< PreviousAge: 60 in February. Marital status: Married to Clare. Where were you born: Brook, Isle of Wight. Where do you live now: Wellow, IoW. Occupation: Running High Adventure Paragliding. Previous occupations: Taxi boat coxswain, hang gliding instructor, painter and decorator, groundsman, short-time school caretaker, flour miller and apprentice millwright. This last included general builder, roofer and bodger, plus wheelwrighting, blacksmithing and driving a 1940 Dennis fire engine in Island carnivals. How and when did you start flying? As a teenager I was into flying RC models. In autumn 1984 my good friend Chris Stanton had just started teaching hang gliding on the Island with Mike McMillan, and they asked me if I would like to help out. I had always thought I would fly hang gliders, watching them fly past the house at Brook. It was a no-brainer! Which pilots most influenced you? In the early days anyone that was better than me, which was quite a lot. Later, in the Airwave days, I flew with the late Mark Gibson. On the outside he was a brash and opinionated Yank and brushed a few people up the wrong way. However he was an awesome pilot and had time for anyone that flew. He would say, ‘Paddy, tomorrow I’m going to fly the longest flight from the Island!’ or some seemingly hard or impossible task. And then he would go and do it! More recently I fly a lot with Richard Perkes, who in my opinion is also an awesome pilot. Not brash – more a reserved Englishman – he has time for anyone on the hill and will always share his flying wisdom. Where and what was your most memorable flying experience? When you get old you can only really remember your last flight! But I remember my first soaring flight, my first thermal (towing in Germany), my first XC (in Wales) and my first one on the Island. I remember getting high in wave in County Mayo and not getting down till dark, and the first towing we did with parapentes, not being able to release high enough to get back to take-off. I remember recently being high over the south coast of the Island and flying home into wind to near the north coast, and thinking that these parapentes have come on a fair bit. I also remember bumping wingtips with an eagle on the Island, and flying amongst peregrine falcons on the cliffs. What is your favourite flying site in Britain? If you fly XC, your favourite sites are ones you’re not going to be looking at for very long! On the Island I probably do best at Chillerton. On the mainland I’ve got away quite reliably from Uffington, and the white horse there is amazing. What is your favourite site in Europe? I really don’t travel much, but I’ve had some good flying in Ireland. The Connor Pass and Dingle Bowl are rather magical. What is your favourite site in the world? Outside of Europe I’ve only flown in Valle, Mexico. Interesting meteorology, nice butterflies! Who do you most admire in the sport? There are pilots that, from a distance, looking up, make it all look easy and unhurried. Early on, Pete Reilly and Bruce Goldsmith. More recently Will Rome and Richard Perkes, among others. I admire the whole free-flight community, strange niche group that we are, but particularly those that put in the extra time on committees, talking to landowners, etc, so that we can all fly freely. What trait do you most deplore in yourself? At the moment I’m rather chuffed that I’m still about and flying. Maybe if I had focused a bit more I could have been a reasonable pilot? When not flying, what do you do for recreation? I surf, kitesurf and paddleboard, and this year we bought a sailing boat and are doing a bit of sailing again. Also walking the dog, of course. What is your favourite piece of music? It changes, but mostly the typical old-man stuff. What is your favourite book? I hardly ever read fiction, but did read a couple of Richard Osman novels last year, and The Old Country by Jack Hargreaves, about the old rural environment. I don’t think I’ve found my favourite book yet. What is your favourite film? Raiders of the Lost Ark. What is your greatest fear? Getting another nosebleed! What is your idea of perfect happiness? Early in the day. Maybe you and your pals have gone on a flying trip. You get to the hill and get ready. The weather is improving. The day is about to unfold … What would your motto be? Easily distracted. It first appeared in my school report, and I think it still holds true. How would you like to be remembered? Not yet! It was all a bit close last year as I went through treatment. I’m feeling on the way up now … though I did have time to read a few books in hospital. 10 SKYWINGS MARCH 2024 pilot profile No. 363: Patrick Court Photo: Clare Court Patrick started hang gliding in the Isle of Wight in the mid 1980s. He was soon instructing with Mike McMillan’s High Adventure, at the time one of the UK’s bigger schools. Being on the hill most flyable days, teaching or flying, his ability improved quickly. High Adventure located a winch in Germany, brought it home and helped the BHGA to sort out how to operate and teach with one. But by the end of the ‘80s Dave Sollom and others were teaching people to fly paragliders. The Island flyers thought it would never catch on, but could be fun if it became too breezy to teach hang gliding. Pad would sometimes ‘burn out a bit and do other things’, but by the early 90s, after Phil Keen had taken over the school, he was back running the hang gliding side. By the end of the decade he had become a test pilot for Airwave, checking that their new wings were flying as intended, which in turn gave his own flying a further boost. In the 2000s he gravitated more to paragliding and began to fly tandems. In 2012 he took over the school, now High Adventure Paragliding. Although it left little time for hang gliding, Pad enjoying teaching paragliding and was able to get plenty of solo and tandem flying in, which is still the case today.MARCH 2024 SKYWINGS 11 AAdv ll venture l y n live your SI SS‘‘MANMANSKY ESIR SKY ybrid single h THE SKINNGLE WERWERPOPOTTOSOSMMS SHAR S with 20% double surfskin EDMUND RFUL IS RFUL eacf K EDSIR SHARKDMUND K EDSIR cShort t pomos SHARKDMUND sttry flighounoss-ccr hermalling T ly Fe &ikH orerful single skin fwo K 12 SKYWINGS MARCH 2024 hang points Pitch The first thing to get sorted is trim speed – the speed the glider will fly at without any pitch input. The designer intended your glider to have a trim speed about 2-3 mph faster than stalling for the ideal balance of good sink rate and control authority. Min. sink speed is usually very slightly slower than trim, but you’ll have less roll authority. Therefore designers set trim speed at the sink rate/controllability sweet spot. Experienced pilots may, for a number of reasons, set a different trim speed, but I won’t go into this here. The rest of us, and experienced pilots wanting to start again from a base point, need to start with a good trim speed. Any other testing will be thrown out the window if our trim speed is not set right. We adjust trim speed by moving the hang point on the glider forward or backwards. This may simply involve sliding the hang strap on the keel, but it can involve removing and refitting the kingpost. If in doubt talk to your dealer. If you want to check trim speed by the numbers you’ll need an instrument that will give you what we call Indicated Airspeed (IAS). Higher-end instruments may have a pitot- or turbine-driven IAS function that reads out on the screen. Or there’s the simple-but-effective Hall airspeed indicator. GPS speeds tend to be less accurate and will lag too much to be useful. An experienced pilot can feel airspeed quite accurately and will set up a glider’s trim by feel. Inexperienced pilots might want to get someone else of their weight to set it for them. Weight has a big effect on trim speed. The heavier an aircraft is, the faster it needs to pass through the air to generate the greater lift required, and the higher its stall speed. Due to the way our sails and airframes flex, greater load brings greater reflex and sail twist, and thus a greater nose-up aerodynamic force. For this reason, a heavier pilot needs a further forward attachment and a lighter pilot a further aft one. That’s why you need someone about the same weight to set up your glider for you. You should be able to move the bar 1-2 inches forward from trim to slow down to minimum sink. And then 1-2 inches further to stall. This is a generalisation; it varies with different gliders. If you are stalling as soon as you push out a bit, or find you are constantly having to pull in a little to get any roll control, you are likely trimmed too slow. If you can push the bar out a long way before the glider stalls, you are likely trimmed too fast. Now that we have our glider set up with perfect trim speed, we want to check for pitch stability throughout the speed range. All gliders should build pitch pressure (the force that opposes your pull back on the bar) as you fly faster. This pressure will be greater on a beginner glider and less on a racing glider, but it must increase with speed. If the pressure gets lighter as you go faster – stop. There’s something wrong with the glider and you should talk to the dealer. Possible causes include things like shear ribs not done up, and sprogs or tip wands set incorrectly. If your glider has VG you need to carry out this same increasing-speed check at various settings. Off, quarter, half, three- quarters and full, or at least in thirds. The trim speed should not increase much as you increase VG; depending on glider type and clip-in weight it should only be a Looking after your wing Part 2: Flight testing PETE MONTGOMERY’S HANG GLIDER INSPECTION AND MAINTENANCE In January, Part 1 covered careful inspection of sail and airframe. We now turn to test flying the glider to check for symmetry and other characteristics. Smooth winter ridge or coastal air is best for this. I’ll break the subject up into two main categories, pitch and roll. Kingpost adjustment to alter trim speed (WW Sport 2). Forward hole for faster trim speed, rear hole for slower The Hall airspeed indicator – simple and reliable Handbook details for hang strap positioning (Avian Fly) BHPA rig testing Avian’s Puma Turbine-driven airspeed indicator – often integrated into a flight computer Photo: Pierre Comte Photo: Libr ary Imag e: A vian Photo: Ian CurrerMARCH 2024 SKYWINGS 13 couple of mph. Trim speed increasing dramatically with increased VG is a sign that the glider is mis-rigged. The glider must retain increasing bar pressure as speed increases at all VG settings; it will reduce with VG application but must never vanish or reverse. It is also worth noting that a manufacturer will publish the glider’s VNE (or VNE), its maximum tested speed. This is typically 55-60 mph, regardless of glider performance level. There are a number for reasons for this which I won’t explain here, except to say that it has to do with what is possible to measure on a test rig to certify the glider. A lower-performance glider will not get anywhere near VNE in the air no matter how hard you try. But a high-performance glider can exceed VNE very easily. Our pilots don’t view it as such an absolute red line as our 3-axis brethren do, but be aware that you’re flying outside the manufacturer’s certified limits if you exceed VNE. A note on sprogs Sprogs are the go-to adjustment for the self-made expert who knows nothing. Adjusting a sprog does not correct for a turn on zero VG, or make your glider perform better. Sprogs will be dormant within the sail at zero VG, and will remain so until quite a lot of VG is applied. The sprogs are there to maintain reflex in the sail at higher VG settings, to ensure that linear-building bar pressure we talked about. Removing that bar pressure will not make your glider go better, it will just make it dangerous. Leave sprogs in the factory position! When buying a used glider it is worth checking the sprogs and resetting to the factory position. It is possible that someone has meddled and made the glider worse, attempting some kind of sprog-Voodoo to make it fly better than the designer was able to. Stalling The final aspect of pitch is stall behaviour. Make sure you do these tests in clear air, away from terrain. It is very easy to get tunnel vision and drop things like good lookout when you become engrossed in the detail of a test [see sidebar]. Be sensible when you chose to do any focused test flying; when the sky is full of paragliders is not a good idea! Build up to stalling slowly, easing the bar out a little at a time. Don’t just thrust the bar out into a dramatic zoom ‘dynamic’ stall. You want the stall to occur at the minimum airspeed to sustain flight. Depending on the glider, the stall could be a simple nose nod, or the glider might sit nose-high but have a high rate of descent. On some lightly loaded single-surface gliders you may end up fully arms-out and not stalled. When heavier in the weight range, even a gently approached stall can be quite abrupt, with a violent nose-down pitch. Often you will be putting a roll input in without realising it. To guard against dropping a wing due to inadvertent pilot input, putting both hands right in the middle of the bar will prevent any roll input giving a false result (but see roll asymmetry below). Most gliders will pitch nose-down and recover themselves if you relax on the bar, but some can get stuck in a stall. A glider that won’t recover from the stall as airspeed increases after the nose-down pitch, needing positive nose-down control and high airspeed to get the aerofoil flying again, is in need of urgent rectification. No design with such behaviour would achieve certification. The cause may be as simple as a poorly-fitting nose cone, deformed mylar insert or some leading-edge rash disturbing the airflow. Roll A ‘turn’ will sometimes not present in straight and level flight. A glider will often fly straight and level hands-off (ie with zero pitch or roll input) despite asymmetry; it just will fly slightly yawed to even out the aerodynamics. The stall tests above will often help to highlight a turn asymmetry in the glider (dropping one wing repeatedly). Or you may have noticed that you always seem to drop the same wing on landing? To thoroughly check for a turn you will need to assess the behaviour of your glider in turns both ways. For some this is tricky as they personally prefer to turn one way rather than the other! Photo: Katy T racy Photo: Katy T racy Favouring one direction of turn may be habit … or a glider anomaly 14 SKYWINGS MARCH 2024 hang points So be careful to gather scientific data and not just ‘feelings’. Often people think their glider has a turn when it doesn’t. Equally, it is funny how many people don’t realise their glider has a turn because they are used to it. Maybe it’s why you prefer to turn one way over the other! Time how long it takes (count in your head) to go from a certain bank angle turn in one direction to the same bank angle the other way. This is called turn reversal. Then repeat the test starting from the opposite direction. Putting in the same control effort both ways should take the same time. Now set a stable turn in one direction at a certain bank angle and feel what input is required to keep it in the turn. Neutral? Or do you need to high- or low-side to maintain the bank angle? Then check the same bank angle turning the other way. You are looking for symmetry: the glider should behave exactly the same both ways. Whether it requires high- or low-siding depends a bit on your weight and bank angle, and on the glider make and model. Modern gliders are designed to be as neutral as possible in the turn, whilst many older designs require quite a bit of high-siding. Carry this test out a few times each way at a variety of bank angles to build a picture of what the glider is doing. Then repeat at incrementally higher VG settings. If your glider tends to wind into turns more in one direction than the other, needing more high-siding, it is a sign that the leading edge is too tight that side. You can usually confirm this on the ground by looking at the sail cut-out at the nose. Tip wand height (set by rotation at the tip), or tip strap fitting angle on a non-tip- wand glider, also has an effect here, but check and adjust the leading-edge tension first; on a tip-wand glider this almost always solves the issue. Most tip-wand gliders also have 2-3 settings for tension built into the tip wand cam-over lever. Simply move the screw/bolt to a looser or tighter hole as required. On the Sport 3, Wills Wing have added a handy row of holes for the inner/outer leading edge join, allowing a wide range of adjustment in small increments. This means you do not mess with the curved tip wand area geometry when adjusting for leading edge tension. On non-tip-wand gliders, adjusting the leading-edge tension (using shims in the end fitting) tends to have less impact. If you identify an issue, talk to your dealer before doing anything. If your glider only has a turn under lots of VG, it can be due to sprog imbalance. This is almost never an issue if the sprogs are physically set at identical angles (see your glider’s manual). It’s worth noting that we don’t want to adjust for a turn when there is a more serious cause such as a bent tube. Before doing any flight tests or adjustments, make sure you have thoroughly checked the glider over (see Part 1, January). Any time you make an alteration to a glider, make small changes of one item at a time. It is better to make a tiny change and fly again to check its effect, than to find yourself flying a glider with drastic changes that now has a different but more serious issue! The tiniest adjustment can take a glider from flying like a bit of a dog to being sublime. Don’t be afraid to go back to how it was when you started, to confirm you have found a better setting. Don’t hesitate to contact your dealer to chat through your test flight observations before making any adjustments. They will be impressed when you are able to explain the thorough, methodical testing you did to come to your conclusion. It will make a welcome change from the more usual ‘My glider has a turn but I can’t quite explain why I think that, and now I’m not sure which way it was!’ Conclusion Get familiar with checking the characteristics of your glider. Slow changes often go unnoticed, so be sure to mentally step back and assess what your glider is doing from time to time. As our sails change dimensionally over time (and we put on and lose weight), our gliders’ flight behaviour changes. Most people fly gliders that could fly a lot nicer with a tweak here or there, but most are oblivious to this. If that is you, and you are having fun, happy days! But if you want a glider that flies at its absolute best, and yours, get to grips with checking and adjusting it so you are both at the top of your game. High-siding. The considerable input required to maintain bank angle here was tuned out by rotating the tip-wand donuts WW tip-wand lever. Note alternative holes for leading edge tension adjustment Photo: P ete Montgomery Photo: P ete MontgomeryMARCH 2024 SKYWINGS 15 Summer ready? What about your reserve? BHPA EPS Qualified 3 Day Turnaround Collection Service BHPA Repack Certificate NEW Repack Reminder NEW reserves from only £429 fitted! 0114 3920032 All makes & models Reserve Repacks SCAN ME £100 trade in against any new reserve in stock! The H.O.P.E. pre-manoeuvre check In general aviation the mnemonic HASELL is used before undertaking any ‘extreme’ manoeuvre: Height, Area, Safety, Engine, Lookout, Location. Following a 2020 collision between two gliders, one of which was exiting a high- energy descent, the FSC considered that it would be useful to develop a similar simple pre-manoeuvre check for hang glider and paraglider pilots. The intention was to ensure best practice before commencing manoeuvres where there might be rapid height loss and possible disorientation. For example, before undertaking large wingovers, spirals, spins or intentional asymmetric collapses. After much discussion the following simple check list was produced: H.O.P.E. Height Adequate (even if the manoeuvre doesn’t go exactly as expected) Observation All clear, including below and behind? Position Well away from the hill and on the right heading (and allowing for drift) Emergency parachute Present and accessible (practice reaching for it) All pilots are recommended to employ the H.O.P.E. check immediately before initiating any hazardous or high-energy manoeuvre. Do any tests in clear air, away from terrain Photo: Katy T racy Use the H.O.P.E. check to ensure you have adequate height and clear air Photo: Katy T racy16 SKYWINGS MARCH 2024 comp lines A series rather than a single event, the SRS is unique in the calendar. Each round has a winner, and at the end of the year a champion is crowned, taking their best results from all the rounds into account. This combination, as well as no FTV (discard days), makes for an interesting mix of tactics. If you’re going for the round win, consistency pays. Going for the series win favours high places in at least ten individual tasks. This opening round had high pace, hard racing, great pilots and fantastic conditions throughout, making it a hard one to beat in the remaining four rounds in the series. British pilot Gerry McNicol reported, ‘This is the start of my second season doing comps. I was keen to see if I could build on the lessons from last year. In Colombia the thermals were mostly smooth and strong, sometimes changing to light and delicate. But once dialled in, hard, full-bar racing was possible over all seven tasking days.’ The SRS format delivered a competitive, fun, high-quality competition, and Colombia delivered fantastic weather and a vibrant and colourful culture. Though with humans and insects competing to see who could make the most noise, earplugs are strongly recommend! Gerry ended the comp with a personal best-equalling 19th place, including a third- place finish in Task 4. Another happy Brit was Tim Pilling, who reckoned, ‘The Colombian weather, hospitality and excellent organisation made this one of the best comps I’ve flown. Task 3 stands out as there were multiple route options.’ Ulric Jessop, making a comeback to paragliding racing after a ten-year absence, explains. ‘Task 3 was a concentric-cylinder task, meaning that, after the start, you had to go to a very small cylinder around goal and then fly in any direction you liked to 7km from goal before returning to goal. You did this twice before finishing conventionally at goal. The leading pilots chose a mountain line for the first exit, before going into the flats under a huge convergence the second time. It was good to see all the options being explored in this task.’ For Task 6 the organisers came up with a Le Mans 24H type task. Pilots would race around a relatively small circuit as many times as possible until the task deadline at 16:00. The leaders would get to use the whole day, yet the back end of the race would still be in touch with the whole field. The tactical endgame hinged upon gliding to the deck to land as close as possible to the task deadline. Sadly the weather did not cooperate and the task was stopped just as the start opened. Maybe next time! ‘As a newcomer to the SRS,’ writes Ulric, ‘the first thing that struck me was the friendly, yet very competitive, atmosphere. The SRS already has a loyal following of pilots who intend to do most rounds this year. This has generated a massive amount of camaraderie and goodwill amongst them, ready to help this new competition ethos succeed.’ The result is lots of amazing photographs and videos (better known as Instagram reels by the younger generation), giving a vast amount of social media coverage by the pilots. The series’ new live commentary got off to a cracking start when the commentary team broke an arm on day two. Fortunately Tim Pilling’s wife Kim, an experienced horse rider, took up the reins and, camera in hand, did an amazing job. A massive thankyou to Kim for her professionalism, and her endless patience with a very grumpy one-armed commentary team. A big thankyou also to Tony Blacker for his paragliding medic skills. On that note, it’s worth remembering to get a ‘fit to fly’ certificate from the hospital before trying to board the plane home, if you are in any way plastered! It was great to see Brits finishing in first and second place. Dylan Mansley eventually pipped defending SRS Champ Mark Hayman, setting up what could become an exciting, season-long battle. In my experience of the paragliding comps scene since the early nineties, I have never been to an event where the ladies were quite so in evidence on the podium. Women won the Standard, Lightweight and Midweight categories – and the prize draw of an Ozone Forza 2 harness! [Standard: EN-B and below; Lightweight: < 85kg pilots; Midweight: 85kg-100kg]. The team comp, with 30 entries, was impressive to follow, ending in a friendly battle-royal between the two Ozone teams. Colombia lived up to its 2021 rating as the happiest place in the world. Well done to all those who took part in the 33,000km flown. With the commentary team sporting the only plaster cast at the end of the week, it was certainly a very safe competition. SRS Ozone Edition, Colombia The 2024 competition season opened with a bang in early January with the first round of the SRS at Piedechinche, Colombia. Now entering its second season, the SRS has 130 pilots racing sports-class wings over seven possible tasking days. Magda Janaway and Dylan Mansley chat tactics on launch Climbing out, east of El Cerrito Photo: Ruth J essop Photo: Ulric J essopMARCH 2024 SKYWINGS 17 Despite doing the entire commentary with one finger, SRS Piedechinche was still the most fun and sportive event that I have ever written about. A big thankyou to Brett and Magda Janaway, who were a real pleasure to work with and incredibly well- organised. I predict a very bright future ahead for the SRS! Coverage of the Colombia competition on the app is future competitions it will be at events are: Berga, Spain (June 2-8), Montalegre, Portugal (July 7-13), Kruśevo, North Macedonia (August 25-31) and St- André-les-Alpes, France (September 9-15). Details are at Follow us on Instagram for news flashes about registration dates @sportsclassracingseries. Report by Ruth Jessop Overall Women 1 Dylan Mansley (GB) Summer Barham (USA) 2 Mark Hayman (GB) Esther Dielissen (Holland) 3 Nuno Gomes (Portugal) Lidia Cabrerizo (Colombia) 4 Pablo Heidenreich (Germany) Monika Takáts (Austria) 5 Summer Barham (USA) Daria Krasnova (Ecuador) 6 Pascal Blum (Switzerland) Magdalena Janaway (GB) Full Tony Blacker, paragliding medic extraordinaireOverall SRS/Ozone winners Dylan Mansley and Summer Barham Photo: Ruth J essop Photo: Ruth J essop TEQUILA6 INTERMEDIATE | EN:B The TEQUILA is our sporty intermediate wing designed for ambitious newly qualified pilots, recreational pilots and XC beginners. Legendary for six generations. The TEQUILA6 provides sportier handling than its predecessor, along with improved stability and flight characteristics. Enhanced design and manufacturing techniques result in significant performance gains. Whether you're exploring calm skies or facing demanding conditions, the TEQUILA6’s forgiving climb behavior simplifies thermalling for confident flying.dead centre 18 SKYWINGS MARCH 2024 Classic Accuracy UK competitions. The UK Classic Accuracy Nationals will be a three-day event at South Cerney over the August bank holiday weekend. The competition is open to both square and paraglider pilots with a minimum of Club Pilot rating; there will also be a novice competition for pilots new to accuracy. Only pilots flying squares are eligible for the individual national title, but there will be a trophy for best paraglider pilot. Teams will consist of three pilots. The event will form the UK leg of the European Grand Prix. The UK season will close with the legendary autumn Birdwings club competition at South Cerney. The event will be open to both square and paraglider pilots with a minimum of CP, and again there will be teams of three. European Grand Prix. A full complement of three European Grand Prix competitions, in France, UK and Holland, is expected [for dates see Calendar on page 32]. The competitions are open to both square and paraglider pilots with a minimum of CP. There is a planned rule change with regard to the three-man teams, such that a pilot can only fly for one team during a season, although team members can change between events. Overall Grand Prix individual and team winners will be determined at the final competition in Holland, generally in September, by total points accumulated over the three events. All Grand Prix competitions will have UK league status, where a pilot’s best three events count in the league standings. Squad training weekends. Under the leadership of Squad Manager Dave Crowhurst, a squad training weekend is planned for every month. Generally the weekends will be the second one of the month, but this may not be possible where there are clashes with competitions. Check the calendar on the Classic Accuracy Squad page of There is some funding available to attend the overseas events, allocated to the top five pilots in a rolling squad selection league. Last year the league only considered training-camp competitions that take place on one day of a squad training weekend; this year competitions will also be added. To be eligible for funding you need to register as a squad member. Further information is available on Paragliding accuracy UK competitions. The Paragliding Accuracy Nationals will be held at North Wales and Long Mynd club hill sites over the weekend of 13th-14th July. Pilots need a minimum of CP to enter the main event, and there will be a novice event for pilots new to accuracy. Individual pilots can drop their worst score after five rounds, however teams of three pilots will not be able to drop scores. The main event will have FAI Category 2 status. UK pilots can still compete without an FAI licence, but they will not be eligible for WPRS points. Green Dragons are also celebrating their 50th anniversary, so an accuracy event is expected, but at the time of writing no details were available. Overseas Category 2 Opens. There will be numerous hill and tow Category 2 competitions held all over the world – see There will also be a pre-event competition for the 2025 World Championships in Turkey, offering a good opportunity to practice at the championships venue. Pilots will need a minimum of CP and an FAI licence to enter these events. European Cup competitions. There will be four FAI Category 2 European Cup competitions this year, in Romania (5-7 July), the Czech Republic (16-18 August), Croatia (20-22 September) and North Macedonia (7-10 November). These are three-day events, the first day being a training day. Teams consist of three pilots; team members can change between competitions but can only fly for one team in a season. Individuals can drop Pre-season preview ANDY WEBSTER OUTLINES THE ACCURACY SEASON AHEAD Dave Crowhurst in Classic Nationals action Photo: Andre w W ebsterMARCH 2024 SKYWINGS 19 a worst score after five rounds but there are no dropped scores or rounds in the team category. Series overall individual places are determined by pilots’ best two-thirds of results, however all results are counted for the overall team places. All the competitions will be hill-launch events, and pilots will need a minimum of CP and an FAI licence to enter. If you are chasing WPRS points these are good competitions to enter as the good attendance of high- quality pilots boosts the points available. World Cup competitions. There will be five FAI Category 2 World Cup competitions, plus a Super Final, this year. The first has already take place at Nongkhai in Thailand in February. The others are at Alanya, Turkey (25-28 April), Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan (13-16 June), Lombok, Indonesia (12-15 July) and Wasserkuppe, Germany (12- 15 September). The Super Final will be at Jingmen City, China (17-20 October). These are four-day events, the first day being a training day, and have a maximum of eight rounds. Teams consist of four pilots, with the three best scores counted in every round. Team members can change between competitions, however a pilot can only fly for one team in a season. Overall individual and team places are determined by the best two-thirds of results over all the competitions. The top 30 pilots are then invited to the Super Final. Each competition has a maximum number of 80 places, and pilots need to register two months before the event. If the event is oversubscribed, or a pilot registers after the two-month deadline, pilots will be placed on waiting list. Allocation is then by a selection process based on combined WPRS and PGAWC rankings. All the competitions will be hill- launch events, and pilots will need a minimum of CP and an FAI licence to enter. As with the European Cup, these events offer good WPRS points potential. All the above Category 2 competitions have UK league status, a pilot’s best three competitions counting in the league standings. Paragliding Accuracy Squad. Led by Squad Manager William Lawrence, squad training weekends are planned for every month, generally the third weekend. This may not be possible where there are clashes with competitions, again, check the calendar on the Paragliding Accuracy Squad page of the each weekend will have a selection competition; results from these, along with other competition results, will contribute to a selection league, from which UK team members will be selected to compete at FAI Category 1 competitions. To be eligible for selection you need to register as a squad member and have a BHPA Pilot or IPPI 4 rating. Further information is available on the website. European Championships. The UK team will be competing at the European Championships at Gjirokaster, Albania, in October, where payout winches will be used to launch the pilots. The competition will take place over nine days, and will use the knock-out system first used at the 2023 World Championships. Team sizes and the allocation process will be known when the Local Regulations are published. William Lawrence, top Brit at the World Championships in October 2023 Photo: Jarosla v Jindr aNext >