No. 339 July 2017The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding AssociationTHE BHPA LTD 8 Merus Court, Meridian Business Park, Leicester LE191RJ. Tel: 0116 289 4316, fax: 0116 289 8741.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, Online: THE EDITOR Joe Schofield, 39 London Road, Harleston, Norfolk IP209BH. Tel: 01379 855021. COVER PHOTO Giles Fowler, moments after landing from his 464kmnon-stop coast-to-coast paramotor flight on June 7th. Photo: JoeSchofield THIS PAGE ‘Acro Chick’ Signe Knudsen: ‘Now flying is that extraspice to life instead of being everything I do.’ Photo: Signe KnudsenDESIGN & 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_2017 and the case-sensitivepassword +Sbck? For the August issue enter the usernameAugust_2017 and the case-sensitive password meF!w3DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for theSeptember 2017 issue must be submitted to the Skywings officeby Friday July 28th. Letters for the August Airmail page shouldarrive no later than Monday July 17th. Advertisement bookings forthe August edition of Skywings must arrive by Monday 10th July.Copy and classified bookings no later than Monday 17th July.Regulars Regulars reviews features Contents2 JULY 4 JULY PILOT DOWN!DAle PickArD. lonGTime PArAGliDer PiloT AnD cluB coAcHSo, am I writing about flying safely? No.Safety procedures? No. Calling theemergency services? Nope. The injuredpilot? No. First aid then? No again. Thisarticle is all about me and my experiencesas the first person on scene to help thedowned pilot.First, a little background (well, this article isall about me!). I have been flyingparagliders for 16 years, I am Advance Pilotrated, a qualified Club Coach and currentlyflying a high-end B wing, the Advance Iota.I was on the committee of the PennineSoaring Club for five years, including threeas Chairman. I have attended three first aidcourses which are, in my opinion,absolutely essential for helping a downedpilot and indeed for my own safety. I enjoyflying XC, and the camaraderie on the hilland in the club.I have been first on scene five times tomajor paragliding accidents (actually, onewas second on scene but I was activelyinvolved) including one very recently. Twopilots were close friends, two others I knewand the fifth was unknown to me. Allincidents were in the UK. Three pilots werehighly experienced with ten years plusflying, one with five years plus and one lessthan two years flying. During four of the incidents, I was flying atthe time. When a pilot is down and injuredyou want to land as soon as possible tohelp. However the training kicks in; the firstaid courses I have been on alwaysemphasise: look after yourself first. Do notput yourself in danger – we do not wanttwo injured pilots. This can be extremelystressful – you want to land quickly but youmust do so safely, which often means timebeing lost. It may mean landing somedistance away and in locations andconditions you would not normally land in. When flying I usually listen to the radiochatter and do not have much to say. Witha pilot down that has to change. When youbecome aware of a problem you need to letother pilots know. Whilst on my own with adowned pilot I always have my radio withme so that I continue to have contact withothers. A radio is necessary for askingothers to call the Air Ambulance andMountain Rescue, for providing location andcoordinates, to call for assistance on sitewith the injured pilot, to ask for helppacking equipment, etc. I never fly withoutmy radio.Having landed I ball up my wing and run tothe downed pilot; at this stage theadrenaline is pumping with anxiety at whatI might find. On arrival I ball up his wing; Ido not want more injuries to be caused by adragging. I am then able to begin to assessthe problem. First aid courses are brilliantas they give you a guide to assess thesituation and the level of help that isneeded. In each of the five cases I haveexperienced, Air Ambulance and MountainRescue were required. What you are not prepared for is the lengthof time you are alone with an injured pilotuntil help arrives. This is a highlytraumatic and emotional time. I keep busyunhooking the wing, seeing how to unhookthe harness when required, talking to thepilot, keeping him comfortable and relayingthe situation to other pilots. Eventually youhear a comforting sound, the whop-whop-whop of the approaching helicopter. Reliefat last, but only if the Air Ambulance hasbeen given the correct coordinates, whichsadly can – and has – added minutes ontotheir arrival time. And remember that ahelicopter can weigh about five tons.That is five tons of air being pusheddown on you – hold onto everything orelse it will disappear!When the air medics arrive it is truly arelief – somebody else is in charge. Yourpilot is now receiving expert medicalattention but you are still not free yet. Youare the expert on the harness; you have therelevant information ready for the medics.Also it can still take the Mountain Rescueteam a considerable time to arrive toextract the pilot from difficult terrain to thehelicopter.With the pilot loaded up on the helicopterand off to hospital, can I now relax? Afraidnot. It’s time to call the next of kin. This isusually best done by a friend and can be avery sobering moment. There is no easyway to do it. Only after the pilot’sequipment and car are sorted can I thenstop and reflect. It is then that I feel emptyand alone and almost certainly sufferingfrom shock. After the departure of thehelicopter I usually walk on the hill for 20minutes. This allows the wash of thehelicopter blades to settle and for my headto get back into gear.I have always been able to fly after anaccident. Psychologically it has beenimportant to me. However it is at this pointthat I triple check everything – pre-flightchecks have never been completed sothoroughly. The flight usually lasts only fiveminutes or so and then I call it a day.I know other pilots have gone throughsimilar experiences to my own. For thosewho haven’t, my best advice would be to beprepared. Attend a first aid course regularly,have a radio to call for help and beprepared for a high-stress situation. On thepositive side, it is an honour to be presentand give what help you are able, and whilstyou are the only help present you are thatpilot’s best and closest friend ever.Finally, we all need to remember that theAir Ambulance is a charity; the clinicalstaff are paid for by the NHS but the pilotand helicopter are paid for via charitabledonations. The Mountain Rescue team areall volunteers and are wholly reliant oncharitable donations. I know that some ofmy fellow pilots would not be flying todaybut for the generosity of these volunteersand those that financially support them.As pilots we should do our bit to supportthem too.So in the end this article isn’t just about me– it’s about you too! On a good, sunny, flyable day the last words you want to hear are ‘Pilot Down!’ But for the first responder, the realanxiety and stress is just beginning.Photo: Dale Pickard [with full approval from the pilot concerned] call: 01404 Turfhouse, Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA. Email: Much of my flying this year has been gale dangling in 30mph winds,yet today there is no wind and I’m sitting in our woods to write this,because it is too hot everywhere else! Even the blackbirds are silent.Tomasz Hardej wasn’t, when he found more moderate weather to trymy Skyman Heartbeat demo. He went on Facebook to say “What afantastic machine!” Talking of fantastic machines, my Litespeed RX took me over thislittle harbour on one of those windy days (35mph at 1000 feet). I’mtold that people who watch something called “Broadchurch” willrecognise the view – as will local free flyers!As always, top pilots have been clocking up some mega distancesthis year. Wayne Seeley is always near the top of the NPXCLeague,and he recently updated to this very sleek Charly No Limits helmet.Maximum cool and maximum protection. I have all colours, sizes andvisors in stock. I’m replacing a few of my demo wings, and the Skyman Heartbeat thatTomasz so enjoyed now carries a price tag. Still pristine in shiningwhite, it is remarkable value for such a competent, light and compactEN B rated Quite a few new and usedgliders have been coming andgoing recently. This Large DHV1 Independence Merlin is idealfor a beginner who can’t justifythe price tag of a new glider,but is a solid choice, and isreally rather tidy for £475.Rather have a medium size?One of my longest-standingcustomers recently traded in hiswell-flown DHV 1 Firebird Z-Oneagainst a brand new SkymanAmicus. The Z-One has been thereand got the T-shirt, but it has moreflying left in it, and will then makean excellent ground-handling wing.Only £220!Talking of the gorgeous SkymanAmicus, my demo is up for grabs ifyou have a bit more spare cash! Thisis an immaculate Amicus 25, EN A inBlue, Red and White, and the pricewill save you severalhundred poundsover a new one:My mate Colin keepscomplaining that myphotographs arerubbish. He’s theonly person whocomplains, but thereis something inwhat he says. Iguess that using two battered and broken old cameras doesn’t help.And why don’t I use a Zoot Camera Mount? I’ve sold hundreds for useon hang gliders, microlights, bikes and boats. Plenty in stock!The photos may be poor, but the views are stunning! This one wassnapped while wafting about at cloudbase, somewhere nearWoolacombe. Down here, most of our best sites are coastal, but thatdoesn’t mean that interesting stuff doesn’t happen from time totime. Come and fly with me.The Flying Circus — still crazyafter all these years!Strange Times…For 2017 I am stocking Charly, Apco and Independence reserves, so asto give my retail and trade customers the maximum choice.These brands have sold tens of thousands of reserves, and have manyhundreds of successful deployments to their credit. When all is saidand done, that is what counts! My own deployment was beneath a Charly Revolution, and I regard thatreserve as having saved my life - it was probably my best everinvestment. Read the full account on my website, or just ask me aboutit! Charly Second Chance from £399 Charly Revolution, from £480.Apco Mayday HG from £415Charly Clou2 from £490 Independence Annular Evo, from £545The NEW CharlyDiamond Cross,from £670Reserves 20176 JULY At Beccles local paramotor pilots and theairfield operator, himself a paramotorist,waited to assist in gaining control of Giles’sDudek Hadron 22 canopy in the still strongand gusting wind. Despite a turbulentdescent and little penetration, Giles kept thewing in check and touched down safely to avery well deserved round of applause. The inspiration for the flight was his friendClarisse Hamilton’s breast cancer diagnosisand subsequent treatment. ‘If I can saveone person’s life through this then I havedone my job. Clarisse has been given asecond chance at life and I want to givesomeone else that.’ Clarisse’s partnerDempster was driving ground support butsuch was Giles’s progress in the strongwinds aloft that when he landed at Becclesat 5.30pm Dempster was still battling roundthe M25.Power for the flight came from a standardBailey V5 four-stroke with beautifully-madeextra tankage by Paul Bailey. This tookGiles’s fuel load to 26 litres, of which aboutfour remained whan he landed. Althoughcarrying a GPS logger, navigation wasentirely by means of a 7ft-long paper map.Giles remained on course throughout theflight, visible to followers on Livetracking,and crosswind flying was only required forthe last section. No UK record has yet beenrecorded so Giles will be able to claim it at464.24km. Those who witnessed his difficultlanding will attest that this flight was nopicnic. There weren’t quite the same crowdsbut the scene was faintly reminiscent ofLindbergh's landing at Paris in 1927. To contribute to Giles’s fundraising effortsgo to or go to his Facebook page atGiles Fowler: 464km non stop!On Wednesday June 7th Giles Fowler completed his long-planned coast to coast paramotor flight in support ofCancer Research UK, flying from the former RAF Brawdy in West Wales to Beccles in Suffolk in five hours 31minutes. As you’d expect from an RAF Logistics Officer, the trip was meticulously planned and Giles’s severalfallback options weren’t required. With met assistance from fellow RAF Officer Matt Tandy, Giles picked a perfectslot in blustery weather to make the attempt. Finally launching at 11.55 after an abortive earlier take-off with fuelconnector problems, Giles cruised east at just under 3,000ft at ground speeds of up to 100km/h. ‘Over the BlackMountains things got really rough and I started to wonder what I was doing here,’ said Giles. ‘It stayed that wayfor the next 50km – I was encountering wave off the mountains!’Ollie shoots Fox(tug)!Wing-walking is the latest thing, right?Extreme Ironing is just so passé. Down atSywell in early May, Ollie Chitty got towedup to 5,000ft by the FoxTug trike (Skywings,October and November 2016). After releasingand making a few practice passes, Olliemanaged to land on the wing of the FoxTugfor a quick touch-and-go.Tug pilot Ben Ashman: ‘I could see Olliegetting into position through the sail of theFoxTug. Being translucent, it was like lookingthrough a shower screen – quite a blurredimage. Suddenly, two feet appeared in sharpclarity followed by quite a physical thump.This made me jump and woke me up ratherquickly.’ For reasons unknown, both pilotsare reported to have been overcome by a fitof the giggles immediately afterwards. Werecommend, of course, that BHPA membersdo not try this at home!Blue skies and fair winds greetedparaglider pilots and outdoor lovers at the10th anniversary Buttermere Bash on thefirst weekend in June. The idyllic locationat the very edge of Buttermere became amini village as children discovered thejoys of playing outside all day and grown-ups rediscovered the art of conversation. Pilots were treated to some great flying asJocky Sanderson and Al Westle setambitious tasks in the Lakeland CharityOpen – Friday saw a race to goal atPenrith and Saturday a 50-mile racefrom Latrigg to Hexham where two pilotsmade goal.Throughout the week pilots had beenpractising jaw-dropping routines abovethe lake for the fabled Bash Acro Show onSaturday evening. Being the only acrobaticfree-flight show in Britain this drawssome of the world’s top pilots; the CAAhad worked closely with the organisers toissue the first-ever authorisation for afully legal air display with paragliders. 8 JULY newsBHPA 500 ClubWin cash prizes and help the Association! May winnersElizabeth Delap £130.40John Casson £65.20Brian Parkins £32.60James Petts £19.56Adam Langford £16.30John Taylor £16.30Alastair Howarth £13.04Brian Gittings £13.04William Scott Mather £9.78John Taylor £9.78BHPA £326.00If by the time you read this you have notreceived your cheque, please contact meon 07802 525099.Marc AsquithBrilliant Buttermere Bash! On Saturday evening a helicoptertransported the show pilots to the summitof Robinson but the weather was startingto turn. Organiser Gordie Oliver called inthe Osprey Skydive Display team fromnearby Flookburgh but the conditionswere just too turbulent and their jumphad to be abandoned. Eventually a braveacro pilot took advantage of a lull in thewind to perform a number of tricks, buton final approach the wind had the lastsay and dumped him into the lake closeto the shore. Screams and shouts ofappreciation from the 800-odd spectatorsechoed around the valley as thebedraggled pilot saluted his adoringpublic. As the sun stretched its red lightacross the Fells the bands began to play.An evening of music and merriment layahead, the quality of which many topevents would struggle to better. The Bash is a unique event, bringingtogether people from all walks of life toshare the little bit of heaven which isButtermere for one special week eachyear. This year’s event has raised over£2,500 for local charities and good causesincluding the local Air Ambulance andMountain Rescue, and Motor NeuroneDisease research. Live your adventure!Live your adventure!Ultra-light equipment for adventurers,cross-country and tandem pilots.CrossCountry EN /LTF B4,1 kg (Size M)The freedom of lightness!CrossAlps EN/LTF C4,0 kg (Size M)UltraCross 100975gCoconea X-Alps 2,4 kgFront container 230gString 350g JULY 2017 9Photo: Tom McNallyNext >