Beach Blast Cancelled Due to Government Restrictions
April brings disappointing powered paragliding news: Beach Blast, an annual powered paragliding (PPG) event at the Edgewater Resort in Panama City, FL, has been cancelled. Beach Blast was the largest PPG event in the U.S. in 2012, hosting 225 pilots from 14 different countries. John Black, owner of Panama City’s Freedom Flight Center, and the event’s organizer, told the Panama City News Herald the cancellation came on the heels of a proposed city ordinance that will impose new restrictions on take-offs, landings, and flights in the future. Furthermore, the proposed ordinance will require pilots to register with the local police…
The Science of Aerobatic Paragliding
Calin Popa has taken the sport of aerobatic paragliding into levels of precision that it’s never seen before. For years, Calin Popa practiced the difficult moves required to pull off a Rhythmic SAT. He failed time and time again. He realized that what he needed was an instructor that could tell him the precise timing of each move. Failing to find such a teacher, he set out to build one. Popa used his training in civil engineering, and help from software engineer Ovidiu Ban, to build the Voodoo Trimbulind Robot (VTR). The VTR is a portable computer that gathers data, crunches…
Monarca Nextel Paragliding Open
For the latest in paragliding competitions, we head south of the border. It was good news for American Josh Cohn, as he brought home victory at the Monarca Nextel Paragliding Open last month, January 6th-12th, in Valle de Bravo in Mexico. Josh Cohn, sponsored by Eagle Paragliding and Flytech and using a Niviuk Icepeak glider, took high scores across a series of six tasks, rising to the top in a field of 122 pilots. Cohn won Tasks 4 and 6, and those strong performances, along with consistent high scores overall (he never placed lower than 10th) would be key. At…
Foundation For Free Flight
The Foundation for Free Flight is an organization that helps promote and conserve the free flight sporting industry in America. The organization was originally founded in 1987 to help support teams competing in hang gliding and paragliding competitions. In 2001 the organization was reorganized to focus on preserving the legacy of free flight sports, educating the public and promote proper safety procedures for its sports enthusiasts. The foundation still supports hang gliding, women’s hang gliding and paragliding competitions. The entire Foundation for Free Flight staff is composed of volunteers that love the sport. The Board of Trustees, officers and executive…
Florida Bill Intends to Strengthen Parasailing Safety
During the summer months the beaches in Florida are lined with adventure seeking tourist looking for a bird’s eye view from a parasail. Little do they know that their adventure is widely unregulated in Florida with minimal government oversight to ensure their safety. Currently, the FAA only regulates the air space the parasailing activities use. The Coast Guard regulates the boats and by requiring that a license be onboard allowing it to carry passengers for hire. Other than seeing the parasail doesn’t run into an airplane or that the boat floats, the goverment doesn’t have any compelling safety requirements. Seeing that this oversight…
WingmanCam – A Different Perspective
Nothing enhances the thrill of a flight outing quite like recording yourself on video camera. What better way to share your adventures with the rest of the world? Filming one’s own self is difficult for paragliding and skydiving enthusiast unless you have a buddy flying in a perilously close formation, Blue Angels style. For those pilots seeking a more cinematic self-portrait touch to their in-flight films, the WingmanCam may be the ideal accessory. The WingmanCam is designed and manufactured by father and son team of Peter and Tim James of Victoria, Australia. Peter is a retired Boeing 777 captain. Tim is a commercial airline pilot…
New Women’s Paragliding Record
It has been just a little over three years since Kamira Pereira flew 324.7km (about 201 miles) and set a women’s world record for paragliding. On November 20, Seiko Fukuoka slaughtered that record as she flew 345.6km (nearly 215 miles), beating Pereira’s paragliding world record by more than 20km. Flying a Niviuk Icepeak 6, she started off in north east Brazil in Quixada and landed over 10 hours later. October and November attract paragliders in droves to Quixada in Brazil. The consistent winds allow pilots to fly for long periods of time, a perfect set up for Seiko Fukuoka-Naville to…
Paracommuting – Powered Paragliding to Work
All across the globe, whenever the sun comes up, you will find workers dreading the arduous trek that awaits them – the morning commute. But one paragliding enthusiast has made powered paragliding news by finding a unique solution to this universal headache. For Zeng Daxia of Zhuzhou, Hunan province, China, his morning commute has become a smooth, calming flight into peace of mind. Zeng Daxia has found a way to avoid the traffic jams, gridlocks and dangerous drivers that fuel the average commuter’s frustration. For Zeng literally flies to work. Zeng Daxia is an avid paraglider who participated in competitions…
Thermal Finder
Anyone who has ever gone paragliding has very likely, sometime later had a very vivid dream. In that dream, they were out flying and everything was effortless. They rode on never ending thermals that seemed to go on and on forever and finding new thermals were as easy as pointing in the right direction at the right time. Could paragliding ever really be so easy? One upstart software company says yes. Thermals Finder, newly developed software for the paragliding industry has software that they purport to do all of that, and then some. They say that their Thermocompass device will…
Top World Records Countdown of 2012
The summer of 2012 was marked by any number of hang gliding, paragliding and skydiving world record records; in fact, some records that have held their ground for decades were shattered. Let’s take a moment to reflect back on these awe-inspiring feats. These are our choices for the top 6 record breaking feats of 2012: Nate and Matt set Paragliding Distance Records The summer started off on a strong note with the new USA paragliding record that was set on June 30th when Matt Beechinor sailed 301km in Sun Valley, Idaho. Little did Beechinor know that Nate Scales was headed…
Paragliding Get A Ways for the Month of November
The month of November has many paragliding events that are taking place south of the border. These are great opportunity for those looking to fly a while longer while the weather is getting cooler. Chile 2012 This event takes place on various dates in November in Iquique, Chile. If you want a great place to catch thermals that take you overs the Pacific Ocean and sand ridges, then this is the place for you to be. Your guides for your excursion are multiple Iquique XC competition champions Luis and Todd. The pilots for this paragliding trip often accumulate more time…
GoPro Survives 12,500 Foot Fall
Skydiver Lucas Damn’s helmet-cam made skydiving news when it was knocked out of its casing as he jumped out of the plane in a recent dive. The camera survived the 12,500 foot fall and laid resting in the field capturing a unique view of the skydivers gracefully coming to earth. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to free fall without a parachute – this video captures what it would be like. For two minutes, the camera spins wildly out of control capturing very unique images of the camera’s descent. While the video is spinning wildly during the…
Coupe Icare 2012
If you happen to be in France right now, you’re in for a treat. The Coupe Icare has been the most anticipated air sports event since 1974. Held against the backdrop of the breath-taking Alps, it has proven to be an extraordinary event for not only those into the air sports, but the general public as well. As in previous years, the show is expected to attract over 80,000 spectators throughout a 4-day weekend. Coupe Icare 2012 is scheduled to run Sept. 20 through 23. The event will feature trade tents, a film festival and numerous air sport related fixtures, including…
Wings of Kilimanjaro
It is a spiritual journey for some, a personal challenge for all. Created by the violence of volcanic eruption it dominates the landscape of East Africa. It beckons to those adventurous souls who would test their endurance and perseverance. Soaring an imposing 19,340 feet above the surrounding flatlands is the summit of the highest peak in the African continent earning it the nickname “The Roof of Africa”, it is Mount Kilimanjaro. This one of the few places on earth that is massive and diverse enough to host every ecological life zone from tropical jungles to the alpine zone and the…
Paragliding World Record, Meet Nick Greece
A few weeks ago, Nate Scales was still receiving handshakes and congratulations from fans for his paragliding world record-breaking flight of 319km over the northern Rockies when that record was broken by another paragliding pro. Nick Greece, who edits for Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine should never be mistaken for a guy who hangs out behind a desk, wishing he was a part of the action. On August 7, 2012, Nick put his money where his red pen usually is and took to the skies on his own paragliding adventure. Nick started his flight near his own home (he posted…
New USA Paragliding Record
On June 30, 2012, in Sun Valley, Idaho, Matt Beechinor set a new paragliding record for the United States. Little did he know, Nate Scales would be coming on the scene, to the same area of the country, just a few weeks later and beat that record. Matt’s record was 301km. Nate’s was 319km. In fact, not only was Nate’s flight record-setting in US mountain distance and in US foot-launch distance, it also set a new Idaho state record and a new foot-launched paragliding world record. Nate was flying a Niviuk Icepeak 6 during his flight, which took off from…
2011 Paragliding Nationals – Hearn
The second half of the US Paragliding Nationals was held between August 14 and August 21, 2008. After the first half of the national competition at Red Rock, Dean Stratton had a narrow lead of 44 points over Eric Reed before going to Hearn. By the end of the competition at Hearn, Eric Reed had a 500 plus point lead over Dean in the national title standings. This is Eric’s 2nd national championship. He took his first national title back in 2003 at Telluride, Colorado. Complete results of Hearn as well as an excel spreadsheet with combined results from Red Rock can…
2011 Paragliding Red Rock Nationals
The first half of the 2011 U.S. Paragliding National Championship was held between July 24th and July 30th in Richfield, Utah. Dean Stratton took top honors with Eric Reed and Hayden Glatte placing in 2nd and 3rd. “Mean Dean Stratton” is the 2007 and 2008 U.S. Paragliding National Champion. Dean will need to have a good showing during the second half of the nationals at The Lone Star Nationals (August 14-20) in Hearn, Texas. Official Results With the recent ban of competition class paragliders by FAI at Category 1 sanctioned events, the USHPA required all Category 2 pilots take a mandatory safety seminar before being allowed to…
2011 Paragliding World Championship Cancelled
The 2011 Paragliding World Championship was cancelled after safety concerns. Two competition pilots crashed and died on the first day of the competition in separate incidents. On that same day there were three other reserve deployments. The competition was scheduled to take place between July 3rd and July 16th, 2011 in Piedrahita, Spain. On the second day of the competition the event organizers released this statement: Following the tragic events of yesterday with two fatal accidents involving Argentinian pilot, Francisco Vargas and Chilean pilot Eitel von Muhlenbrock, the championship organisers are continuing to gather information and to keep Team Leaders informed….
Paragliding off Everest
When Babu Sunuwar climbed Mt Everest on May 21st, 2011, he did not do it for the view, although when he reached the summit he probably did enjoy the view that less than 2500 climbers have, but instead his goal was to fly off the top of Mt Everest in a paraglider with a co-pilot, Lakpa Tshering Sherpa who is an experience Everest climber. Instead of flying to base camp, Babu and his tandem rider flew to an airstrip at Syangboche about 20 miles from the Mt Everest. Total flight time was just over 42 minutes. This descent was all part…
