 Peter Gordon-Finlayson £16.68 Mitch Stone £16.68 Nicholas Kerner £13.34 Mark Barrett £13.34 Julian Walford £10.01 David Munday £10.01 BHPA £333.48 If by the time you read this you have not received your cheque, please contact me on 07802 525099. Marc Asquith North-South Cup Pilots began to gather at Crickhowell campsite on the Thursday evening. It was flyable on all four days (June 4th-7th). Friday’s task was a scenic 60km from Merthyr to Pen y Fan, Lord Hereford’s Knob and back to the campsite. Lots of pilots made it round, although some (myself included) needed a bit of hike & fly to finish. South pilots won the day. Task 2 saw us at Magic Mountain for a 140km goal at Crewe. Only three pilots tried to reach it; many took a more northerly course to avoid the forecast spreadout and go for distance, some making Sheffield for 200km. I was surprised to be the only pilot to reach Crewe after an epic 5.5 hour battle. With the accuracy of the scoring system (string!) in question, resorting to a spreadsheet revealed a less than 1% difference between the two teams, but the North insisted they’d won the day, so 1-1 after two tasks. The day was marred by two pilots needing hospital treatment. Sunday saw a very short task from the Blorenge to the campsite, with a spot landing to score the maximum five points. Although only 8.5km it wasn’t a simple climb and glide – a second thermal was needed. The standard of landings was much higher than last year and the task was comprehensively won by the North. The final task saw a return to Merthyr, where it soon became clear that the wind was way off to the south. Most pilots got away, although lots of top cover made the 200km task to Sheffield overly optimistic! Hugh Miller won the day for the South with a hard-fought 134km, and so it ended at 2-2 overall – a fitting result for two very evenly matched teams! Thanks to Jim Mallinson, Jocky Sanderson and Hugh Miller for organising, and to the pilots themselves and the auction donors. Together with the entry fees this raised approximately £5,500 for our chosen charities. Thanks as well to the wives and partners who helped carry the injured pilots’ kit down on Day 2, and finally thanks to Park Farm campsite, who made us most welcome. Report by Tim Pentreath Photo: Lisa P entreathIn brief Sky Surfers’ media success! Three whole pages in a local newspaper? Just the sort of coverage our sport requires, and achieved recently by the Sky Surfing club. In May the Petersfield Post ran a well- written, well-illustrated article outlining the club’s activities and how to get in touch with them. Hats off (of course!) to Brian Parkins and others, and to Katie Cole for providing the excellent photography which is likely to have clinched the inclusion. Other clubs would do well to take a leaf out of the Surfers’ book. Regional papers and freesheets are crying out for local news – it doesn’t take too much effort to make contact with them. Guy-and-Harry record confirmed. Guy Anderson and Harry Bloxham’s astonishing 510km straight-distance-to- goal flight from Assu in Brazil in October 2019 has been ratified by the FAI as a world record. Two weeks earlier Switzerland’s Michael Küffer had set the goal-record mark at 505.6km; Guy and Harry eclipsed it by just 5.2 km! They are also close to another record – the 19 months it has taken to ratify their flight. Guy and Harry – we salute you! Icarus Cup reminder. The British Human Powered Flying Club’s Icarus Cup has been confirmed for Lasham airfield in Hants from July 24th to August 1st. This annual gathering represents the state of the art of the human-powered aircraft movement, slowly moving forward to greater and greater achievements. Marshalls are required to assist with the running of the event; contact Tony Prentice on 01474706405, email Acchione Class 2 triangle speed record confirmed. US class 2 pilot Armand Acchione’s 100km triangle speed record, set at 59.0km/h aboard a Swift Light in Ontario last August, has been ratified by the FAI as a world record. Thus finally falls ex-pat Brit Robin Hamilton’s long-standing record, set in Texas at 53.73km/h aboard a standard Swift – 18 years earlier! More world records. Paragliding’s world and European 50km triangle speed records fell to Slovenia’s Primož Suža on May 31st: 38.8km/h from Tolmin, beating Charles Cazaux’s 2006 mark. On the same day, at Brussels, Ontario, Armand Acchione (see above!) set a new world Class 2 hang gliding 25km triangle speed mark at 63km/h, to beat Davis Straub’s 50.4km/h set in 2001. Armand’s flight also established a new North American record for the distance. Pinot sets record triangle. Meanwhile, in April, French paragliding star Maxime Pinot knocked off a 308km triangle from St Hilaire via Chalencon and the Tête de l’ Estrop to record an average speed of 28.6km/h. If ratified, this flight will eclipse Pierre Bouilloux’ 2003 distance of 237km. Paragliding’s 300km triangle barrier has been well and truly broken! Advanced Adventures. More than 40 remarkable travel and adventure stories are now available on the recently-updated Advance website. These include, vol-biv, XC, hike&fly, climb&fly and travel epics backed by high-quality imagery and video, all re- presented in a brand-new layout. Go to the Stories section at CANP app joins 500 club! Pete Logan and Chris Williams’ CANP app now covers a total of 500 UK sites. By the time you read this it will have surpassed 1000 CANPs raised by the app – not bad for only its second season. 54 clubs and schools have their sites logged, including some oft- used non-club sites in Scotland. A remarkable achievement! Ölü Deniz service centre. A complete package of trimming, line and porosity checks, plus glider and harness repairs, is available at reasonable prices from Mayagliders in Ölü Deniz. They also sell paragliders, harnesses, reserves, sausage bags and accessories. Details are at Skywings online. The online version of this issue of the magazine can be found at username Jul_2021 and the case-sensitive password sTa&27_h. For the August issue enter the username Aug_2021 and the case- sensitive password Vp*93J&2. 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.Next >