No. 402 OCTOBER 2022 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association2 SKYWINGS OCTOBER 2022 attitude In August this magazine ran a synopsis of an Airprox report in which a paraglider pilot, flying in good visibility at Morfa Nefyn beach in North Wales, saw a single-engined aircraft fly directly over him without altering course or its pilot appearing to have seen him. It was sufficiently close for him to have been concerned about wake turbulence and he subsequently filed an Airprox report. The paraglider pilot identified the aircraft as an RAF Texan trainer. These commonly fly in the area, based as they are at RAF Valley just 20 miles to the north. The incident took place on November 23rd 2021 at about 13:30 GMT. Investigating, the UK Airprox Board found that neither aircraft had been recorded on NATS radar. Airprox report No. 2021236 stated, ‘Enquiries with RAF Valley (the only RAF base to operate Texan aircraft) confirmed that there were no Texans operating in the vicinity of the paraglider at the time of the Airprox,’ and that ‘… the light aircraft pilot could not be traced.’ So far, so inconclusive. Often Airprox reports, and any useful safety conclusions that might follow, are stymied by the absence of any info from a ‘could not be traced’ pilot. In this case the UKAB concluded, ‘… given that there was no information available from the light aircraft pilot … members felt that there had been insufficient information available to place a classification of risk on this Airprox,’ even though it was clear to them that the paraglider pilot had been concerned by the proximity of the other aircraft. They assigned the incident Category D (Risk Not Determined). Most pilots will be aware of flight-tracking websites like Flight Radar and ADSB- Exchange. One facility they offer is to be able to examine transponder-carrying air activity in past time. A BHPA member took advantage of this function to check the record for November 23rd, only to discover that an RAF Texan had indeed been airborne on that date and time … flying straight across Morfa Nefyn beach. The UKAB’s mission statement is ‘To enhance Air Safety through prevention of airborne conflict and mid-air collision.’ Further, ‘It is not the purpose of the Board to apportion blame or liability.’ In other words, the objective is enhanced safety, not finger pointing. In what strange interpretation of that ambition is it acceptable to phone up a (very) nearby RAF airfield and say, ‘We’ve had an Airprox report. It looks very much like it might have involved one of your aircraft,’ and simply accept the reply, ‘No, we had nothing in the area at that time.’? And in what strange interpretation of that ambition is it acceptable, when a reporting pilot who knows the area and local RAF activity well, to ignore his identification of the aircraft? The Texan is a fast, powerful aircraft at the heavy end of the single-engined ‘light aircraft’ category. Its 1,000hp turboprop engine makes an unmistakable, almost unique, sound. They whizz around at 240 knots, twice the speed of the fastest single-engined GA aircraft. The RAF only has 14 of them and they are all based at Valley. Local free fliers know they fly in the area constantly. What has been lost by this act of wilful blindness? An opportunity for an RAF pilot to acknowledge they were involved in an Airprox, and perhaps for their superiors to put systems in place for better education. And, at least as seriously, an opportunity for the UKAB to show the recreational end of the spectrum that they will perform their duties without fear or favour. The UKAB has committed a serious error in allowing a breezy RAF officer to say, ‘Nothing to do with us,’ when the evidence must have been at least worth investigating further. Recreational pilots who feel that that the UKAB, led as it invariably is by former senior RAF staff, isn’t true to its stated aims, at least when RAF operations are under question, will have further fuel for their misgivings. The UKAB Director who oversaw this investigation has just departed for a new job in the aviation industry ecosystem. Let us hope that the new Director, whose identity is currently a well-kept secret, will review the handling of this incident and issue a public apology to the paraglider pilot who made the initial report, and also to the wider GA community. For the UKAB to function well it needs to be respected as an impartial body. The UKAB is currently investigating a further Airprox in which four F-35s flew right through a NOTAMed paragliding site without even seeing the paraglider they had flown directly beneath, while the pilot was at about 650ft AGL and about to land. As we went to press that report has not been made public. Let us hope it will demonstrate that some rigour has been employed by the UKAB; rigour that was absent in the Morfa Nefyn investigation. Airprox report No. 2021236 can be read in full on the UKAB website at Airprox Board under fire JOE SCHOFIELD, SKYWINGS EDITOR4 SKYWINGS OCTOBER 2022 regulars regulars reviews features OCTOBER 2022 SKYWINGS 5 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 Jeremy Soper cranks it up in the Swiss Alps in May this year Photo: Jeremy Soper THIS PAGE The Aerocycle HPA in dawn flight during the Icarus Cup at Lasham Photo: Jesse van Kuijk 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 All issues of Skywings magazine are now freely available DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the December issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Wednesday November 2nd. Letters for the November Airmail pages should arrive no later than Monday October 17th. Advertisement bookings for the November edition must arrive by Wednesday October 12th. Copy and classified bookings no later than the following Wednesday October 19th.6 SKYWINGS OCTOBER 2022 news Hugh Miller goes 275km On August bank holiday Monday Hugh Miller clocked up a 275km flight into Devon from Sharpenhoe. ‘It looked 50-50 on the train up, he reported afterwards. ‘At Sharpenhoe there was a lot of cirrus and medium cloud just upwind. I was surprised to hook into a 2m/s climb at 10:30 and be up and away with Andrew Kruszynski and Tom Wycherley. We had meaty-looking clouds from the off, building into streets, and the first 100km took around two hours. Unfortunately Andrew slid off the side of a decaying street around Swindon.’ Later in the flight cloudbase rose to around 6000ft and Hugh found himself working 3-4m/s over Glastonbury. At this point the sky began to look epic, with a good street stretching out ahead for 30km. ‘However,’ he continues, ‘the sun was starting to move into the south-west, and I had to push through a lot of shadow to get to the climbs. After my last good climb at Tiverton the sky radically changed. I could see lines of tendrils and decaying clouds well inland from both south and north Devon coasts, with blue in the middle. I went right, but base was 1500ft lower in the sea air. Then I went left but I still couldn’t connect. ‘I found myself desperately trying to stay up in zero at 800ft, just like the last time I made it into Devon, before landing. I had really thought 300+ km was doable but I got the line wrong in the end, confused by what Guy Anderson calls zombie clouds that stick around long after they’ve stopped working. ‘I’ve been chasing the line from Sharpenhoe to the West Country for over ten years and I’m learning more about it all the time. Devon is like the boss level of a game – we’ll get through it to Cornwall one day!’ Chilly’s 75-mile test flight The day before Hugh’s flight Mike Chilvers completed a 75-mile paramotor flight from Wingland airfield. The occasion was one of Wingland’s bi-annual Wacky Weekend charity events to raise money for the local Air Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Relief. Over the year Wingland pilots have raised thousands for both causes, and a further £1,000 was generated on this weekend. ‘I wanted to make a test flight on the new Dudek Warp2,’ Mike reported, ‘and I launched just after sunrise, fully fuelled up, and set off for the North Norfolk coast. I landed back at Wingland after two hours and 35 minutes in the air and 75.5 miles.’ Mike’s dawn departure was captured by local photographer David Grey, who often sets up just outside the airfield to capture paramotor shots. Afghan woman paraglider needs help A pioneering Afghan female paraglider pilot has had to remain in hiding since the fall of Kabul last year. Although she was on a list of evacuees, evacuation flights were stopped before she was able to reach one. She has gone from soaring the skies above Kabul to being trapped in her house, unable to work or go out. The 28-year-old pilot, whose name we are unable to reveal, has been in regular touch with US journalist Erica Berenstein and other supportive friends since last August. Together they have made plans to get the pilot and her sister, who suffers from glaucoma, out of the country, but as this will involve assistance from NGOs and lawyers; financial help will be necessary. A Go Fund Me page has already achieved more than 10% of their target. The pilot flew for her country at the 2018 Asian games in Indonesia; she is far more conversant with modern western values than the severe restrictions of Afghanistan’s current repressive regime. Please help if you can by donating (no amount is too small). Go BP Cup results The British Paragliding Cup turned out to be a single round this year, a four-day event at Parlick over the August bank holiday weekend. Tom Hodgkin, flying an Air Design Volt 4, emerged a worthy winner, with Martin Horn (Ozone Delta 4) 2nd and Brian Greenwell (Advance Sigma 10). The BPCup XC League, which closed as the Parlick competition began, attracted 25 pilots who logged a total of 115 flights. Tom Hodgkin and Martin Horn topped that table too, with Gary Stenhouse (Ozone Alpina 4) in 3rd. Full results are at will appear next month. In brief World O/R record falls. Slovenia’s Tomaž Eržen reset the world paragliding O/R and free O/R distance records by a sliver on August 4th. Tomaž exceeded fellow Slovenian Dušan Orož’s 2018 mark by 2.8km, flying an Enzo 3 from Bela Peč near Kamnik. At 304.9km, both records should become European records too. OCTOBER 2022 SKYWINGS 7 BHPA 500 Club WIN CASH PRIZES AND HELP THE ASSOCIATION! August winners Graham Shand £129.40 Leslie Weidman £64.70 John Vernon £32.35 Philip Lovemore £19.41 Stefan Smalley £16.18 Nigel Brayn £16.18 Adam Anthony £12.94 Ed Cleasby £12.94 David James £9.71 Robert Williams £9.71 BHPA £323.48 If by the time you read this you have not received your cheque, please contact me on 07802 525099. Marc Asquith late news BOS 2 – FAI dune gooning! Poor weather ruled out any flyable tasks at the second round of the British Open Series at Fforest Farm in September. The only possible taskable day turned out to be a dud, and thus the results of the whole 2022 series are as for BOS 1 in June: Class 1 Grant Crossingham; Class 2 Stewart Reid; Sports Class Simon Scott. However the BOS has evolved to be more than an event for hardcore competition pilots, and a rewarding and enjoyable time was had despite the weather. Along with much socialising, a trip to nearby Aberavon saw some high-flying pilots introduced to the growing discipline of dune gooning. Katy Tracey’s photo shows ten-times British Champion Gordon Rigg swapping his Rx Pro for a late-90s Offpiste Discovery. Full report next month.Low flying rules For the avoidance of doubt, especially for those reading Andy Brown’s excellent debrief of his recent street landing (An epic flight … and a near disaster, August), the Air Navigation Order contains two Rules of the Air which address the responsibilities of all pilots when flying close to the ground. • An aircraft must not fly closer than 500ft to any person, vessel, vehicle or structure. This provision does not apply to an aircraft taking off or landing, flying low for the purpose of dropping tow ropes, or to gliders that are ridge-soaring. • An aircraft must not fly over congested areas below a height that, in the event of an engine failure (and obviously in the case of a glider), would allow them to land clear of the area and without danger to people or property, or less than 1,000ft above the highest fixed object within 600m, whichever is the higher. (A congested area means any area that is substantially used for residential, industrial, commercial or recreational purposes.) In addition, an aircraft may not fly over an open-air assembly of more than a thousand people below 1,000ft or enough height to enable it to land clear, whichever is the higher. Nor may it take-off or land within 1,000m of such an assembly. Airlaw as it applies to BHPA pilots can be found in clear, easily-digestible form in the Skyway Code. Version 3 of this excellent publication is available online as as a PDF download for easy printing, and with easy internal navigation for on-screen use. Go to DHV Safety Notice Paraglider harnesses with zip rescue container In August the DHV issued a safety notice concerning harnesses (all brands) with two zips, in which a separate zip closes the rescue container. To ensure proper reserve deployment, the zip slide of the rescue container zip must be in its ‘zip garage’ so that the zip opens smoothly when the inner container (deployment bag) is released. It can happen, e.g. after a landing on the protector or through carelessness when handling the harness, that the zip slide is no longer in its ‘zip garage’ and the zip has partly opened. This can have dangerous consequences because the reserve release can then be hindered or completely blocked. The DHV advises that the correct position of the rescue container zip in its ‘zip garage’ should be checked before every take-off (pre-flight check). If other pilots are observed to have a partially opened zip, it is essential to point this out to them. In all cases follow the harness manual. The full Safety Notice, with illustrations, is at 8 SKYWINGS OCTOBER 2022 safety matters BHPA Coach and Instructor courses October 8 - 9 BHPA Club Coach Thames Valley 07795 047872 December 3 - 4 BHPA Club Coach Norfolk 07745 289353 January 14 - 15 2023 BHPA Club Coach D&S Condors 07850 216464 February 18 - 19 2023 BHPA Club Coach Sky Surfing 07729 726160 March 25 - 26 2023 BHPA Club Coach Malvern 07905 736274 Dual pilot first aid requirements The requirement for Dual Pilots to hold a valid first aid certificate came into effect on 1st January 2022 (for licence renewals and new licence applications): Dual Pilots must hold a valid first aid certificate showing completion of a one-day first aid course. A ‘one-day first aid course’ means a hands-on course in a classroom environment. Much of the value of the first aid course lies in the practical aspects and the discussion of incident management and communication; these topics are almost as important as the diagnosis and treatment parts of the course. An online or self-study course may cover these subject but does not meet FSC requirements. The requirement for Dual Air Experience Instructors is a valid certificate showing completion of a two-day course. Please refer to the BHPA Technical Manual for further information. Zip correctly stowed in its ‘garage’ Danger: zip not in its ‘garage’16.07.2022. Male pilot aged 69, AP rated Site & conditions: Bradwell Edge, 5-10km/h, moderate turbulence Glider: Ozone Swift 5 Incident: Pilot noticed glider had a right turn after launching. Could not see any issues and carried on XC. Pilot also noticed glide was poor, and checked again to see knots in brake lines at right tip. Pilot decided to land; the knots came out immediately. Injury: None 22.07.2022. Male pilot aged 59, P rated Site & conditions: Site not recorded. 0-5km/h, moderate turbulence Glider: Advance Iota2 Incident: Pilot encountered lift on landing approach. Pilot turned, but with excessive control, and induced a pendulum under the wing. Landed heavily from 1m. Injury: Serious: feet, legs 22.07.2022. Male pilot aged 68, P rated Site & conditions: On XC, 5-10km/h, strong turbulence Glider: Ozone Zeno Incident: Pilot hit lift on final approach and had to do a 360. Before completing the 360 the glider collapsed completely due to thermic activity; pilot collided with an outbuilding. Injury: Serious: feet, legs 27.07.2022. Male pilot aged 67, CP rated Site & conditions: North Luffenham, 10-15km/h Glider: Mac Para Muse 5 Incident: While preparing for a winch launch the pilot dislodged his parachute. The parachute deployed at 25m causing the launch to be stopped. Pilot landed under his parachute in a stable but firm landing. Injury: None 30.07.2022. Male pilot aged 55, CP rated Site & conditions: Ringstead, 15-20km/h, moderate turbulence Glider: Advance Iota 2 Incident: Pilot took off in windy conditions. Despite applying full speed bar he was blown back into turbulent area but landed unhurt. Injury: None 31.07.2022. Male pilot aged 53, P rated Site & conditions: Walla Crag, 5-10km/h, light turbulence Glider: Ozone Alpina 3 Incident: Pilot miscontrolled a rapid exit from a spiral and ended up with twisted risers. Deployed parachute and landed safely on soft ground despite fast landing. Injury: None 02.08.2022. Male pilot aged 48, P rated Site & conditions: Not recorded Glider: Not recorded Incident: Pilot noticed in flight that his parachute handle was loose and reattached it to the velcro. On landing the pilot discovered that the parachute had almost fully deployed but had not come out of the harness. Pilot had not checked it pre-flight. Injury: None 04.08.2022. Male pilot aged 67, CP rated Site & conditions: Mendlesham, 10-15km/h, not turbulent Glider: Wills Wing Sport 2 Incident: Pilot had near miss with military helicopter; helicopter passed within approx. 100m. Injury: None 05.08.2022. Male pilot aged 39, CP rated Site & conditions: Devil’s Dyke, 20-25km/h, moderate turbulence Glider: Niviuk Koyot 4 Incident: Pilot encountered sinking air and flew through a bush. Injury: Minor: feet, legs 09.08.2022. Male pilot aged 56, P rated Site & conditions: Coal Aston airfield, 5- 10km/h, not turbulent Glider: Flylight PeaBee Incident: While flying XC pilot heard a bang and felt the base bar move. Pilot landed and carried out an inspection. The engine breather tube had been sucked out into the airflow and had struck prop. Pilot made repairs and fixed breather tube with cable ties to prevent reoccurrence. Injury: None 14.08.2022. Male pilot aged 57, P rated Site & conditions: Kettle Sings, 5-10km/h, strong turbulence Glider: Ozone Delta 4 Incident: Pilot encountered severe lee-side turbulence while thermalling in a bowl close to launch. His glider suffered a series of asymmetric collapses resulting in a cravat. Pilot deployed parachute at low level, which opened quickly. Touched down safely. Injury: None BHPA accident and incident digest The following is an edited digest of Incident Reports submitted to the FSC between July 16th and August 14th 2022. The complete database of reports can be found Next >