No. 386 JUNE 2021 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association2 SKYWINGS JUNE 2021 This was 1974, my first year in the sport, and I was obsessed with flying and anything to do with it. And now I was going to meet up with pilots I had only heard of, and other flyers from around the country, and see what and how they flew – I couldn’t wait! The comp weekend arrived. The weather forecast had stayed good and the winds were looking fine for flying. We arrived a day early to help sort out the course, marking out the rigging area and take-off and landing zones, finishing with a target for extra points. Having never done or seen anything like this, I couldn’t wait to see how this was going to go. I was buzzing! I was up early on the first morning of the comp; with all my thoughts of what was coming I had hardly slept. We were all ready to go: the course was in place, the wind was good and there was a guy with a Haflinger all-terrain recovery vehicle to get the flyers back to take-off. The beer tent, ice cream van, food and other stalls were all in place, the public- address system was up and working, and the marshalls and the Saint John medical tent were all ready! There were lots of other flyers and hang gliders everywhere. John Haynes had arranged a large field across the road for the public car park, but now he gave me the bad news. ‘OK Brian, I want you to collect the money in the car park – I don’t trust anyone else!’ What? I had been looking forward to this weekend so much. ‘How can I compete if I’m over the road collecting the car park money?’ I said. ‘Don’t worry,’ said John, ‘I’ll call you when it’s your slot to fly.’ I couldn’t believe what he was saying. But it was my fault – I had said I would do anything to help out. But come on – give me a chance! I rigged my glider up and left it flat, with my harness and helmet, near to take-off. And then I walked away, dragging my arse across the road, with the collecting bag on my shoulder to start taking the parking money at the gate. As the cars began pouring in I could hear the sound of the Tannoy, with all the chat and the cheers, drifting over the road. I could just see the tops of the gliders flying away from take-off. After a while John came along the road. ‘OK, he said, ‘your flight is soon. Best get over there. Give me the money bag and I’ll cover till you come back. But be quick – I have lots to do.’ Oh dear, what a shame! I ran across the road and over to my glider, set it up and put my harness on. The start marshal said, ‘You’re next!’ and pointed out the course direction, etc. So I did my flight, hoping it was right. Not having not seen any of the other competitors fly, I didn’t have a clue how they had been flying or how my flight was. After a lift back to the take-off area, I laid the glider back down and grabbed a sandwich on the way back across the road to return to my car park job. This went on for the whole weekend: car park attendant … flyer … car park attendant … flyer. At the end of the last day hardly any more cars were coming in. John walked over and says, ‘That’s it Bri, you might as well leave it. It’s just about over now so come on back.’ I asked my wife who had won, how did it go, etc. She said that they were still sorting out the scores for the positions. I packed up my glider and flying gear and stuck it all back on our VW camper. Whilst I was doing that they announced the final results over the Tannoy. 3rd place … 2nd place… and 1st place was me! What! I thought they were joking and it was just a wind-up, but no! I walked over to the marshalls’ tent to see the scores myself, and yes, I had scored the most points. Unbelievable! The Trophy should have read, ‘1st place – car park attendant’! What an unbelievable first comp! How lucky was that? 1974 - the first British hang gliding championship BRIAN WOOD, FORMER STELLA ARTOIS CHAMPION AND RETURNING PILOT After flying the Wasp gliders for a while [see March 2021 Skywings], I had gotten quite friendly with the Haynes brothers. John Haynes rang me up one day and said, ‘We are going to run the first British Hang Gliding Championship at Steyning Bowl on the South Downs in July. Would you help me with it?’ Having no idea what he would like me to do, I said ‘OK.’ attitude Photo: Illustr ated Monthly Flypaper No .9 4 SKYWINGS JUNE 2021 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 Andy Brown and four-year-old Matilda taking off from Woolacombe. See Andy’s article on page 34 of this issue Photo: Tom Wren/SWNS THIS PAGE The smile says it all! Selfie above Osmington White Horse, Weymouth, on Monday May 3rd. Photo: Tim Chandler regulars regulars JUNE 2021 SKYWINGS 5 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 SKYWINGS ONLINE Go For the May issue enter the username May_2021 and the case-sensitive password BKc85$t4 For the June issue enter the username Jun_2021 and the case-sensitive password 931?Caf$ DEADLINES News items and event/competition reports for the August issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Friday July 2nd. Letters for the July Airmail pages should arrive no later than Friday June 18th. Advertisement bookings for the July edition must arrive by Friday June 11th. Copy and classified bookings no later than Friday June 18th. regulars tests and reviews features 6 SKYWINGS JUNE 2021 news Super Friday! Amid the burst of big flights recorded just as Spring broke and the lockdown was eased, Friday May 7th saw a storm of epic distances as 46 paraglider pilots clocked up an astonishing 4,050km. By comparison, Spring’s earlier big day on April 17th had seen 4,700km recorded, but it took 82 pilots to do it. Top of the leaderboard was Kirsty Cameron’s 265km from Elan valley, netting her third set of female distance-via-three turnpoints and free distance records (Photo: Jocky Sanderson). Kirsty got away with five other pilots just after 10:30 and reported climbs to nearly 6,000ft by 11am! Idris Birch had been first away but dropped out early. Kirsty, Guy Anderson, Dougie Swanson-Low, Tom Cole and Joe Dart made a fast 100km+ to Evesham. Early thoughts of Richard Carter’s 306km record were banished by large areas of shadow from decaying cloud streets, and the ensuing hard going put Joe down at 184km near Northampton. The remaining four pilots had an easier but relatively slow time of it as the sky opened up again. Tom went down at 214km with a personal best; the other three were able to push on for the best climb of the day to base at close to 6,000ft, landing together after a long glide just short of Ely at 253km (and a three-turnpoints distance of 265km). Idris hitched back to take-off and flew 195km! Further south, Tim Pentreath flew from Worcester Beacon with Leszek Ziolkowski not far behind. ‘It certainly wasn’t plain sailing,’ he reported. ‘Tricky sections with large areas of cloud shadow, 45km of 4,500ft airspace and freezing fingers at 6,500ft!’ A low save at St Ives saw him blasted from 750ft back up to 6,650ft, from where he overshot his declared goal to reach 206km and a new site record. ‘Friendly locals offered me a lift back to Ely station and I caught one of the last Hitachi trains out of Paddington before they were recalled on Saturday morning for checks!’ Many more big flights were made from Wales on the same day. The hangies kept their end up on the day; Andy Hollidge flew 126km from the Long Mynd and Steve Blackler completed a 95km triangle from the Suffolk winch. Bill Bell made 81km from the Mynd, Graham Phipps flew a 42km triangle from Smeatharpe and David Phillips made the coast and 38km from the Suffolk winch. HPA ‘Channel dash’ postponed The first and only crossing of the English Channel by a human powered aircraft (HPA) took place in 1979. On June 12th of that year, Bryan Allen flew Dr. Paul MacCready’s Gossamer Albatross the 22 miles from Folkestone to Cap Gris-Nez in two hours and 49 minutes to win the second £100,000 Kremer prize. No successful attempts have been made since. In June this year, teams in the Great Human Powered Aircraft Race were to have attempted to cross the Channel in an HPA again, hoping to win a £50,000 prize for the fastest crossing. A £10,000 prize for the second fastest team and £5,000 for the fastest female pilot were also on offer. The race was to have marked the 60th anniversary of the first flight of a human-powered aircraft, Southampton University’s SUMPAC, in 1961; sadly it has been postponed until 2022 due to the Covid situation. At the time of postponement Alec Proudfoot’s DaSH (pictured) and John Edgley’s Aerocycle, veteran of several BHPFC Icarus Cups, were entered; other entries were anticipated from as far afield as Japan. The race, supported by Anne Williams, a key member of the original SUMPAC team, is intended to promote STEM engagement among students and inspire the next generation of HPA pilots and engineers. There’s a lot more information at Kirsty Cameron – 253km and two more records Tim Pentreath – 206km, a site record … and beer!I’m not flying at the moment, but hope to be back soon, and am revelling in thousands of memories of this amazing sport. I take pleasure in the excitement generated by our amazing Soperman. And here is Rhal Ssan, throwing his Moyes SX2 around the sky! Time marches on, bringing life changes, and the Flying Circus is going to have to evolve, too. I have exciting plans. In truth, it is really just the old strategy regurgitated - but keep that to yourself, please! The new website has been working really well, and I am slowly loading it up with the many hundreds of lines I have for sale here - accumulated over the last 45 amazing years. Have a browse through and see what you can find, but first have a peek at the tasty little selection in this advert. What about an Apco Play 42 Tandem paraglider in superb condition? You could fly it, or you could use it to hone your ground handling skills before you take passengers up. Magnificent Porosity levels mean it has many years of life in it. I rather jumped the gun in announcing the amazing new Charly Vitesse helmets. They are due to arrive in June - sorry if you are waiting for one. Manufactured by the expensive Inmould process, weights starting at just 380 gm and there is a wide range of sizes, adjustment and accessories. They are going to be very special, and I have all sizes and colours on order. Keep an eye on the website for June Right now, I have a very nice selection of harnesses suitable for ground handling, ranging up from £75 in price. This superb Firebird Hybrid is in perfect working order but is old, so let’s say £85 for a total gem that will last for many more years! Unusual as it may seem, I have actually reduced the price of a hang glider. This WW Eagle 164 should have whistled away weeks ago, but it is still here, and I want to shift it quickly. Down £45 to £750, and a total bargain for some lucky new pilot. Another really rare item is a secondhand tandem reserve for paragliding. This Independence reserve is very good quality, complete with a built-in drogue system, but it is old. I’d use it, but I’m a dinosoar, so feel free to make a silly offer. Hang gliders always sell like hot cakes at this time of year, and this picture is another one that will probably be gone before you see the picture! I have accepted an offer already, and being a big Vision 5 I imagine selling it will not be tricky. It may be worth checking the website, though, just in case I am wrong. What is a used Advance Lightness 2 worth? When new they cost £1245, so I think I will reduce that price by £1000 and see what happens next. You could try one of your silly offers (no, don’t bother!). This one has lived a full life, and has one or two patches and scuffs, but it is all there apart from the deployment handle. It is one very advanced harness and there isn’t much back protection, so I reckon you need to be competent and confident to fly it. It is a medium in blue/black, at £245. More rarity value! I had promised myself to keep this almost as-new Single Gliderider, but I have a double, so why not pass it on to somebody needy? The last incarnation of Partick Laverty’s remarkable invention, I will take £75 for it and not a penny less! As well as a range of used instruments on the website, I have stocked up on the lovely Flymaster LS and LS GPS range. They do everything most pilots really need, they are slim and light, and they don’t cost a lot. These days, many instruments are designed purely for paragliding, but I have a nice hang gliding mount on the way for these LS’s! I thought you might be impressed by this high-tec helmet/mask I have been wearing lately. It is formed from a kevlar mesh, hot moulded to your face (Makes me look all swoopy and almost attractive! That’s a first!). They then use it to mount your head rigidly to the bed of the radiotherapy machine as they remove cancer cells from your spine. Gruesome? Perhaps, but more than half of us are going that way ... May I just add that the NHS treatment I have received has been absolutely exemplary. Keep the NHS Free and British - keep politicians out! New Strategy? The aerodynamic Charly NO Limits is available as an open - or a full-face helmet. The pressure-formed aerodynamic Kevlar- reinforced fibreglass shells are renowned for their quietness, and come in four colours and four sizes, starting at £230. A clear visor comes as standard with optional Tinted visors available. The Charly Insider is probably the top-selling free flight helmet of all time. The Kevlar-reinforced fibreglass shell is fully-lined, and I stock eleven colours and six sizes from XS to XXL! Prices start at £165, and weight is only 660gm! The stylish Charly Loop costs £125, weighs around 505gm and comes with a helmet bag included. There are three sizes and six colours: Gloss White, Matt Blue, Matt Black, Matt Red, Matt Orange and Nova Silver – see them all on my website: The Charly Ace has a polycarbonate shell and comes in four sizes, with a choice of Gloss White, Matt Red, Matt Black or Carbon-look. Weight is around 560gm, and prices start at £85. The Charly Breeze is being replaced by the new Vitesse, and I have a small selection in all sizes, white or black, price reduced to £55 each! I stock all the Charly helmets optional accessories, too! The Ace, Breeze and Loop will all accept the optional visor, available in Grey, Yellow, Orange and Mirror finishes. Prices start at £28 per visor, with the fixing screw set costing another Simon Murphy’s Flying Circus tel: 01404 891685 Luppitt, Honiton, Devon, EX14 4SA Charly Helmetsnews 8 SKYWINGS JUNE 2021 Fly & Share Last year more than 50 pilots flew together at the inaugural Fly & Share event at Greifenburg, Austria, before listening to talks by national champions and partying into the night. Sponsored for each XC kilometre flown, they raised over 8,000 euros for KarmaFlights in Nepal. This year’s event will be bigger – and will take place wherever you fly! Fly & Share is an XC camp for everyone, supported by former German champion Ferdi Vogel, world acro champion Theo de Blic and others. Working with the Cloudbase Foundation, Karma Flights aims to make the 2021 event global. Pilots everywhere are invited to join in by collecting sponsorship and donating to KarmaFlights for every kilometre flown on the weekend of August 5th – 8th. Distances are unimportant; the focus is on creating a worldwide community event. Full details of how to participate are at Nepal’s 2015 earthquake killed nearly 9,000 people and injured thousands more. Local pilots stepped in to help, using their retrieve vehicles to deliver aid to remote communities, while thousands of others helped fund their efforts. Karma Flights came together to provide a safe home and educational support for a group of eight Nepali children. Their activities have since expanded to include large-scale disaster relief, school, library and computer-lab construction, hydro, solar and road infrastructure support and much more. These initiatives have saved lives, reduced suffering and provided professional and personal opportunities to thousands of children. There’s more info at Paragliding worlds: Argentina in November! The paragliding world championships, originally scheduled for Coeur de Savoie, France, in May, was cancelled in March. Soon afterwards CIVL received a proposal from Loma Bola, Argentina, to run the event in November. Other proposals were sought and soon arrived from GV in Brazil and Roldanillo in Colombia. Brazil was rejected on account of its problems in grappling with the Covid pandemic; Colombia was thought to be missing too many key elements such as an experienced organising team. The Argentinian proposal then became a formal bid, discussed by CIVL delegates and the paragliding committee. Although the area is known for stable conditions and sometimes very short tasks, CIVL has agreed that the 17th FAI World Paragliding Championships will be at Loma Bola from October 31st to November 13, 2021. Early arrivals are encouraged and supervised training days will be laid on. Let’s hope it’s a good year down there! CAA integrates its GA and drone teams The CAA’s General Aviation Unit (GAU) and Remotely Piloted Aircraft System Unit (RPAS) teams are to be integrated into one unit, led by current RPAS head and acting GAU head Sophie O’Sullivan. In fact both teams have been integrating since last November. The CAA cites ‘many internal similarities’ and ‘huge benefits for the external communities in working collaboratively on shared challenges.’ They also say that the change will not impact their management of airspace or the central services desk that processes applications, and that there will be no change in the resources assigned to technical work. More ominously, they cite ‘the ability to collectively work together on airspace.’ GA organisations and pilots too will be hoping that one of the CAA’s perceived weaknesses, the constant merry-go-round of staff coming and going, will be addressed. Green Dragons to import Ellipse Andy Shaw at Green Dragons has become the sole UK importer for Ellipse hang gliders and harnesses. Andy will visit the factory soon and undergo training on building and servicing the Ellipse range. This currently includes the Sol’R trainer, the Twist beginner wing, the Windee intermediate (pictured) and the Next kingposted high-performance wing. Ellipse, based at Etuz in eastern France, was established in 1986 by Jean-Marc Rousselet, who still leads the firm. As well as having built the first topless hang glider in 1988, Ellipse also manufactures a strong range of flexwing microlights (see April 2017 Skywings). Details of their hang glider range will no doubt emerge from Green Dragons in due course. LBA expansion – into the long grass A £150m proposal to redevelop Leeds Bradford Airport has been delayed, by Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick demanding more time to consider it. Leeds City Council’s acceptance of plans for a new terminal was referred to the government when objectors pointed out it would contribute to climate change. On April 6th Jenrick said he needed time to allow for proper consideration of the plan; Leeds is now prevented from granting planning permission without special authorisation. The pressure group Action on Leeds Bradford Airport said, ‘No airport anywhere should expand. Delaying this decision is good news,’ while a Greenpeace spokesperson said the delay was a sign the government was ‘starting to recognise the catastrophic impacts of expansion.’ LBA says that the replacement terminal is a sustainable development, helping it to achieve its net-zero carbon goal by 2023, and claims it would provide 12,650 permanent jobs – while denying the project is an expansion. The LBA plan isn’t dead, but Jenrick’s decision won’t look promising to the seven other UK airports that have expansion plans on the go. Recently forced into a U- turn on a new coal mine in Cumbria, Jenrick is likely to tread carefully. A final decision may be a long time coming while the government works on its impending transport decarbonisation strategy. LBA’s proposal for complex extra airspace was rejected in 2019 after a long-running battle with GA interests including the BHPA. Although a runway extension at Southampton was approved in April, Heathrow’s third runway still doesn’t have planning permission, London City’s expansion plans are on hold and Bristol’s expansion plans were rejected by the local Council in February last year. Meanwhile pandemic air traffic is at 1970s levels. We live in interesting times! Paragliding Accuracy Nationals The 2021 BHPA Paragliding Accuracy National Championships will take place on 24-25th July at Great Fransham tow field near Dereham, hosted by the Norfolk Club and open to CP-rated pilots and above. There are trophies for individual and team honours, best female, best CP, best newcomer, best veteran and most-improved pilot. The competition will have FAI Category 2 status – although not required for entry, pilots with FAI licences will be able to earn WPRS points. There is also a Club Class Novice competition for non CP-rated pilots and those entering for the first time since achieving CP. Non CP- rated pilots must be supervised by their own instructor. All levels of pilot, from experts to those new to accuracy, are welcome to enter. More details and entry forms are available at Miniplane UK changes hands Russ Hesketh-Roberts has taken over Miniplane UK, official importer for Miniplane Paramotors and Top 80 engines. Russ has run the business for the last seven years but is now its new owner. He plans to support for all UK Miniplane and Top 80 owners and continue to build the reputation of the reliable Top 80 motor. As a BHPA Senior Instructor in hill, tow and power environments, Russ is well placed to advise on training and equipment sales. There’s a new website at which new product lines and information pages will be added shortly. To celebrate the new business Russ is offering 15% off all orders until June 31st. New northern paramotor school Ric Womersley is now up and running with his new BHPA paramotor school in the Goole area of East Yorkshire. Ric, a former British team pilot, has been a paraglider and paramotor instructor for the last 11 years and helped to set up one of Europe’s most successful paramotor schools. He has long nursed the dream of setting up his own school; the opening of Northern Skies brings BHPA paramotor training to the vast untapped area east of the Pennines and north of the Peak District. The school benefits from very easy access off the M62. For details contact Ric at 07713 477069 or go to Free classified ads Skywings personal classified ads are now completely free and available to BHPA members only. To book yours, go to In brief Skywings online. The online version of this issue of the magazine can be found at username Jun_2021 and the case-sensitive password 931?Caf$. For the July issue enter the username Jul_2021 and the case- sensitive password sTa&27_h. These details can also be found on the contents page of each issue. Magazines with a cover date over six months old can be viewed online or downloaded without the need to log in. Hang gliding worlds is off! After much deliberation, CIVL supported the Kruševo organisers’ decision to go ahead with Class 1 and Class 5 world championships from July 18th-30th. In late May the British team withdrew in the light of UK Government advice against travelling. Australia, Austria, Brazil, Italy and the USA also withdrew. With so many top nations out it was senseless to continue, and on May 27th the organisers and CIVL agreed to postpone the championships until 2022, a great blow for all involved. John Silvester. Paragliding legend John Silvester died peacefully at his home in Snowdonia on Sunday May 23rd, brought down in the end by a heart attack at the age of 61. John’s achievements in high- altitude exploration flying are legion, perhaps best embraced by his two films made with Alun Hughes, From Nowhere to the Middle of Nowhere (1999) and The Birdman of the Karakoram (2009). John seemed to thrive in terrain that is off- limits to normal people, a dizzy world where even birds won’t fly, in pursuit of some of the last frontiers on earth. He had suffered from a weak heart for many years; it was undoubtedly less strong than his spirit. Our sympathies go to his partner Nicky and his children Molly and Dru. BHPA 500 Club WIN CASH PRIZES AND HELP THE ASSOCIATION! April winners Michael Dixon £132.80 Malcolm Morrison £66.40 Liam Brazil £33.20 Craig Thomas £19.92 Barry Woodhead £16.60 Richard Milla £16.60 Chris Dunford £13.28 Ed Cleasby £9.96 Colin David Chapman £9.96 BHPA £332.00 If by the time you read this you have not received your cheque, please contact me on 07802 525099. Marc AsquithNext >