No. 342 October 2017The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association THE BHPA LTD 8 Merus Court, Meridian Business Park,Leicester LE19 1RJ. Tel: 0116 289 4316.Skywings magazine is published monthly by the British HangGliding and Paragliding Association Ltd to inform, educate andentertain those in the sports of Paragliding and Hang Gliding. Theviews expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of theBritish Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, their Council,Officers or Editor. The Editor and publisher accept no responsibilityfor any supposed defects in the goods, services and practicesrepresented or advertised in this magazine. The Editor reserves theright to edit contributions. ISSN 0951-5712SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERY ENQUIRIES Tel: 0116 289 4316,e-mail: Online: THE EDITOR Joe Schofield, 39 London Road, Harleston, Norfolk IP209BH. Tel: 01379 855021. E-mail: COVER PHOTO France’s Honorin Hamard and Karine Gras en routeto their 403km world tandem paragliding open distance record inBrazil, November 2015 Photo: Hamard/Gras/Ozone THIS PAGE Pilots waiting for the start near Switzerland’sOberalpstock at the recent PWC Disentis Photo: Harry BloxhamDESIGN & 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: 020 7193 9133 Email: Online: SKYWINGS ONLINE Go to For the October issue enter the username October_2017 and thecase-sensitive password aUZ!N8 For the November issue enter theusername November_2017 and the case-sensitive password 7fW&m3DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for theDecember 2017 issue must be submitted to the Skywings office byMonday October 30th. Letters for the November Airmail pageshould arrive no later than Wednesday October 18th.Advertisement bookings for the November edition of Skywingsmust arrive by Tuesday 10th October. Copy and classified bookingsno later than Tuesday 17th October.contents2 OCTOBER 2017 regulars regulars reviews features 4 OCTOBER The sky is the limit! STEVE HOPE, UP-AND-COMING PARAGLIDER PILOT, CLUB COACH AND TIOne year and 28 weeks ago I qualified as a Club Pilot. I'm telling you this to inspire you to push yourself and yourown limits as far and as hard as you can.Photo: Steve HopeMy paragliding career started after mylovely wife bought me a day experiencewith my local paragliding school, FlySussex. I had often seen pilots flying thelocal sites around Eastbourne but it nevereven dawned on me to think about what Ican only describe as a life-changing sport.I remember my taster day with suchexcitement, although it took me over a year tobook it (I'm slightly better now at checkingthe forecast to see if it's flyable). I arrived atthe school buzzing with excitement, to bemet by what I can only describe as lovelypeople with huge smiles and awesomeenergy. I was offered coffee and biscuits andmade to feel so welcome I felt spoiled. We were given a synopsis of the day'sevents by the CFI Tim Cox, a veteran of thesport. Tim runs a super friendly team ofinstructors assisted by his daughter Jess,with vast amounts of experience in manyaspects of flying. We were taken to one ofthe school's sites at Beddingham, where thesmall walk in from the main road onlyadded to the nerves already present.The instructors separated us into groups:Day 1s over here, EPs and CPs over there.EPs? CPs? Who were these people? Howwere they special?Tim 'Scrappy' Diggins, our instructor,explained how to do a PLF, basic principlesof flight, how a wing works, how to unpackyour wing and harness and how to do adaily inspection. Then a demonstration byhim on what to do before we were evenallowed to strap ourselves in to one of theseincredible flying machines.Although I had performed my PLF withgrace and amazing skill, my inner beingwas absolutely bricking it. Forwardlaunching here I come! Final safety checkswere made by the instructors and I wasready to go. With one heave I brought mywing above me – 'OK, a little bit of brake…'and 'Chest down, run, run, run!' My first fewhops saw me stay in the air for a fewseconds. Little did I know that, over a yearlater, I would be flying skyward with thebirds. By the end of the day we hadprogressed upslope and made exhilarating10- and 20-second flights.The rest of the day was exhausting. Icouldn't wait to thank my wife for such anincredible experience. I had a huge smilefrom ear to ear, and the very same day Isigned up for my EP and CP course withthe school.To shorten my tale, a year and a half later Iam a qualified Pilot and Club Coach with60+ hours, two SIVs and a few flyingholidays under my belt, and I am nowworking as a TI at the same school.Watching new pilots enjoy the sameexperience I had such a short time ago fillsme with radiant energy. My inner beingglows the same as it did on that first day:excitement and joy; fear yet peace. Whocould imagine that any activity could makeyou feel such a roller-coaster of emotion.Being a club coach and a TI gives me a footin the door when it comes to quite a few ofthe newly-qualified CPs. Having met themthrough the school environment makes thetransition that little bit easier. I rememberqualifying as a CP and effectively going outon my own. Losing the comfort blanket ofthe instructor and the radio was a realitycheck and certainly an eye-opener.Baby steps, I was told – don't try more thanone new thing at a time. Now, 60 hourslater, squeezed into a busy working week Ifly as often as I can. And even if I don't fly Ihave built up a nice social circle of friends Ifly with – and, ironically, perform carpentryand building work for.I'm so proud of my achievements fromthose humble beginnings. It's had itschallenges – lots of bottom landings, a fewdraggings way back when, ups and downs(but mostly ups these days), and becomingan absolute parawaiting champion – alongwith the flying buddies I have met alongthe way. Did I mention bottom landings?I have to thank Fly Sussex for their patience,knowledge and experience in helping me getthe best out of myself, safely and sensibly.And an amazing and tolerant wife whoaccepts that all I want to do is fly.Who knows what the future holds?Definitely qualification as an instructor,maybe some competitions, definitely moreSIVs and more SATS. I'm itching to do alittle bit more acro and try a heli or infinitetumble, but most of all to progress in myamazing hobby, to be an inspirational andhelpful club coach, instructor and husband.Once you have tasted flight you will foreverwalk the earth with your eyes turnedskywards, for there you have been and thereyou will long to return. [Leonardo da Vinci].call: 01404 Turfhouse, Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA. Email: The Charly helmets range was created to suit all tastes and pockets. Full- andopen-face, they all have the EN966 rating for airborne sports, but not allhelmets offer the same level of protection. Every pilot makes a choice as to thesort of head protection they want, and it is a reasonable rule of thumb to saythat you tend to get what you pay for. The Charly Ace has a polycarbonateshell and comes in a choice of fourcolours (Gloss White, Matt Red, MattBlack and Carbon-look) and four sizes. Ikeep them all in stock. It weighs around560gm, and prices start at £79.99The Charly Breeze has a swoopypolycarbonate shell, and comes in foursizes, as well as in two adjustable sizesfor commercial operators – schools andtandem. Colours are Gloss White andMatt Black - with contrasting removableear covers to suit different seasons. Itweighs about 480gm, and costs £87.All Charly helmets have fully linedinteriors, but the Breeze Tandem has anadjustable internal harness to fit awider range of heads – ideal for tandemand school operations. Just two sizes,all in white. £87The stylish Charly Loop costs £117,weighs around 505gm and comes witha helmet bag included. There are threesizes and six colours: Gloss White, MattBlue, Matt Black, Matt Red, Matt Orangeand Nova Silver – see them all on mywebsite: I keepthem all in stock, of course!The Ace, Breeze and Loop will all acceptthe optional visor, available in Grey,Yellow, Orange and Mirror finishes. Pricesstart at £30 per visor, with the fixingscrew set costing another £6.The Charly Insider is probably the top-selling free flight helmet of all time. TheKevlar-reinforced fibreglass shell isfully-lined, and I stock eleven coloursand six sizes from XS to XXL! Checkthem all out on the website: start at£150, and weight is only 660gm!The Charly NO Limits comes in open-face orintegral forms. The pressure-formedaerodynamic Kevlar-reinforced fibreglassshells are renowned for their quietness,and come in four colours and four sizes,starting at £210. A clear visor comes asstandard with optional Tinted visorsavailable. The styling is aerodynamic without being soextreme as to compromise practicality – it shouldn’tsnag on your harness or lines when you try to turnyour head!The Charly Microfibre Helmet bag offers protection against damage when thehelmet is not in use. It comes Black/grey in one size and only costs £7.Charly HelmetsSOLE UK DISTRIBUTOR: Simon Murphy’s Flying CircusMeet Jeremy Soper, the latest UK competition pilot to be sponsored bythe Flying Circus. When you consider that the original Flying Circusteam introduced another new boy – one Bruce Goldsmith – this mightbe an auspicious moment. I’m backing Jeremy because he has all themakings of greatness. A student at Cambridge University, working atAvian during his hols, Jeremy isn’t exactly flush with funds. I'm justloaning him some secondhand equipment as and when he needs it. Forhis first BOS I sent him a radio, headset and speedarms. I sell a vastamount of secondhand equipment so why not highlight the fact?While Jeremy suffered the awful BOS weather I was faring rather betteron the South Devon club’s annual paragliding trip to Slovenia. Theweather wasn’t exceptional, but the company was! We flew on four orfive days in the week, and had great fun the rest of the time, too.On the subject of second hand kit, just before going to Slovenia Ibought in a gorgeous Aeros Phantom Rigid wing. I’ve never flown a rigidbefore so if you want to prise it out of my hands you will need to comearmed with a shed-load of dosh!: Also before Slovenia, I needed to get more airtime on my Cure demowing, but the weather was ideal for a day on the beach, or a motorbikeride. So I did all three – rode to Bossington, flew the Cure and landed onthe beach! All of which was great, but the walk back up was a bit stiff…Any determined comp pilot whowants minimal drag but can’tafford the mega-bucks requiredfor a new harness should askabout this full-race Aeros Viper.Clad in PX10 mylar, it bristles withevery device to enhanceperformance, and also has TWOreserve containers, just in caseeverything goes very wrong!An Aeros OK34 reserve with plentyof life left in it will set you backunder £200 if you buy the one I’vejust repacked. Keep an eye on mywebsite for lots of good used kitfor both hang gliding andparagliding: For instance, I’m selling mySkyman Heartbeat demo wing. Itis a medium sized EN B, light andcompact and goes really well. Iwouldn’t be too surprised if it issoon gone in the physical sense,too!: While you are searching myramshackle old website (I tend notto do anything in an orthodoxmanner) keep an eye out for allsorts of odds and ends (new andused) that most people just don’tstock. If you don’t find exactly whatyou want, it is worth calling oremailing to ask me to keep an eyeopen – I can sometimes workmiracles in procuring unusual items.You’re fired!!!It is unlikely that Alan Sugarwould give me a job. I’m not verygood at bullshot. I’m justinterested in enjoying my flying,and helping my customers toenjoy theirs, too.Is it a Bird?Is it a Plane??No, it’s Soperman!6 OCTOBER 2017 Flylight's new PeaBee 'nanolight' trike isabout to make its maiden flight. Accordingto designer Ben Ashman, the idea was tobuild a high-performance sub-70kgmachine with superb comfort and buildquality while retaining the performance ofFlylight’s SSDR microlights. In practicethis means that you sit in a roomy, well-padded seat with adjustable pedals, yetcan carry carry camping gear, a change ofclothes and enough fuel to actually goplaces. The trike unit can be folded inminutes to fit inside a car, and themachine is light enough to allow the pilotto switch the engine off and soar in goodconditions. The trike unit has beenextensively tested with the Foxcub's 13TLwing and will be married to the lighter13T wing – itself already test flown –when the production versions begin toarrive in September. Using the 25hpCorsair M25Y engine and Helix prop, thePeaBee weighs in at 61kg empty, allowingenough fuel to be carried for three or fourhours flying while remaining within thesub-70kg category. The PeaBee will be inproduction by the time you read this; listprice is £8,300 + VAT but there will be a15% discount on the first three units offthe line. More details from FlylightAirsports Ltd, Sywell Aerodrome,Northants NN6 0BN, tel: 01604 49445, e-mail: website:British ParamotorOpenA pessimistic weather forecast led to asmall turnout at the 2017 BritishParamotor Open at Green Dragons' base inthe Surrey hills. Nevertheless guest pilotswere present from Poland, Turkey andSweden. Despite strong winds, rain andlow cloud over the four-day event, MeetDirector Barney Townsend ran sevenexcellent tasks to validate theChampionship, with Dylan Marsh winningthe fuel economy task and Mark Morganthe navigation one. Landing accuracyultimately provided the tie-break andMichel Carnet, flying the Nirvana Instinct200/Nucleon WRC31 combination he's beenusing for years, won the British ParamotorChampion Trophy for a record 13th time!There was a disappointing end to thecompetition for promising young pilotDylan Marsh who was injured when hestalled his wing on a target approach; heis now recovering at home. Thanks fromall competitors to Andy Shaw of GreenDragons, and to all the marshals andvolunteers. Paul Smith’s photo showsDanny Kettle and trike about to launch.Clubs invited tohelp educate droneusersThe CAA’s ongoing drone educationcampaign has been engaging with users,manufacturers and retailers to explainthe need to fly drones safely. In a newinitiative, flying clubs and schools arebeing invited to assist. A toolkit has beenproduced to make it easy for clubs to runevents for local drone users. It includespublicity materials, a presentation onrules and pilot responsibilities that canbe tailored to explain the local airspaceand GA operations, handouts of the'Dronecode' and training record cardsPeaBee ready to flyBHPA 500 ClubWin cash prizes and help theAssociation! August winnersRobin Pocock £131.00Robert Bradley £65.50Richard Holland £32.75Nicholas Kerner £19.65Stephen Flint £16.38Iain Wallace £16.38Stephen Orme £13.10Keith Milliner £13.10John Parker £9.83Malcolm Grace £9.83BHPA £327.48If by the time you read this you havenot received your cheque, pleasecontact me on 07802 525099.Marc Asquiththat drone pilots can add local flying information and clubcontact details to.As well as reducing the risk of mid-air collision, the scheme isan opportunity to introduce drone users to the world of GA.Jonathan Nicholson, who runs the CAA’s drone education effort,explains: 'We know that many users are genuinely interested inaviation but don’t always know how other airspace usersoperate. We can run a national campaign to explain the basicrules but the GA community is much better placed to shareinformation with local drone pilots.' Anyone interested inhosting an event can download all the materials from 8 OCTOBER 2017 www.skywingsmag.com newsParagliding equipment since 1990PARAGLIDERSACCESSORIESRESCUE PARACHUTES HARNESSESGERONIMO2 EN BAIR TAXIEVO CROSSMatador AlpinCONTAINER ‚MULTI‘In briefSkyway Code (print version). Launched online earlier this year(see July Skywings), the CAA's new Skyway Code is nowavailable as a hard copy. Described as a one-stop shop forsafety rules and advice for GA pilots, the guide condenses the‘must know’ info on recreational flying into an easy-to-navigatedocument. Areas covered include pilot responsibilities, pre-flight checks and flight planning, airspace rules andregulations, risks and emergencies and links to useful safetyand regulatory resources. It's still available as a free downloadtoo at The print version costs £12.95from AFE online at Ongoing airspace consultations. As part of a service for GAAlliance members, including BHPA members, the BGA hasintroduced a web page highlighting ongoing airspaceconsultations at As the page itself says, 'We are alwayslooking for members of BGA clubs who have an interest inhelping the BGA with its representation work.' This appliesequally to BHPA members; if you are interested, please get intouch with a member of the FSC Technical Staff.BHPA Exec nominations. A reminder that nominations forelection to the BHPA's Executive Council need to be submittedto the Leicester Office by November 30th. Any BHPA memberconsidering seeking nomination for election should contactChairman Marc Asquith or another Exec member to find outwhat’s involved. Nomination forms are available from theBHPA Office. The election of officers to the Exec will take placeat the 2018 AGM at Nottingham's Belfry Hotel on SaturdayFebruary 17th.Jonty Lawson. With great regret we report the death of formerBHPA member Jonty Lawson, 59, in a paragliding accident nearAnnecy on August 23rd. According to the Annecy mountain-rescue team he collided with a cliff near the 2,300m summit ofla Tournette after experiencing a problem with his glider. Jontywas well known to many UK pilots although he had lived in theHaute-Savoie area of France for many years. www.skywingsmag.com AUGUST 2017 9 email : call : 07818 418780EN B ARCUS RSThe name ARCUS is inextricably linked with SWING andstands for a revolutionary paraglider design, which hasgiven many thousands of paraglider pilots an easy andsafe introduction into our fascinating sport. The ARCUSRS, equipped with RAST 2.0, is about to set a furthermilestone in EN B paraglider development.RAST 2.0: bulkhead partition system – now withadditional vents - makes every launch a breeze andeffectively counteracts large-scale canopy deformation.In addition, the canopy is stabilised in turbulentconditions, which means greater comfort, precision andperformance.Swing Arcus RS technical highlights• triple 3D - shaping on top surface and single onbottom surface for perfect control of tension andprofile• RAST 2.0 with additional check valves• C-bridge for maximal control & safety & glide for XC flying• miniribs with internal seams and additional 3D - shaping• folded and stitched v-ribs to ensure a long life span• high-grade lightweight construction with carefullyselected material mix and elaborate design of internalribs and crossportsA zero-pressure airbag and sleek aerodynamics are the most striking differences between theCONNECT REVERSE 2 and its predecessors. The airbag takes shape, completely independent ofairflow, guaranteeing maximum damping right from launch and ensuring the greatest possibledimensional stability even after years of use.now available £775connect reverse 2 harnessSwing are rolling out their new line up of RAST incorporatedgliders for 2017. Having demonstrated the worth of thispatented technology in the Mito, a beginners glider EN-A, RAST2.0 is now incorporated into the MirageRS speed wing, ApusRSmini wing and newly released ArcusRS. now available £3,250Next >