Innholdsfortegnelse for February - March 2022 i Cross Country

Colombia is going to be the place to be for paraglider pilots who are fed up with the long, cold winter in the north. The season is packed with events that will allow back-to-back competition flying for those quick enough to register. First up, the first Ozone Open Colombia is being held in Pie de Chinche from 15-21 January. This is based on the famous Ozone Chabre Open and is a fun comp designed to introduce XC pilots into the world of competition flying. Like the Chabre Open it will be run by Jocky Sanderson in his own inimitable style and will be limited to EN C wings and below. Also limited are places: they have capped it at 100 pilots. Straight after that the Roldanillo Paragliding Open follows from…

I’m a retired air force fighter pilot from Cologne. You sign up with the air force for 20 years and when you turn 41 you stop flying. I did a tour in Afghanistan which was really hard. Four of my friends didn’t make it. So it was time to leave. Netjets offered me a job to fly private jets. It includes fractional ownership of an aircraft. I like it, it’s really flexible. If I want to fly from Venice because it’s closer to the Alps for the paragliding season, it’s no problem. At the end of the eighties I did a beginner’s course on a hang glider with a friend. Hang gliding felt like flying like a bird. We did a couple of days but then I crashed my motorbike…

25 YEARS AGO XC49 (Feb/Mar 1997): A report on a new initiative from France: “While many people think paragliding is something behind a boat, in France it has become part of a state project,” reported Amy Anderson. The French, “have launched a programme for child paraglider pilots.” “A new paragliding division of the special state-sponsored sports school at Font Romeu is being funded by the FFVL and the Ministry of Youth. The school in the Pyrenees is already famous in training students to be Olympic champions.” Could it do the same for paraglider pilots? Seven teenagers, 14-18, had been selected. Alongside normal school they would fly twice a week and study subjects like meteorology four hours a week. “Will it produce more capable instructors, or even a World Champion?” Twenty-five…

Luc Armant Luc started to fly in 2001 when he was 26. A naval architect and engineer he fell in love with paragliding and joined Ozone in 2008 where he developed the first functioning high-performance two-liner, a project that ultimately became the massively successful Enzo series. He traversed the Himalaya by vol-bivouac in 2007, and is an XC and competition champion – most recently winning the PWCA Superfinal in 2021. flyozone.com Felipe Rezende Felipe’s design background is in architecture, surfboard design and kitesurfing. Originally from Brazil and now based north of Sydney in Australia, he founded Flow Paragliders in 2013. A successful competition pilot he was on the Sol Team in Brazil for years, regularly flying on the PWC circuit. His glider range now encompasses all levels of wing, from…

SERGEY SHAKUTO Red Bull Illume is an international adventure-photography competition that runs every two years. Final selection and winners were announced in December, with an outdoor touring exhibition starting in Aspen, Colorado. From a total of 41,447 photographs submitted just three free-light images made the cut for the final. This one, by Sergey Shakuto, was shot in Puschino, Russia. Sergey said: “Friends invited me out of town to learn how to fly with a paramotor and at the same time take pictures. It turned out that there would be a full moon at night, so I prepared my equipment and just started trying.” As the temperature dropped to -20C he kept taking pictures, camera set to manual. “It’s amazing how the camera and flashes survived this. The result looks like…

More than a basic school wing, Supair’s new EN-A Birdy is aimed at pilots who have graduated from paragliding school. Supair also envisage it being used by schools to teach thermalling or advanced courses. It has a modest aspect ratio of 4.95 and 44 cells, and Supair say it combines the safety of EN A with the fun and handling of an EN-B wing. It’s made of lightweight materials: Porcher Skytex 27 underneath with Dominico D20 and D30 on top, and weighs 4.2kg in the M size. The Birdy is available in sizes XS (50-70kg) to L (105-130kg) in three colours. supair.com…

Swing have added a new lightweight mid-B paraglider to their glider range. The Serac RS is its own design rather than a lightweight version of another product. It has 42 cells and an aspect ratio of 5.3, and features Swing’s Rast technology. They describe it as an “uncomplicated hike-and-fly wing with easy handling, appealing performance and excellent climbing ability.” The smallest size weighs just 3kg, the middle size is 3.6kg, and it packs down small. Swing say it’s perfect for travelling, hike-and-fly, soaring, cross-country or simply enjoying relaxed local flights. swing.de…

Explorer 3 Pro Airfer have released a Pro version of their powerful Explorer 3 paramotor. It has a 1,550mm diameter ring to protect a 140cm prop: perfect for heavy loads, comp pilots, tandems and trikes where a bigger prop means more power. Airfer.com Icaro head gear “Nice things for a warm head!” Icaro have added warm and comfortable beanies to their cold-weather accessories range, plus introduced two new cap designs for sun protection. icaro-paragliders.com Syride app Through Syride’s new app, XL owners can receive in-flight weather updates, be live-tracked and upload their tracklog automatically on landing. The iPhone version is out, Android to follow. syride.com…

Apco’s new lightweight Jetcom helmet is EN 966 certified for air sports, and suitable for PPG or free flight. It benefits from in-mould technology derived from cycling and ski helmets, for an excellent strength-to-weight ratio. The smaller of two sizes comes in under 400g, making it “the lightest paramotor helmet on the market”, Apco say. It has a magnetic chin-strap buckle and removable, washable padding. It is supplied in paramotor configuration, with arched side straps for a comms headset. The headset and visor are available as extras. Four colours. apcoaviation.com…

It’s been nearly five years since I reviewed the original Explorer. Back in 2017 I found a lightweight wing that had top performance with dynamic, sharp handling that put a smile on my face. With the release of the new version I was keen to see how the wing has evolved. Unusually, the Explorer 2 isn’t a lightweight version of an existing full-fat wing but a unique design aimed at the top of the EN-B class. There it finds itself competing with wings like the UP Kangri, AirDesign Soar and the light version of the BGD Base 2, as well as older wings like the Ozone Swift 5, Nova Mentor 6 Light and Skywalk Cumeo; although with updated standard versions already released it won’t be long before we see lightweight…

Happy new year! Did you make any flying-related resolutions? Like fly more often or further, achieve an XC goal, do an early-season SIV, fly comps, finally plan that flying trip you have in mind? Whatever it is, now is a good time to look back at how your last year’s flying went and also forwards to what you want to achieve this year. We have explored goal-setting a lot in the past, and we all know it really helps if you write them down; then think about how you will achieve those goals by breaking them down. If your goal is to fly 100km XC, then you need to think about your equipment, research your possible routes from different sites, and then work towards flying that route – get out…

Bernhard, what’s the new Swiss hike-and-fly league all about? The Swiss hike-and-fly league launched on 1 November. It’s a separate league within our national association (SHV)’s main Swiss league. The goal is to develop a wider base of talented hike-and-fly pilots, to facilitate training and coaching to ensure more of them will reach the top to represent Switzerland in international hike-and-fly competitions. In addition, we aim to improve safety and reduce accidents. We provide training and support and we organise competitions. How did it start? Some years ago Chrigel Maurer started the X-Alps Academy, a private initiative to train talented pilots to be better prepared for the Red Bull X-Alps. The Swiss league at the time wasn’t interested in participating. I was a coach at the Academy for two seasons,…

When the forecast is correct, we rarely comment, but we are often quick to complain when it is wrong. Are we ever likely to achieve a perfect forecast that is accurate to the hour? A weather forecast begins its life as a global ‘snapshot’ of the atmosphere at a given time, mapped onto a 3D grid of points that span the entire globe and stretch from the surface to the stratosphere (and sometimes higher). Using a supercomputer and a sophisticated model that describes the behaviour of the atmosphere with physics equations, this snapshot is then stepped forward in time, producing many terabytes of raw forecast data. It then falls to human forecasters to interpret the data and turn it into a meaningful forecast. ‘Huge challenge’ Forecasting the weather is a…

Many people think I’m an adrenaline junky, but it’s quite the opposite. I’m a very analytical person and try to always minimise the risks I take while flying. Of course, it’s impossible to have no risk, but I really try to fly safe – and I try to communicate this advice through my SIV/acro courses and my YouTube channel. So here are my top 10 things you need to do to fly safer. 1. Let’s start with the boring one, the one you already knew I was gonna talk about. You need to groundhandle more and you need to improve your take-off skills. According to French federation research almost 50% of accidents with light to severe damage occur at take-off. So, if you want to fly safer that’s the way…

First, you need to know that there is not just one type of competition – there are several different formats available. I tell people this as it seems like many pilots only know about slalom competitions, where pilots fly with very small gliders and big engines at crazy speeds low over water around pylons. These comps are spectacular but also very risky because the pilots are fighting for milliseconds and so push the equipment to its limit and sometimes beyond. But competition flying is so much more than that, and I’m going to show you why it’s absolutely suitable for the average leisure pilot. Navigation The main format is the classic competition, which is based on tasks that test your navigation, economy and precision-flying skills. Because these competitions are flown…

Yael, congratulations on winning the Women’s Paragliding World Champion title. Thank you! It’s hard to explain how I feel. I’m really happy and it’s a great achievement. It doesn’t change my life but it’s really something special for me and inside it feels like a great reward for everything I have put into paragliding for so many years. What were your expectations before you headed to the Worlds in Argentina? I wanted to go there to win, of course. But if you go in and say I will win, that’s not the right mindset. I knew it would be difficult, the place was not going to be easy. It was a lot of work, you need patience and every day is a new day. I tried not to focus on…

The second wing from new Czech brand Drift is the lightweight high EN-B Hawk. It has 57 cells and an aspect ratio of 5.8 and is aimed at XC pilots looking for a good degree of safety. Drift say it’s communicative and responsive, and excellent in thermals. Kvido Hadaš won the Junior category of the Serial Cup 2021 in Slovenia last summer on a Hawk. It is made from Porcher Skytex 27 and weighs 3.95kg in the M with ultralight risers, or 4.2kg with standard risers. Sizes M and L are certified and Small is in progress. XS and XL will follow in 2022. driftgliders.com…

Skytraxx are releasing version 4.0 of their flight instrument. It will be their flagship, still easy and intuitive for beginners but with full competition capability. It has a lag-free vario, Flarm and Fanet and is GSM-enabled. It comes with a SIM card, and the first year’s subscription payments are covered. Thereafter the connectivity charge is €39 a year. Airspace and obstacle databases and software will be updated automatically, live tracking is possible and flight uploads “easy”. More, the case is 50% thinner and 30% lighter but it has a 20% larger display and longer battery life. RRP €959. en.skytraxx.eu…

Ozone’s Triox 2 is purpose-built to make trike-flying easy, with fast cruise speeds, good fuel-efficiency, an effortless launch and maximum stability. The winglets on the wingtips are there to increase roll stability and reduce oscillations, which Ozone say they do very efficiently without negative outcomes regardless of trike type, geometry, thrust, or power. The Triox 2 is strongly built and load tested to 625kg at 5.25G (DGAC standard) and 410kg at 8G (EN standard). Ozone’s recommended weight ranges are based on the EN standard. The Triox 2 is is available in 35, 38 and 41m2. flyozone.com…

It is unusual for us to get to test a wing before it comes to the market. Thanks to Covid the release of the new Birdy from Supair was delayed. With the wing already having passed its certification flight tests nearly a year ago, we were able to get hold of a full production model before it was released to market and have been flying it in the south of France. Who's it for? The Birdy is a brand new wing for Supair, fitting between their Eona 3 school wing and the low-B Leaf 2. It is billed as being efficient, light, durable and benefitting from a very high passive safety. Sales manager Clément Latour explained that it is not designed to be used by schools for complete beginners, rather…

Jérôme Maupoint has been keeping a secret. The famous paragliding photographer likes nothing better than hiking and flying at sunrise – the exact moment the sun breaks above the horizon. He’s been at it for years, and in this issue presents some of his favourite moments – see p54 Nico Aubert is a world championship silver medallist who has been flying paramotors since he was a kid. A self-described “adrenaline addict and world traveller” his latest trip took him to Jordan where he flew the famous sights with Ramón Morillas and Emiko Morota. His report is on p66 Adi Geisegger knew that something special could happen in Dubai so he packed his bags and headed for the UAE Hike-and-Fly Championships in November. He wasn’t wrong and his shots and footage…

Nick Greece will be hosting the new season of Cross Country Masterclasses in 2022. The veteran US pilot has joined the XC team as we further develop our subscriber-only online pilot masterclasses. Back in March 2020 when the first lockdowns were imposed, we quickly realised the fun, and also the usefulness, of holding online talks with pilots around the world on social media. With hundreds of pilots logging in to check them out, we also realised we wanted to do more with them. Since those early lockdown days we’ve held a dozen or so insightful coaching sessions with some of the world’s best pilots. Top of the list from last year must be our two sessions with Chrigel Maurer and Thomas Theurillat ahead of the Red Bull X-Alps. They didn’t…

When the Flow Fusion (EN C) came to the market towards the end of 2019 it was the first paraglider to have a line geometry with three lines in the centre section and a two-line set-up at the tips. The idea behind it was to combine some of the benefits of two-line control with the stability of the threeline layout. Ozone soon brought the technology to the Delta 4 (EN C, June 2020) and were the first to bring it to the EN-B class with the Rush 6, released in August 2021. Nova’s new Mentor 7 (EN B) was announced at the Coupe Icare in September last year where it was revealed it too will join the hybrid line-geometry club. As the technology makes its way to the mass market…

January is mid-winter in the Northern Hemisphere and prime flying time south of the Tropic of Cancer. Winter can be a tough time to eat right, keep up with needed nutrients, and to get quality exercise during long dark days. For those that leave the cold behind and travel to sunny days in Mexico or Colombia the transition can have its own issues. Let’s take a look at a grab-bag of winter hacks for both the cold and dark and the lucky ones taking strong thermals to base in the southern hemisphere. Get your vitamins Lack of sunlight isn’t just bad for thermals, it can also play havoc on your health. Vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients are critical for a healthy active body. They also play a critical role in supporting…

Vortex Smart Winch Instinct Wind Sports’ new Vortex electric winch is so strong it can tow tandem hang gliders. It moderates the drum speed automatically to maintain tow tension, automatically adjusting for thermals, sink or wind gusts. “The foundation is there for us to implement remote-control winch operating”, say its designers. It’s also portable: it comprises a motor/drum, controller box and battery which can all be transported in the boot of a car. The Vortex can be pre-ordered now with first deliveries expected in spring 2022. Price: €4,830 solo, €6,211 tandem. https://bit.ly/3pj5K9K Nova unisex hoodie Nova’s unisex hoodie is designed for everyday wear as well as for keeping you warm at cloudbase. It’s made from a slightly stretchy 75% cotton/25% polyester mix. A slim cut and snug cuffs keep draughts…

Triple Seven’s new low-B was released at the beginning of November 2021 and it’s all about inspiring confidence. Triple Seven say it has good performance, while being safe, easy and intuitive to fly. It is suitable for pilots stepping up from EN-A wings. It has 54 cells, an aspect ratio of 5.2 and easy-to-sort coloured sheathed lines. It has a B-C steering system so that pilots can get used to it on this class of wing, but it can be removed if the pilot prefers. Chief designer Aljaz Valic says, “I personally feel that we have hit the sweet spot 100% with this wing.” 777gliders.com…

The Spectra 2 is Flow’s new CCC race machine. It has 111 cells and an aspect ratio of 8.0. That’s 23 more cells and a significant increase on the original Spectra’s 7.65 aspect ratio, but Flow say the new version is actually easier to fly and is more solid on full bar. A new aerofoil design gives Flow the confidence to say the glider can tolerate very low angles of attack before it will collapse. Combined with new sail tensioning and “noticeably better” performance, Flow believe the Spectra 2 will be seen on podiums in 2022. flowparagliders.com.au…

Dudek have updated their competition slalom paramotor wing. The Snake 3 is for high-level competition pilots with slalom experience. Dudek say it’s very fast and dynamic, and resistant to collapses. The design and testing process took five years, during which time it has won comps in both footlaunch and trike categories. It is derived from the DriftAir but with a new profile and a higher aspect ratio. Dudek say its new line layout has increased trailing-edge stability at high speeds, while 3D shaping means a wrinkle-free leading edge. dudek.eu…

The Spot Gen 4 is an evolution of the original Spot satellite tracker rather than a whole new device. It retains the same functionality as the original, with tracking and simple fixed messaging in a compact unit. The refresh brings the styling in line with the Spot X Messenger. Unlike previous models this version is a more sober black colour, with just a strip of orange harking back to previous models. Batteries The latest incarnation is smaller and slightly squarer than earlier versions and weighs 142g including batteries. Yes, batteries not battery. Because, like earlier models, this version still uses AAA batteries. They are accessed by undoing four screws, so not super easy to change. Spot say you can send 1,250 messages on a single set, but don’t forget each…