XC Secrets

What do you see? Analyze the snapshot above yourself, before scrolling down for answers.

What do you see? Analyze the snapshot above yourself, before scrolling down for the answers.

Thermals over the sea? How can it be? UK winter flying can be surprisingly good. We explain how to identify a good day for sea thermals, where to look for them, and what to do with them once you find them.

What do you see? Analyze the snapshot above yourself, before scrolling down for the answers.

What do you see? Analyze the snapshot above yourself, before scrolling down for the answers.

What do you see? Analyze the snapshot above thoroughly before scrolling down for the answers.

Holding on to a drifting thermal can be very challenging, but improving this skill can yield exponential gains in airtime. Due to their buoyancy, thermals want to rise straight up. At some point the prevailing wind will overcome this inertia and tilt the thermal column. The winds at different altitudes can vary in direction and strength. The thermals therefore follow a wandering tilted trajectory as they rise, which can be difficult to map in three dimensions.

Flybubble's Carlo Borsattino offers some tips for flying well on a paraglider (or hang glider) on light wind days.

X-Pyr is a race along the length of the Pyrenees mountains, which divide Spain and France. It alternates with the Red Bull X-Alps race for the title of toughest paragliding event of the year. Contestants must carry their paraglider (or fly with it). The course is 480 km, the race starts at 05:30 and ends at 22:30 every day, and lasts about a week.

X-Pyr is a race along the length of the Pyrenees mountains, which divide Spain and France. It alternates with the Red Bull X-Alps race for the title of toughest paragliding event of the year. Contestants must carry their paraglider (or fly with it). The course is 480 km, the race starts at 05:30 and ends at 22:30 every day, and lasts about a week. Flybubble team pilot Greg competed in the 2016 edition.