Flybubble's Carlo Borsattino recounts his February flight by paraglider from Devils Dyke in East Sussex to near Ashford in Kent and gives insights into how this exceptional flight was achieved starting, as it often does, with checking the paragliding soaring weather forecasts.
Acro paragliding looks exciting, but how do you learn to do it? What is a freestyle wing? And where are the best sites to try out the acro moves? Greg Hamerton discusses getting into acro on the Niviuk F-Gravity 2 and shares some hair-raising videos ...
A roundup of the Southern Hang Gliding Club (SHGC) paragliding cross country (XC) season for 2014.
What do you see? Analyze the snapshot above yourself, before scrolling down for the answers.
3. Valley crossing in the Alps near Sallanches during the Bornes to Fly 2016 race. Small shadows indicate that it's close to midday. The pilot is low and will likely sink into the strengthening valley wind.
Many paraglider pilots are interested in cross country flying, from those who have just received their XC licence (in the UK, the BHPA Pilot Rating) to experienced pilots with a desire to explore. After some time doing XC, pilots often decide to enter a competition to test themselves, to fly a new site with support or just to try something new. This article aims to helps you get the edge in your first competition, based on my experience.
In this article BHPA Skywings Magazine editor Joe Schofield shares his thoughts from many years in free flight and offers some wise words of advice on how to avoid the pitfalls of flying unsuitable equipment and continue having a great, safe and above all FUN time free flying for many years to come.
Greg Hamerton went to Devils Dyke for a training flight. "For two years, the Foot or Fly course (linking all the Southern sites) has been a wind-up. I'd flown bits and pieces, walked all of it, and tried different start points, but never closed it. Only James Hope-Lang and his jammy legs had done it in a day, and there's no way I was going to run that far with that bag. But at last, I have solved the puzzle!" Here's how to do it >
On 18th April 2014 Carlo Borsattino, Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) of Flybubble Paragliding set a new UK paragliding record for distance on an EN B paraglider, flying 182 km straight-line from Leckhampton, a challenging site near Cheltenham on his Gin Carrera. In this article Carlo describes the flight and gives unique insights on how he achieved it.
The transition from ridge soaring to thermaling is often led by the experienced pilots, who somehow seem to 'know' when to glide out into the big unknown void of Beyond The Ridge Lift. Whenever you try to follow them, you seem to go down. What do they know? And how do you develop this skill? Making the transition from ridge soaring to thermaling can seem complicated until you learn this simple trick.
What do you see? Analyze the snapshot above yourself, before scrolling down for the answers.
3. Valley crossing in the Alps near Sallanches during the Bornes to Fly 2016 race. Small shadows indicate that it's close to midday. The pilot is low and will likely sink into the strengthening valley wind.
