Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i Cross Country

Arne Kristian Boiesen flew what he called a “once in a lifetime” flight in Norway on 10 June. Starting from Hvittingfoss, a low hill in the south of the country, he flew north for 9h30 for a total distance of 359.97km. He beat the former Norwegian record by 90km. “Fantastic evening conditions made it possible to fly high and direct above the Dovre/Rondane mountain plateau in the evening,” he wrote. The sun never sets this far north in midsummer and he was in the air until 9pm. “The last valley at the end of the flight gave me the opportunity to ridge soar the south west sides that faced the wind and the evening sun,” he said. “Huge thanks to Frode Halse who drove from Vågåmo and was at the…

Toni Brügger flew a 301km flat triangle on 17 June – on his EN-B glider. Showing, once again, you don’t need to be on a high-end glider to fly far he flew his Nova Mentor 7 Light for 11 hours from his home site in Kandersteg in Switzerland to Chamonix/Mont Blanc and back. Although no official records are kept for different classes of wing, the flight is understood to be the biggest flat triangle ever flown on a B glider. It is only the second ever EN-B 300km triangle in history – Berni Pessl flew the first back in 2014. xcontest.org…

My name is Manon, I’m a nurse, paragliding instructor and tandem pilot. I’m 40, and for the last 20 years I’ve been travelling around France and the world, following my flying and travel dreams. Most of my travels have been with my paraglider on my back. I love this – you meet people in a different way, making connections with those who share the same passion, across borders. When I was 19 I met two paragliding instructors, Christophe Pichet and Mathieu Rouanet, at the Faculty of Sports Sciences in Bordeaux. They were running beginner courses for students, so I seized the opportunity. To this day I am grateful for everything they taught me. I have done many other sports including climbing, wakeboarding, snowboarding and kitesurfing, but I am dedicated to paragliding,…

25 YEARS AGO XC58 (August 1998): Alfredo Milano had been in Quixadá, a then little-known hang gliding site in the northeast of Brazil, and was keen to introduce it to the paragliding world. Some 3,000km from his home in São Paulo he had headed there in November 1996 on a 10-day trip. “One day I had 10m/s lift followed by -8m/s sink, a full frontal collapse and seven twists before dropping 500m in a spiral dive!” he reported. Very high, he regained control and flew on. The next year he was back, with Chico Santos, a ground crew, “local guide, food, water, beer etc.” Launching at 11.30am in a 35-55km/h wind he found 10m/s climbs off launch. Three flights followed over the week: 90km, 137km and 165km on the last…

SHASTA LAKE Shasta Lake, California’s largest reservoir, filled to nearly 100% capacity in May 2023, reaching levels not seen for four years. Heavy rain and meltwater from an above-average mountain snowpack caused the rise. In the image, some parts of the lake surface appear lighter due to an optical phenomenon known as sunglint. CAPE COD Cape Cod peninsula extends about 100km from the mainland of southern Massachusetts where it serves as a natural land barrier between Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The peninsula’s distinct hook shape started forming 10,000 years ago by glacial erosion and movement of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Subsequent natural processes, such as severe storms, waves, wind, and sea level rise have contributed to the shape. The sand dunes visible in this image started forming…

AeroXC v7.0 The team behind AeroXC, the weather app “for experienced pilots”, say v7.0 uses artificial intelligence, and is “much improved”. It has extended forecasting models, new flight atmospheric maps and an interactive manual. aeroxc.com Airfer line support Designed for trike pilots to keep their paraglider’s lines out of the way of the prop. Airfer’s new line support is made from solid but flexible plastic, and can be easily fastened to the cage hoop with cable ties, tape or screws. airfer.com XCTrack 0.9.9.1 The latest version of XCTrack, as used in the AIR3, now has thermal maps. It uses the KK7 database to show the probability of finding a thermal at a given location. It can be filtered by time of day and time of the year. xctrack.org…

On paper UP’s new high-B Summit X is a step down in aspect ratio from its predecessor and a step forward as a 2.5 line hybrid. But what does that mean in the air? This spring the weather in the Alps was far from great. Remarkably, for a two-week flying holiday in May, we ended up in the UK in search of the best weather. UP’s new high-end EN-B the Summit X was my wing this period and the search for flyable weather took me to four different countries: Italy (Bassano); Germany (Sauerland); the UK (England and Wales); and my home country, The Netherlands. A more modest wing? The aspect ratio of the Summit X is at 5.9 less exotic for an EN-B than the 6.3 aspect ratio of its…

If you want to get the best out of your shiny new two-line paraglider you definitely need to have it trim-checked regularly. However, not everyone has easy access to a check-up workshop, and the ones that do exist are often busy with long waiting times. ParaFly24 have come up with an answer to checking your wing at home. We tried out their new line checker and porosity meter. A Bettsometer, used to measure material strength, is also available. Line checker The line check consists of hardware and an app for Android. The hardware is delivered in flatpack form. There are various pieces of plywood plus a runner and some additional hardware items and all the screws you need. You will need to supply a 5kg weight. Following the instructions I…

Joe Orsi has been flying paramotors for three years. He lives in his van and travels while working remotely part time and licensing aerial photos and videos to support his flying. You can follow his adventures on YouTube or Instagram @SkyPacking. His Baja article is amazing – see p62 Rich Dolan is an adventure-focused paramotor and paraglider pilot whose passion has taken him around the world. A progressing acro pilot, he also helps teach XC and SIV courses. A trained engineer we’ve signed him up to write regularly on powered paragliding – see p36. Welcome Rich! ‘I WEIGH 55KG AND WITH 7KG OF EQUIPMENT IT MEANT I HAD TO CARRY ABOUT 15KG OF BALLAST’Eli Egger, p50 Bastienne Wentzel and Erwin Voogt talked their way into prime position at the finish of the X-Alps…

The FAI Hang Gliding World Championships comes back to Krushevo, North Macedonia in August. To make it more efficient, three competitions will be held in parallel: Class 1 Worlds; Class 1 Women’s Worlds; and the Class 5 Worlds (rigid) will be held alongside each other. The Class 1 pilots and Class 5 pilots fly separate tasks although usually from the same site. There are a confirmed 25 pilots in the Class 5 category, with a maximum of 105 pilots (including seven women at the time of writing) allowed in Class 1. Current Class 1 world champion Alex Ploner, pictured, will be defending his title. civlcomps.org…

Gin Wide Open 2023 The Gin Wide Open is back for its ninth edition. Aimed at pilots new to competition and looking to learn in a fun and friendly environment it has a great reputation. This year it’s in Krushevo, North Macedonia. 29 July to 5 August, flywideopen.com HG UK The British Hang Gliding Championships and Open are in Ager, Spain this year. This is the main hang gliding competition in the British calendar and welcomes international pilots. 27 Aug to 3 Sep, airtribune.com PPG USA Hop from one fly-in to the next in the USA in August. The seventh annual Moonshiners PPG Fly-In runs 1-6 August in Mountain City, Tennessee. The inaugural Aurora PPG Fly-In is in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, from 11-13 August. usppa.org/events,aurorappg.org H&F Switzerland Since being formally…

The instruments I use the most are the ASI for airspeed management and vario to seek out lift. You can see the ASI top left, and the variometer top right, with the screen for my LX9000 below – that’s my main flight and navigation computer. Then there’s the engine controller below – I have a tiny electric engine on the nose for self-launching or self-retrieving. The control stick is the grey handle on the right. Of course, normally the stick is in the middle, but positioned to the side allows for an even narrower, more aerodynamic cockpit. With my LX9000 flight computer, I usually have height AGL, final glide calculations (and at what speed/MacCready that final glide is), current glide angle and glide angle required, distance to turnpoint, radio frequencies…

December 2021. I’ve managed to escape the UK winter, it’s my first time in the searing temperatures of Egypt and I’m about to fly in close proximity to the Great Pyramids of Giza. Not long after that and I’m 10,000ft up in crisp cool air, making my way towards the snow-capped spine of Italy, the Apennines. Another month later and I’m flying along rivers above the medieval sites of Dordogne, France. As paramotor pilots we have unique opportunities to see things from a different perspective, one that is unattainable for the standard tourist. Although these views are available to all pilots, travelling with your paramotor is an option many don’t consider because of its perceived difficulty. You may not be alone in thinking the largest hurdle is commercial airlines. Commercial…

When Maxime Pinot finished fourth in the Red Bull X-Alps in 2021 he felt it was “an enormous sporting disappointment”. Later, writing about the race in a French-language sports zine, Club/Sandwich, he said when he reached the finish in Zell am See he could hardly speak. “I have a lump in my throat. I am disappointed. I feel the same on the arrival raft.” It was only afterwards, talking to fellow X-Alps pilots Chrigel Maurer, Simon Oberrauner and Thomas Theurillat that they, “succeeded in making me understand that, in spite of the enormous sporting disappointment, success can be found in this extraordinary adventure that pushes you beyond your limits.” The lowest point of Maxime’s paragliding career had come only two days before, when he and the other chasing pilots watched…

BLUEBIP Stodeus have just released the BlueBip. It is similar to an UltraBip, with the addition of Bluetooth connectivity so it can be used with a flight app on your phone; it does not have GPS or voice assistant like the BipBip Pro V2. Stodeus say the BlueBip has the same sensors as the UltraBip so it has the same instant vario and configurability. It can be set up using their Confugarotor web app and Vario Tone Editor, and the firmware is updatable. The solar panel will power the instrument for 100 hours’ flight time, and the USB-C socket can be used for headphones. stodeus.com OZONE OZO 2 The Ozo 2 is an ultralight reversible harness with an integrated 30l trailrunning inspired rucksack. EVA foam padding in the harness legs…

I reviewed the Oudie N in May last year (issue 229) and my colleague Joanna di Grigoli reviewed the Navigator app it runs in issue 226. Since then it has been a permanent addition to my flight deck for both XC and competition flying. Earlier this year a parcel turned up with the new Fanet+ version. I’ve since been flying it in competitions and free-flight. Fanet+ and Flarm Opening the box the only visible difference is a small bulge on the top left of the unit – this houses the aerial for the Fanet+ module. The rest of the unit is identical to the original Oudie N. The easy-to-read screen, the large battery, control buttons and GSM module are all the same. The Fanet+ module installed in the new units is…

How did you start flying? I started eight years ago with Matt Henzi in Santa Barbara. I remember driving up to launch for my first mountain flights with a mix of dread and excitement, but I caught my first thermal that day, and flew with a red-tail hawk. That was it, mind exploded. For me, flying is a fresh way to explore the world on a really macro scale. It’s quite a contrast from my 30 years spent exploring the micro scale in rock climbing. What keeps you flying? I love that feeling of nervous uncertainty at the start of a big flight. I love encountering the unexpected. I love trying to build mental models for a chaotic and invisible force! I love the way you have to adapt and…

The Zillertal Battle The Zillertal Battle is a chance to “beat the legends” in Austria. Billed as “the most important B-class competition in the German-speaking area” pilots can only fly EN-B gliders. There is a €1,000 first prize up for grabs and the competition attracts some big names. 29-30 July, bit.ly/zillertal-battle Disentis Open 2023 One of the most popular XC competitions in the Swiss calendar in one of the most beautiful regions of Switzerland. Non-Swiss pilots are welcome – they even get a discount. 7-12 August, disentis-open.com Paragliding Grand Prix The third and final competition of the new Nova Paragliding Grand Prix is in Krushevo, North Macedonia. The competition is aimed at pilots competing on sports-class gliders, including the new breed of two-line EN-C wings. 3-8 August, paraglidinggp.org PWC France…

Luke de Weert from the Netherlands won the second stop of the Acro World Tour in Allevard, France in June. It was the second over the ground competition in the newly re-formatted acro competition series. The win came down to the wire – Egor Posokhin was leading until Luke’s “very clean” last run. It was Luke’s first Acro World Tour win. There are two AWT competitions in August: Acromax in Italy (10-15, the Italian Acro Championships will run at the same time) and the Sonchaux Acroshow in Switzerland (18-20). acroworldtour.com…

Saturday 17 June really was a special day in Switzerland. As well as the flights described on p16/17 Bernhard Kälin flew an eye-watering straight-line 420km. What’s more, he did it on his new two-line EN-C, an Ozone Photon, proving the performance of this class of glider. Beni launched from Niesen, which for Red Bull X-Alps watchers was a turnpoint in this year’s race and is the home site of Chrigel Maurer, and flew west for about 60km before turning at Villeneuve and coming back. He then headed east, crossing the rest of Switzerland and into Austria, where he landed in the Stubai Valley, just south of Innsbruck. Posting after his flight Beni said: “My goal was to fly 300km again. I was planning to do a zig-zag, but once I…

California has received abundant rainfall and 250% of normal snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains this winter. In the Alps it has been a weirdly wet and humid spring. Is it really getting wetter, or does it just seem like it? If you live in California or the Alps you might be tempted to believe that it is getting wetter based on the amounts of precipitation this winter and spring. However, it is important to step back, examine long-term trends, and look towards the future to see where there is climate model consensus and where there is disagreement. First it is worthwhile to take a moment to review how temperature and humidity are related and what this means for flying. Rain, rain… In this discussion water vapour refers to water…

Every few years the rains and temperatures create conditions just right for a wildflower explosion in Southern California – and 2023 was a superbloom year. Flower fields in the Carrizo Plain National Monument were so big they were visible from space. There is no agreedupon definition of a superbloom, but I was told I would know one if I saw one. Thirty-one atmospheric rivers dumped record amounts of rain across California this past winter. Flooding was a problem up north, but Southern California was largely spared major damage. The rains led to great wildflower blooms that started in the Mohave desert in March and then moved to the high desert near Lancaster and the central valley around Bakersfield in April. Some blooms only last a week or two. Flying over…

The original Exos was released in 2017, and now six years later Sky have released the second iteration of their EN-C sports-class wing. I did not know the glider was lightweight, so the first shock came when I picked it up. At just 3.6kg for the large – which goes up to 105kg all-up – it is a proper lightweight wing suitable for hike-and-fly adventures as well as XC. There is also a lack of long plastic rods, which means it can be packed nice and small. Design and build Unrolling the wing its relatively high aspect ratio of 6.4 is obvious. The leading edge features 3D shaping both on the top and bottom surfaces to smooth out this vital part of the profile, with two seams on the top…