No. 351 JULY 2018The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association 2 JULY 2018 SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERY ENQUIRIES Tel: 0116 289 4316, Online: THE EDITOR Joe Schofield, 39 London Road, Harleston, NorfolkIP20 9BH. Tel: 01379 855021. E-mail: COVER PHOTO Dad and daughter team Francois and MargauxBichet above the lac d’Annecy, France. Photo: Francois BichetTHIS PAGE Steve Sorsa taking an evening flight around the Deeestuary Photo: Roy BackhouseDESIGN & 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 SKYWINGS ONLINE Go to For the Julyissue enter the username July_2018 and the case-sensitivepassword &rD8$GwFor the August issue enter the username August_2018 and thecase-sensitive password ##~E*2jDEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for theSeptember 2018 issue must be submitted to the Skywings office byFriday August 3rd. Letters for the August Airmail page should arriveno later than Wednesday July 18th Advertisement bookings for theAugust edition of Skywings must arrive by Tuesday July 10th. Copyand classified bookings no later than Tuesday July 17th.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.The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily thoseof the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, theirCouncil, Officers or Editor. The Editor and publisher accept noresponsibility for any supposed defects in the goods, servicesand practices represented or advertised in this magazine. TheEditor reserves the right to edit contributions. ISSN 0951-5712 Contents regulars reviews features The Westbury Airprox JOE SCHOFIELD, SKYWINGS EDITOR4 JULY 2018 attitudeThree of the paraglider pilots, andanother on the ground preparing to fly,submitted reports to the subsequentAirprox investigation. All four had seenthe Hawk heading north about two milesto the east before it made a descendinghard left turn and headed straight forthe group on a southerly heading. Onepilot's estimate of the separation wasthat the Hawk was only 20m below and30 - 60m to one side of him; it was clearthat as the Hawk passed the group therewere paragliders both above and below it.The paraglider pilot on the groundimmediately called Salisbury AirOperations and asked if the pilot wasaware of the paragliders flying at BrattonCamp. The Air Ops assistant replied‘Probably not.’The Hawk pilot immediately climbed to6000ft, contacted both Salisbury Rangeand Boscombe Radar, reported that it wastoo dangerous to continue and returnedto base. He warned a following aircraftnot to continue. When he reported theparagliders to the Boscombe ZoneController no correlating traffic wasvisible on their radar and thus no TrafficInformation had been provided.In investigating this very seriousincident, the UK Airprox Boardestablished that paraglider pilotsroutinely launch from Bratton Camp onthe northwest boundary of the D123Danger Area. A paraglider pilot hadcontacted the Low Flying Booking Cellearlier to submit a CANP notification buthad not received a confirmation e-mail,possibly due to a submission error. Thepilot had not realised the need to querythe lack of confirmation. As a result themilitary were unaware that paragliderswere flying at Westbury.The Hawk was conducting Close AirSupport in Danger Area D123, part of theSalisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA) andvery close to Westbury. During suchsorties, SPTA Ops staff monitor the areato ensure that no unauthorised aircraftpenetrate it. They have access to a radarfeed from Boscombe Down and can listento radio traffic, and are in contact withthe Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) toprovide a warning if needed.The Hawk pilot had been briefed onactivity, including live firing, within theneighbouring Danger Areas, and thepossibility of nearby (unspecified) glidingand microlight activity. The pilot noted inhis report that he was operating underan extremely high workload in a verysmall Danger Area.The flying site is marked on military1:50,000 maps. A new Letter of Agreementhad recently been established with theAvon club granting access to a smallportion of the Danger Area upon booking,dependent upon there being no knownactivity in the area. This was not in forceAt 12:33 on January 26th 2018, in good visibility, a Royal Navy Hawk jet travelling at 300 knots passed through agaggle of paragliders flying 1200ft above the Avon Club's Bratton Camp (Westbury) site. Its pilot assessed the riskof collision as 'Very High'.Photo: Martin HarrisContinued on page 6Help!!Quite a large part of my job is about helping people. Iearn my living by selling equipment, and I do sell a lotof kit! Advice and assistance is usually free. Katybought her harness and helmet from me, but look! -she gets a lot more help from other people!Katy hasn’t bought a glider from me (yet….) but a lotof new pilots do - three in the last four days! I alsosell new and used gliders to more advanced pilots,like this gorgeous Skyman Cross Country (large),here flown by Bertie Kennedy, who is probablybeyond help…I’ve just bought-in this delicious Wills Wing Falcon195 skyfloater. Check it out on the website - andother similar gliders: I also took in this verysmart Team 5 Blue aftergiving it a fullinspection. A talentednewcomer might enjoy itfor a long time to come:Hankering after a rigidwing? I may be able tohelp, because I have two of these gorgeous AerosPhantoms - ridiculously cheap for such impressivemachines: I may be fairly helpful, but I’m not an instructor likeex-British Champion Steve Purdie. I do supply Stevewith Charly helmets, though! Thanks to Rob Chisholmfor the photoRecently I have been trying to help Jeremy Soper,lending him a £495 second hand Litespeed as hejuggles flying with building the interesting Soperlitewing. Soperman’s first flight on the glider (first flighton any topless, in fact) resulted in topping out at5700 feet and a 15 mile cross country into wind! BothJezzer and theLitespeed are talented,but this glider ischeap!I carry loads ofinteresting stock, bothnew and used. Howabout a very tidySuprone harness thatconverts from prone tosupine and back?These things are veryrare indeed: Paragliding harnesses?Yes, new and used. ThisOzone Oxygen 2 is newand unused, but theprice is second hand!See them all on thewebsite:From time to time we allneed help. My aerotowskills are sadly lacking, so I took this £750 Litespeedto the lovely operation at Croft Farm, where I got lotsof friendly advice, and spent over 3 hours flying alittle call: 01404 Turfhouse, Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA. The Charly helmets range was created to suit all tastes and pockets. Full- and open-face, they all have the EN966 rating for airborne sports, but not all helmets offer thesame level of protection. Every pilot makes a choice as to the sort of head protectionthey want, and it is a reasonable rule of thumb to say that you tend to get what youpay for. The Charly Ace has a polycarbonate shell andcomes in a choice of four colours (GlossWhite, Matt Red, Matt Black and Carbon-look) and four sizes. I keep them all instock. It weighs around 560gm, and pricesstart at £84.The Charly Breeze has a swoopypolycarbonate shell, and comes in four sizes,as well as in two adjustable sizes forcommercial operators – schools and tandem.Colours are Gloss White and Matt Black - withcontrasting removable ear covers to suitdifferent seasons. It weighs about 480gm,and costs £87.All Charly helmets have fully lined interiors,but the Breeze Tandem has an adjustableinternal harness to fit a wider range ofheads – ideal for tandem and schooloperations. Just two sizes, all in white.£87.The stylish Charly Loop costs £120, weighsaround 505gm and comes with a helmetbag included. There are three sizes and sixcolours: Gloss White, Matt Blue, Matt Black,Matt Red, Matt Orange and Nova Silver – seethem all on my website: I keep them all instock, of course!The Ace, Breeze and Loop will all accept theoptional visor, available in Grey, Yellow,Orange and Mirror finishes. Prices start at£28 per visor, with the fixing screw setcosting another £6.The Charly Insider is probably the top-sellingfree flight helmet of all time. The Kevlar-reinforced fibreglass shell is fully-lined, and Istock eleven colours and six sizes from XSto XXL! Check them all out on the website: start at £158,and weight is only 660gm!The Charly NO Limits comes in open-face orintegral forms. The pressure-formedaerodynamic Kevlar-reinforced fibreglass shellsare renowned for their quietness, and come infour colours and four sizes, starting at £225.A clear visor comes as standard with optionaltinted and mirror visors available. The stylingis aerodynamic without being so extreme as to compromise practicality – it shouldn’tsnag on your harness or lines when you try to turn your head!The Charly Microfibre Helmet bag offers protectionagainst damage when the helmet is not in use. It comesBlack/grey in one size and only costs £7.55.Charly HelmetsSOLE UK DISTRIBUTOR: Simon Murphy’s Flying Circus6 JULY 2018 attitude The Westbury Airproxat the time of the incident. Club memberswere well aware of the geographicallimits to which they could fly.Navy HQ noted that the primary meansof navigation in the single-seat Hawk is amap and stopwatch. Its GPS fit, onlycleared as a secondary aid to VFRnavigation, is a 20-year-old unit with amonochrome display. The Salisbury Plainarea is surrounded by numerous GAsites; without the benefit of FLARM orTCAS the see-and-avoid principle is theprimary method of conflict resolutionused by aircrew.The Hawk sortie was therefore plannedto remain at height as much as possible,with low-level to be conducted onlywithin the confines of D123. The pilot wasattempting to stay within the confines ofthe Danger Area whilst descending to lowlevel to achieve his objective; this actionled to the unintentional 'spill-out'through the paraglider site.In its own submission to the Airproxinvestigation the BHPA noted its concernthat the incident had occurred at one ofthe UK's prime paragliding sites, used byparaglider and hang glider pilots sincethe 1970s. The BHPA noted that SPTA Opsbriefed the Hawk pilot on 'possible glidingand microlight sites close by’, but notspecific sites. The BHPA suggested that in futureSPTA Ops should brief militar y pilotsthat this site is ver y popular, insuitable weather conditions, on any dayof the week and is of prime importanceto the local free-flying community. TheBHPA also noted that the Hawk's GPS fitmight be considered inadequate intoday's congested airspace, not leastwhen almost all BHPA pilots fly withmodern, moving-map GPS displayswhich accurately give position, track,altitude, etc.This, and local pilots' knowledgeregarding the proximity of Westbury toD123 and the dangers of incursion, meanthat free-flyers are probably moreacutely aware of where they are than afast jet pilot, unfamiliar with the area,using antiquated navigation instruments.As a result of the failure of the BHPA pilotfiling the CANP submission to enquirewhy he hadn't received a confirmationemail from the LFBC, local clubs havetightened up their Standard OperatingProcedures with respect to CANP andNOTAM submissions.In its summary of the investigation, theUK Airprox Board (UKAB) membersagreed that the paraglider pilots hadbeen operating outside D123 and that theincident had occurred in Class G airspacejust to the north.Members noted that paragliders hadbeen operating from Westbury, and fastjets had been conducting practice attacksin D123, for decades, yet in this instancethe required situational awareness wasnot communicated to any of those likelyto be affected. Some members wonderedwhether repeated activity had led tocomplacency; others felt that the DangerArea had considerable limitations in itsability to accommodate fast jet targetruns safely.It was noted that a paraglider pilot hadunsuccessfully attempted to file a CANP.Some members wondered whether theHawk pilot had assimilated that theparagliding site was there, given that hehad not been specifically informed of itduring the range brief; although itappeared on the 1:50,000 map and low-level chart it could easily be overlookedunder a high-workload. Memberscommented that the TACP should havebeen aware of the site and, given itslikely activity in the conditions, couldhave deduced that it might be activeand should have warned against usingthat target attack direction. After considerable discussion, membersagreed that the incident had come aboutdue to sub-optimal communication ratherthan the Hawk pilot’s navigation. It was'frustrating' that the Hawk pilot did notknow that the Bratton Camp site wasactive; members recommended that theAvon club and SPTA Ops refresh their LoAto cover usage of Westbury, and how thatinformation is conveyed.The Board agreed that the Hawk pilotwould have been operating under aconsiderable workload, and that he wasnot restricted to operating within theconfines of D123. There was no doubtthat had he been aware of or seen theparagliders earlier he would haveavoided them.It was agreed that the cause of theAirprox was a non-sighting by the Hawkpilot, and that collision had only beenavoided by providence.There are many lessons to drawfrom this incident. Above all, anyonesubmitting a CANP notification should beaware that every submission must befollowed by a Reference Number from theLFBC. If the submission has been madeout of hours the LFBC will get back to youwith this number. You can only assumethat you have avoidance/notificationstatus once you have received this.Details on the CANP system and how touse it can be found atAirprox Report 2018012 can be found atemail call (spain) 0034 651736718 or (UK) 0208 144 2087Nepal & Colombia 2018Book two weeks with our team of experts in Nepal orColombia next winter. Early bird offer £50 off!Guided XC HolidaysOver 14 years experience. Southern Spains most popularthermal and XC winter destination.CP Plus HolidaysGeared ultimately for the new and rusty pilots out there.SIV & PilotageFly Spain believe your paragliding skills shouldn’t stop at CP level.news8 JULY 2018 This year’s 12th anniversaryButtermere Bash was the most successfulyet as gorgeous summer weather greetedthe 800 people who attended. In fantasticflying conditions the valley filled withcolourful paragliders which eventuallyfloated down to the Buttermere shore. The Bash is primarily a charity fundraiser,donating around £3 - £4,000 to local causeseach year. Beneficiaries this year includeCockermouth Mountain Rescue Team, theAir Ambulance, Motor Neuron DiseaseResearch and the community-led Fix TheOld Coach Road project helping improveaccess to flying sites.The Lakeland Charity Open, run by JockySanderson and Al Westle, sent pilots racingfrom Dale Head and Skiddaw to goals manymiles away. Local pilot Phil Kew wascrowned champion and awarded the TonyThompson Trophy, donated in memory ofa local pilot who recently lost his fightagainst MND.The event attracts some of the world’s topacro pilots to perform jaw-dropping stunts.Along with pilots from the British AcrobaticParagliding Academy, Austria’s Sebastianand James Kahn and friend Simon Wegerwere joined by Francois Bon, inventor ofspeed flying. As the only CAA-licencedparagliding display in the country theButtermere event can push the boundariesin ways not permitted under normal airlaw. Several base jumps were conductedfrom tandem paragliders, with skydiversfree-falling away until they deployed theirown parachutes.On Friday and Saturday evening flyingdisplays were performed for the crowds.The Ospreys skydiving team droppedspectacularly from their aircraft at 6,000ft,carving through the evening sky to swoopalong the lake and into the event base instyle. They were followed by paraglidingdisplay pilots doing multiple high-Gmanoeuvres, before the bands cranked upand played the nights away.Organiser Gordie Oliver commented, ‘Everyyear we feel that this was the best event yet.The fantastic weather, beautiful location andspectacular flying conditions, and the factthat some of the best bands in the northplay for our entertainment, mean that thisunique event is the highlight of everyone’ssummer. It coincides with the schoolholidays and families camp all week,children play as nature intended and grown-ups discover the joys of being on“Buttermere time” with no phone signal. I’mdelighted with this year’s event, knowingeveryone has left with a smile on their face,new friends and happy memories to cherish.And we are delighted to have raised a goodamount of money to support charities andgood causes close to our hearts.’Maurer winsinaugural IronflyChrigel Maurer won Italy’s firstIronfly hike-and-fly contest in May,having covered 452km in four days fromthe start at Lecco on Lake Como. Flyingbegan at the Monte Cornizzolo take-off,routeing across the central Alps viaMacugnaga, Bormio, the Presolana passand back to goal at Lecco. The 23-strongfield included Patrick von Kanel, NicolaDonini, Simon Oberrauner, 17-year-oldThomas Friedrich and sole female entrantDominika Kasieczko from Poland. SevereButtermere Bash – higher than ever! 2018 9conditions on Sunday 13th and Monday 14th forced some ofpilots to hike for up to 70km. Maurer led from the start with astrong departure on foot, then cleverly avoided rain, hail, lowcloudbases and overdevelopment to be in the right places whenconditions improved. Chrigel touched down at Lecco just an hourbefore thunderstorms arrived, leaving runners-up Patrick vonKanel and Markus Anders to arrive the following day. Ironflywas organised by Cornizzolo’s Scurbatt Club and sponsored bymountain footwear specialists Salewa. Details and results are atRAeC Trust awardsDespite receiving fewer applications this year, the Royal AeroClub Trust has awarded 48 bursaries to enable young air sportenthusiasts to advance their ambitions. Widening the age rangeand adding follow-on awards resulted in an increase inapplications in 2016 and 2017, but these fell off slightly this year.Two of the bursaries were awarded to BHPA members: IsabelMackintosh (17) of the SE Wales club will train to CP level and JohnDelves (17) of Green Dragons will pursue a paramotor conversion. Itturns out John is a now a Green Dragons/UP/Thermal Chaserssponsored pilot and is helping to form an official Air Cadets BHPAclub under the GD umbrella. Of the remaining bursaries, 17 wereawarded to glider pilots and 16 to parachutists. The Trust isgrateful to the benefactors who enable these awards; these includethe RAeS, the Peter Cruddas Foundation, Dr Brian Bramson, GeorgeFarhar, John Downer and Breitling UK. Next year’s applications willclose on March 31st 2019. If you are between 14 and 21 and financialassistance would help you progress, go to Every young BHPA pilot should apply!Parafest reminderFinal call for the Parafest festival at Llanbedr, North Wales, onJuly 29th - 29th. The event has sold out for the past three yearsand is on target to do so again – there are only days left to grabyour tickets for the best event of the summer. Parafest haseverything for pilots and families to enjoy a great weekend: tradeNext >