Marina (left) and Leroy (right), the FlyK2 expeditioners, high over the Himalayas

“I was flying right in the middle of Hunza Valley, with the valley floor at about 2.000 meters. I was cruising at an altitude of around 7.000 meters, so there was a vertical space between me and the little villages of 5 km. What a view! After I completely soaked in this marvelous view I started my descent to recover from the high altitude and cold …” recalls Leroy, who flew a Skywalk Poison glider (DHV2-3).

The other pilots in the group those days –adventurer John Silvester, Nova's test pilot Toni Bender and PWC competitor Marina Olexina– were not able to fly so high but they all enjoyed the magnificent views of the Himalayas from the sky.

Team member Marina says that flying in this wild area of Pakistan, not far from the famous peak K2, is really extreme. “The conditions were very strong, the thermals took you to 6000m but it was very rough when you went out of the thermal” says the Russian female champion, who took part in the expedition with her main interest focused on shooting the experience with her video camera. She also left her comp glider Boomerang 4 at home and took a safer Gin Zoom (DHV2) with her to the Himalayas. During the weeks she spent at the Hunzu valley it was flyable only on 5 days, and a couple of times she managed to fly up to more than 6000m all alone, after an accident at launch forced Leroy to quit the expedition with a broken arm.
“It was scary to be alone there, to make all decisions by yourself. But it's so beautiful and you can see many of the highest mountains of the world… It's a real adventure ”.
Despite the difficulties and harsh conditions they found, Marina wants to go back again: “ Maybe with more people, and maybe I'll be less focused on filming and more focused on flying, to try the altitude record again”.

Details of the expedition at www.fly-k2.com

Posted: September 5th, 2006

It was a wild adventure that took a few experienced pilots to climb the skies over the Himalayas in Pakistan, and it resulted in a new altitude record broke by Leroy Westerkamp (NL): 7685 meters, with a height gain of 4785m! The current world record of gain of height is 4526m set by Robbie Whittal in 1993.

Following the accident suffered by a Swiss pilot –whose glider (DHV class 1-2, new) entered a parachutal stall after flying in light rain, and then crashed due to a full stall probably caused by brake input on landing– the DHV has issued the following warning:

“It is known that some canopies have an increased tendency to enter parachutal stalls when wet. It is also known that there are big differences in the reactions of canopies from different manufacturers – some fly quite normally when wet, as has often been reported by cross country pilots caught in rain showers, whereas others report that minimal rain is sufficient to increase the danger of parachutal stalls on their canopies. (...)

A pattern indicating which types of canopies are more prone to this problem has not been identified. Occurrences of parachutal stall when wet have been reported throughout all classes. It would appear that older canopies, where the cloth can absorb water more readily may be at higher risk, however, the current accident occurred with a new glider.

It is most important that pilots recognize this potential danger source and act accordingly. Should a pilot fly through rain, the area should be left as quickly as possible, the brakes must only be used sparingly, maneuvers which cause the canopy to fly with a greater angle-of-attack (e.g. Big ears) should be avoided, and should the conditions safely permit it, the glider should be flown accelerated by using the speed bar.

If a landing while in a parachutal stall is unavoidable, it is most important that the brakes are not used at all , even though this goes against all normal pilot instincts when approaching the ground. When a canopy flies in a parachutal stall, applying a few centimetres of brake may result in the canopy going into an uncontrollable full stall.
Should a parachutal stall occur when flying at sufficient height for a reserve deployment , this should be considered. The advantage here is that the reserve descent is more stable, and not prone to either stalling or diving as in a parachutal stall descent. The sink velocity of a reserve descent is generally lower than that of a glider in parachutal stall providing the reserve canopy is of the correct size for the pilot. The Swiss pilot reported a sink velocity of -6m/s for her canopy while in parachutal stall."

Karl Slezak, Safety Officer DHV

+Info: www.pwca.org*Report available in French at www.parapente.ffvl.fr/equipe
*A video of the competition will be soon available on www.touslesdirects.com

Posted: August 15th, 2006

Only a few days before the beginning of the continental PPG championship, August 19 to 26th, competitors are gathering at the airfield of Chozas de Abajo (Leon, Spain) for the last training flights and terrain identification before the contest. The organization is confident that everything will be working perfectly in the area during the week; at the moment the weather forecast gives better conditions for the weekend –tasks will start on Sunday 20th- with calm air and clear skies. At the airfield there’s a special camping area for the teams and wi-fi connection to Internet. The teams hone their skills for this meet, where some of the best pilots of the world will surely fight fiercely to take one of the medals home. The Spanish team incorporated the best men in the country both in foot-launched paramotor and trike (PL1 & PL2), including world champ and recordman Ramón Morillas –a total of 12 pilots. They will have to face other powerful teams like the French, with the 2 world champions Mathieu Rouanet (PPG) and Vincent Ceccarelli (FR, solo trike), the Czech and Russians (also with world recordmen and champs) or the Brits. It will surely be an exciting comp till the last day!

+Info: http://www.rfae.org/~emc2006/

*Many of the Pilots are listed in www.flymicro.com

Posted: August 15th, 2006

+Info: www.flyparamania.com

Posted: August 14th, 2006

The manufacturer of reflex wings for paramotoring (and free flight) has a new attractive website where they have displayed not only the information about their popular PPG gliders –Action GT & Revolution- but also a good amount of useful technical stuff, pictures and videos to keep you interested while you surf around. The new site incorporates a News section to which you can send your own contributions via email to the Paramania Team. They promise to keep the site “subject to constant updating”. In the Downloads section you will find some online Movies and Manuals, and under Powergliders you will learn more about the reflex technology –and the wings. Information about new products released to the market will also be announced in the site. The latest addition is the Paramania Wing Tip Steering Kit, an easy add-on kit that can be used on any Paramania wing (Reflex, Action, Revolution & Action GT) to have better control and easier access over the wingtip lines, and for “smooth flat turns without affecting the trailing edge and profile of the wing”. The company also has a line of accessories including T-shirts, jackets, shorts, caps and neck warmers.

The area of Ager in the pre-Pyrenees of Catalonia is well-known as one the best spots for XC flights in Spain, with a long history connected to hang- and para-gliding. For years the camping Vall d’Ager has been the headquarters of countless flying competitions and events, and also the meeting and lodging point for free flyers, so it’s no surprise that among their services they have incorporated some interesting options for pilots. Among them, the camping offers transport to the take-off and a modern retrieval system powered by the new CompeGPS tracking system ‘Broadcast’, which combines GPS technology and telephony. With this system it is possible to know the pilot’s actual position in real time and thus facilitate the retrieve, and at the same time adds high levels of security for pilots who choose Ager as the start of their cross-country flights.
Apart from these services and the landing area next to the camping –where there’s also a bar and a swimming pool- flyers and non flyers will find good alternatives to paragliding like mountain bikes available for rent or the new ‘buggies’ to go for a ride in the area. Not far, there's a lake where swimming, canoeing and fishing are the main activities on not-flyable days.
Vall d’Ager offers special prices for pilots so don’t forget to mention you’re one. And if sleeping in a tent is not your thing, there are some wooden bungalows as well.
The next paragliding event that will take place in this area is the British Open, from August 26th to September 1st.

+ INFO: www.campingvalldager.com

Posted: August 13th, 2006

After 9 years of discussions and work to be accepted by the Flying Federations of the main European countries, the new Standard EN 926-2 (2005) is finally being applied for paragliders certification. In Switzerland, the company Air Turquoise (SHV test center) has already completed the certification tests of a dozen of gliders, classifying them in 4 categories (A, B, C and D) according to their more or less demanding flight characteristics for the pilot. In France, the homologations are in charge of Aerotests, the test lab of the FFVL. Even manufacturers that have always been closer to the DHV position (against the CEN standard) are now sending their new gliders to the CEN. Ozone is a good example, with their beginner's model Element (DHV1) now certified CEN A –“the most demanding category”- in S and M sizes.
This standard was surrounded by controversy ever since it was born, and even now it is not accepted by the German Hang and Para-glider Association, DHV, which believes that CEN-Norm testing is not an equal option for them. “German Legal Airworthiness requirements are more demanding in some categories than the CEN-Norm for paragliders” say at the DHV, and for that reason they will continue with their testing and certification program.
Polemics aside, we now have to pay attention at the effects of the CEN in the paraglider market and see if it really translates into a step ahead in the security of our flying equipments.

+Info: www.cen.li and http://www.ffvl.fr/

Read our article about the CEN testing here.

Posted: August 10th, 2006

Gliding above Lecco to reach the Valcava turnpoint
(Photo: Damiano Zanocco) 
Posted: August 7th, 2006

The French pilot (1st French in the European PG Championship, 5th overall) has been exercising with the speed bar of his Boomerang 4 with great results, as he set new records of speed over triangles of 25 km and 50 km.
On July 23rd, Charles reached an amazing 41,15 k/h to cover 25 km! Coming back from his working day, Charles thought it was a good day to break this record and also a good opportunity to test his speedbar! He took off on a 100 meters hill and started the race close from a long ridge, in Aiguebelette, Savoie: he flew a first 25 km to test the air mass, went back to the start place and decided to make it. Charles says he didn't touch the brake line during all the course! He used only 70% of the speed of his Boomerang 4. After this, he was really happy to land just 10 meters from the door of his home place! Charles thinks that the conditions were not perfect for this record and that an average speed of 50 km/h could be reached. The current mark is 28.26 km/h flown by Patrick Berod in 1995.
Only 3 days later, Charles did it again – this time over a 50 km course that he covered in just 1h23m! This is what he wrote that day, at St Hilaire du Touvet: "July 26th, one more working day with a really warm weather... I am still waiting for my students who are making their last flight of the morning. In a few hours, if I have time, I will go flying with my Boomerang 4..." Two hours later, Charles was starting the 50 km course from close to the famous Dent de Crolles, then along the east side of the Chartreuse in direction to Granier... Low and close to the big cliff, it was no easy to push the bar... Conditions got stronger and stronger: he took an incredible lift that took him directly from 1700 m to 2700 m: 13m/s, too strong to turn! Then he crossed two times the valley of Grenoble in a straight line! The end was not so easy due to cloud coverage and big shades... But finally, the Boomerang 4 reached the goal line and landed in front of his paragliding school in Lumbin. The average speed was 36,07 km/h, 12 k/h faster than the previous record done by Primoz Susa (Slovenia) only 2 months earlier (24.1 km/h).

*See the current FAI World Records and record claims in http://records.fai.org/hang_gliding/
*The tracks are available on www.favoriteway.com (CompeGPS partnership), select "parapente".

Posted: August 4th, 2006

If they are ratified, the new records will appear in the FAI website: http://records.fai.org/hang_gliding/
Flight tracks can be seen in the OLC: http://www2.onlinecontest.org/