No. 389 SEPTEMBER 2021 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association2 SKYWINGS SEPTEMBER 2021 attitude However, studying the results of the Kopaonik event revealed two very interesting statistics. • 10% of the pilots taking part were born this century, making it very much the Young Ones’ World Cup. • 13 out of the top 15 pilots were French, which goes to show how well the French system works. The French pilots – pictured above at a team briefing at Kopaonik – receive state funding and many of their top guns are a product of their specialist sports school. As a result they have a conveyor belt of talented and dedicated youngsters who are trained to a really high level. It has always been difficult for UK pilots to compete without the funding the French receive. However in 2016 Barney Woodhead and Malin Lobb set up the very successful British Paragliding Racing Academy (BPRA) with the help of the legendary Guy Anderson and Russ Ogden. All of these have given a lot of their own time for free to help facilitate learning and pilot development. When speaking to pilots from many other nations, we find they are all jealous of our BPRA and wish they had something similar. The BPRA has been very successful in improving the flying of many established pilots, and been instrumental in some great achievements, such as Theo Warden becoming European Champion at 19, and Harry Bloxham setting a declared distance-to-goal world record in Brazil. However I don’t see many more young British pilots keen to get to the top level of XC paragliding racing competitions. I often meet young British pilots who are keen on hike and fly (H&F), but it seems that many of them don’t realise that flying in high-level XC racing comps is probably the best place to learn the very piloting skills they will need to be successful in H&F and adventure flying. If you look at any of the top H&F athletes in the X-Alps, they all cut their teeth in highest level of racing, and can still compete at the highest level. The BPRA has recently enlisted the services of ONEDAY Coaching, headed by Thomas Theurillat who has been both coach and team-mate to the great Chrigel Maurer. The structure is already in place to help any of our talented young pilots give the French some competition. We just need them to step up and get into competition flying. Racing in XC competitions is not only a great training ground, but most pilots find it is just too much fun to stop. We get to fly in the best places and meet pilots from all over the world, providing limitless opportunities for travel and adventures with new friends who share the same passion for flying. It would be great to see some young British pilots join the scene and give the old dogs a run for their money. Photo: Gor an Dimisk ov ski The route to success? ANDREW MCNICOL, PARAGLIDING WORLD CUP COMPETITOR The Serbian PWC was successfully flown at Kopaonik in July. A negative Covid PCR test was required 48 hours prior to arrival, as was specialist travel insurance for many and mandatory quarantine upon return home for some. Given the difficulties of hosting and travelling to an event, as well as the challenging forecasts, the organisers and task setters did a fantastic job to make the event a success.4 SKYWINGS SEPTEMBER 2021 regulars reviews features 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 sky at the Serbia PWC at Kopaonik Photo: Goran Dimiskovski THIS PAGE Joe Redmond flies at Bell Hill in May 2021 Photo: Robin Wallace DESIGN & PRODUCTION Fargher Design Ltd. Killane House, Ballaugh, Isle of Man, IM7 5BD. SEPTEMBER 2021 SKYWINGS 5 PRINT & DISTRIBUTION Newman Thomson Ltd, One Jubilee Rd, Victoria Ind. Est, Burgess Hill, RH15 9TL. ADVERTISING Tel: 07624 413737 SKYWINGS ONLINE The BHPA Exec have determined to remove password protections for a trial period of six months. All issues of Skywings magazine are now freely available at DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the November issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Friday October 1st. Letters for the October Airmail pages should arrive no later than Monday September 20th. Advertisement bookings for the October edition must arrive by Friday September 10th. Copy and classified bookings no later than Friday September 17th.6 SKYWINGS SEPTEMBER 2021 news CAA EC rebate now open to CPs The CAA Rebate scheme for Electronic Conspicuity devices, already extended until September 30th but previously only open to Pilot-rated members, is now open to CP rated pilots too. There is a finite list of qualifying devices; in our case these are mostly instruments with a FLARM element: Naviter, Skytraxx and XC Tracer. Search ‘CAA electronic conspicuity rebate’ to find the relevant CAA page with further details and the application procedure. You will need to register for a CAA Portal account, then complete identity checks; when the CAA have verified these you can complete the rebate form. You’ll get 50% of your expenditure back, up to a limit of £250. All other conditions are unchanged. As yet it is unclear if the deadline will be extended beyond September 30th. New e-learning resource Online learning has proved effective during lockdown for acquiring flying knowledge and skills. Touching Cloudbase author Ian Currer, having posted some Pilot theory revision videos on YouTube, realised that students and pilots could benefit from a structured e-learning course. His new site offers over 60 video lessons and more than 100 theory modules. Each module is presented as a planned lesson and each level contains sample exam questions with feedback. The site is optimised to function on laptops, tablets and smartphones. A £50 subscription provides two years’ access on up to three devices – you can watch and read everything as often as you like. Content ranges from elementary principles to a step-by-step guide to navigating airspace on a cross-country flight. It also includes Jocky Sanderson’s Security in Flight 2 and Performance Flying DVDs. It will be updated as new information or techniques appear. Find it Rotax 582 to be discontinued BRP-Rotax, Austrian manufacturer of widely used microlight engines, announced in July that production of the 582 two- stroke engine will cease at the end of 2021, although they say they aim to provide spares for it for up to ten years. Rotax believes that the transition of the microlight aircraft market to four-stroke engines is now all but complete. More than 30,000 water-cooled, two-cylinder 582s have been manufactured since 1989. Much of the UK’s hang glider aerotow tug fleet is 582 powered, not least the remarkable Foxtug beloved of the CAC, Midland and Malvern groups. When Rotax ceased production of earlier models (447, 462, 503, etc) the supply of crankshafts soon became critical, owners often having to buy a whole spare engine in order to replace the crank. Aerotow work gives engines a hard time; a 582 crankshaft shortage, however far in the future, could become a headache that aerotow groups and other 582 operators won’t need. And any as-yet unbuilt Foxtugs will soon be needing a new source of power. Acchione does it again! Not content with breaking Brit Robin Hamilton’s long-standing Class 2 100km triangle speed record record last year, Armand Acchione has now taken Robin’s 20-year-old Class 2 50km triangle speed record too, this time at 49.61km/h. For what it’s worth, Robin still holds the world Class 2 150, 200 and 300km triangle speed records, the world 100km out-and-return speed record, the world triangle distance record, the world straight-distance-to-goal record (564km) and the world open distance record (715km)! AIS website changes The address of the CAA’s AIS website changed on August 12th to affects all who use the IAS for airspace updates or to inform flight planning websites and apps, and subscribers to the CAA’s chart update service. The new system retains the look and feel of the AIS Internet Briefing System of the last ten years. However some changes require an existing user to act in order to continue to access the site. NOTAM PIB users will have to register a new account – existing password, histories and preferences will not be retained. An online user manual will help users navigate the registration process and the new site’s enhanced functionality. Details Bicho Carrera is acro world champion The FAI world acro championships at Trasaghis, in Italy’s Friuli Venezia Giulia region, closed on July 17th with Chilean pilot Victor ‘Bicho’ Carrera – 5th in the 2016 worlds and winner with Rafael Goberna of the 2017 Synchro World Cup – as the new world champion flying an Advance Omikron wing. 39 pilots from ten nations competed in solo and synchro categories over six days. Four solo runs saw multiple Acro World Cup champion Horacio Llorens in second place ahead of Luke de Weert of the Netherlands. Three runs saw Horacio and Raul Rodriguez take gold in Synchro. Austrians Norbert Winkler and Thomas Schloegl finished second and fellow countrymen Roland Brunnbauer and Thomas Laireiter third. No British pilots participated; Jack Pimblett is concentrating on content creation for his paramotor sponsor.Autumn is coming fast, so let’s clear some great stock, by selling it cheaply. I have a new and unflown Ozone Mojo 5 in the large size for £1350 – that is about half price! EN A, 95 – 115kg and an excellent beginners glider at a secondhand price! Just one of several total bargains (Hang gliders too), priced to clear. The website should tell you the whole Harnesses? This Large Independence Logo is a good beginner’s harness, and is brand spanking new. Reduced to £250 – about half price! Not new, this Woody Valley Velvet with airbag in the large size is way too good for groundhandling, but that is what I’m selling it for. £125 seems fair. This Beamer 3 steerable reserve is brand new. RRP would normally be £895, but you can have this one, here and now, for £450! I have several reserves in stock at reduced prices – look on the website, or give me a call I seem to have a considerable over- stocking problem with new and used rucksacks, stuffsacks and quick-packs. So this new U-Turn Rucksack is reduced to £45, brand new - very little more than some of the secondhand ones I have. Again, they are mostly on the website. Fastpack rucksacks normally retail around £150, but I have examples from Advance, Nova and Gin which I’m knocking out at Don’t mention Concertina bags! I have Ozone, Skyman, Xcertina and Gin, new and secondhand – all £35 to clear! I’m slowly reducing my vast collection of vintage hang gliders, but sometimes also get vintage paragliders in. This Ozone Electron M is in great condition, but I’m selling it for ground handling only at £175. New Plusmax Plus air helmets usually retail around the £100 mark, but I have a selection of colours in the XL size at £50. It would be a slight exaggeration to say that my stock of used hang gliding equipment is the envy of the western world, but I do have a choice selection. Here is a cheap-but-nice old Solar Edge harness, slim fit, for £125. The website tells the story, with lots of tasty gliders, mostly intermediates. An exception being this delicious Litespeed RS4 for a big pilot. £1750! SMFC Team pilot Jeremy Soper (alias Soperman) Is touring Europe with my RS3.5 in search of cross county flying. At the time of writing he is heading from Slovenia to Spain, with 51 XCs to his credit this year! He is the top British pilot by a country mile in the XContest World XC rankings. Wow! Simon Murphy’s Flying Circus tel: 01404 891685 Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA 8 SKYWINGS SEPTEMBER 2021 news In brief Ed Potter: lifetime achievement. Veteran hang glider pilot Ed Potter – multiple Loxely Trophy winner, sea-breeze expert and all-round super bloke – has been running his own company since 1971. Delta- T Devices is a co-operative, designing and manufacturing soil moisture sensors to global acclaim. The governing body of the UK co-operative movement has seen fit to honour Ed with a Lifetime Achievement award. ‘His vision for an ethical, people- focused tech business and democratic decision making has never wavered,’ says their citation, ‘and his enthusiasm inspires people throughout the co-operative community.’ Nice work, Ed … we salute you! North Wales weather station. The North Wales club have installed a Holfuy weather station at the launch area of their popular Llangollen site, complementing the Solarcam webcam already in operation. Non-members are always given a broad welcome at Llangollen, however the club insists on BHPA membership as a condition of access. A £3 site fee is payable by vising non-member pilots. The Holfuy station site identifier is ‘Llangollen’, site number 1493. Membership declined. Tony Beddoes, known to some as Super Tony Training, is no longer a member of the BHPA, his membership renewal having been declined in August. Any members who are approached for an opinion on Super Training UK Team should advise the enquirer that the paraglider and paramotor training offered is not regulated by the Association. Another First Flighter. Congratulations to Gennady Lubarsky of First Flight Paragliding, NI. Gennady had been doing his bit for the NHS, but as soon as the Covid restrictions were relaxed he got stuck in to training, completing his CP Novice qualification with Bertie Kennedy at First Flight in early July. BHPA 500 Club WIN CASH PRIZES AND HELP THE ASSOCIATION! June winners Andrew Burton £136.20 Richard Clark £68.10 William Seward £34.05 John Parker £20.43 Gerald Nolan £17.03 Robin Dellbridge £17.03 Vivien Biro £13.62 David Moy £13.62 Gustav Fischnaller £10.22 Dave Sheppard £10.22 BHPA £340.48 If by the time you read this you have not received your cheque, please contact me on 07802 525099. Marc Asquith Flylight’s Adam is a soaring trike that Ben developed last year, named in memory of his late brother who succumbed to the first wave of Covid-19. Mike chose the Adam on account of its minimal-drag design. With the latest iteration of retractable rear undercarriage developed from the Dragon series of trikes, plus a windscreen and rear fairing, everything is optimised for climbing to altitude and switching off to exploit thermals. Mike selected the 25hp Moster 185 engine for his project (the 16hp Vittorazi Atom 80 is also an option for the Adam). The Adam trike is married to an AIR Atos VQ190 wing. This version of the VQ has a maximum all up weight of 228kg, allowing a suspended weight of 183kg. Although this is plenty for the trike, pilot and fuel, the resulting aircraft was never going to be under 70kg with fuel – given the wing’s 45kg weight in this configuration – and Mike has registered it as an SSDR. AIR supplied key components such as the trike hang bracket, and Ben drew up the resulting aircraft to ensure sufficient control frame travel to allow a decent range of speeds and control inputs. The VQ’s latest incarnation has sailplane-style airbrakes in addition to the flaps, and two spoilers each side instead of one. On the maiden flight Ben flew for just long enough to get the necessary initial testing done. On landing he remarked how impressed he was with the performance and handling of the latest generation of rigid wings. Mike Dodd was very happy to see his dream project become reality and take to the skies. After the maiden flight he de-rigged it himself to take home to North Wales for his own regime of testing and familiarisation. At present there are no performance numbers for this so-far unique machine, and series production is not the intention. To embark on this sort of project or to commission your own, contact Ben Ashman at Flylight on 01604 494459, e-mail product news extra Photo: Ste ve Uzochukwu We all have different ways of getting our flying fix, our solutions usually needing to accommodate work, family and where we live. Sometimes that solution involves a radical look at what we fly and how we fly it. Soaring trikes have been a solution for some, using a lightweight trike married to the most high performance of wings. Longtime BHPA member Mike Dodd decided to pursue this route, in his case an Atos VQ190 mated to a Flylight Adam trike. In late July the call came from Ben Ashman, Flylight’s flexwing microlight designer, to witness the machine’s early-morning maiden flight from Sywell. AIR Atos/Flylight Adam STEVE UZOCHUKWU HAS A SNEAK PREVIEW OF A RIGID-WING SOARING TRIKENext >