news MONTHLY REVIEW
Another Brett Janaway record!
PHOTO BY JODY MACDONALD.
ON AUGUST 11TH BRETT JANAWAY OF XTC PARAGLIDING BROKE THE WORLD AND EUROPEAN TANDEM DECLARED OUT-AND-RETURN DISTANCE RECORDS. He will also claim the World free-distance record and a British speed record. His 212km flight from Sorica was made on a Gradient BiGoldenXC, a limited-edition tandem intended for fast mountain flying. This is Brett’s second tandem World Record, having set the 100km speed record last year. Passenger Matthew Minnie was just out for a paragliding holiday and got more than he bargained for! Sorica now holds a record of its own - for the most record flights! Full story next month.
US paragliding record falls On July 15th Gavin McClurg set a new US paragliding distance record of 387km, flying from Sun Valley, Idaho to Canyon Ferry Lake, Montana and beating Nick Greece’s 2012 mark of 328km. Gavin took off on his Niviuk Peak 3 from Bald Mountain at 11:07 and landed just over seven and a half hours later, having clocked an average speed of over 52km/h and reached over 18,000ft. His route crossed several of the largest mountain ranges in the American West including the Boulders, Pioneers and Lemhis, and the Continental Divide with peaks of over 13,000ft. “I had no intention of flying that day,” Gavin reports. “The day
Ron Freeman flies 100m at Worthing Birdman! Ron Freeman, regular entrant and several times winner of the Worthing Birdman pier-jumping contest, finally exceeded the 100m mark for the first time at this year’s event on August 10th. Ron was unable to claim the £10,000 prize for the first-ever 100m flight because strong winds forced him to deviate from the marked course. Nevertheless he described his glide as “…the most perfect flight I’ve ever done. I got it spot on - it’s never been done before!” Thus Worthing chalks up yet another unofficial record; in 2009 Steve Elkins failed to secure the prize after covering an offical but still-disputed 99.86m. The Birdman event has been running
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SEPTEMBER 2013 www.skywingsmag.com
before Nate Scales and I had a huge 319km flight to near Bozeman, Montana and didn’t get home until 0330 in the morning. But next day the conditions looked even better. I raced to the store, bought some food, borrowed a canister of oxygen from a friend and headed up the hill. The thermals were still working really well when I landed, but I had some pretty serious weather to my south and too much westerly wind to head north - I just ran out of places to go. On the right day someone will fly over 500km from here!” Full details of Gavin’s record flight are at www.cloudbasemayhem.com. [See Pilot Profile on page 14.] since in 1971, relocating from Selsey to Bognor before arriving at Worthing in 2010. Other hangies in the Condor Class - entrants in the other classes are all jokers included Tony Hughes, Toby Quantrill and Roger Warren. Everyone involved in the seaside competition knows that an official 100m flight is attainable in good conditions; no doubt Ron will be back next year.
Pennine triangle completed! On Wednesday July 18th Phil Wallbank nailed the difficult Pennine FAI triangle linking Pendle, Burn Fell and Parlick. It’s a good deal bigger and harder than the Yorkshire Three Peaks achieved last year (over 50km compared to the Three Peaks’ 30km), and one that’s been eyed
up by local hot-shots for years but never achieved on a paraglider before. Phil took off on a Niviuk Icepeak 6 at 13:40 and climbed to over 3,000ft inside eight minutes. 30 minutes later he maxed-out at 4,900ft and eventually averaged 14.8km/h over the three-and-a-half-hour flight. This is the Pennine region’s biggest-scoring flight of the year so far and the secondhighest score ever from a Pennine site. Flight details are at www.xcleague.com/xc/flights/2013 2401.html?vx.
Be a better pilot with FlySpain As well as their normal guided weeks at Algodonales, this winter FlySpain are running post-CP courses for rusty under-20hour/2-year pilots who want to
increase their confidence. These weeks will run on a more handson basis than normal guided trips, with the accent on advice and coaching for the low-airtime or less-confident flier. As well as structured lectures on thermal hunting and landing out, time will be put aside for ground handling practice so that pilots can return to their local club with renewed confidence. The enthusiastic FlySpain team has a wealth of experience and has brought on many pilots over the last few years. Details and dates are at www.flyspain.co.uk, e-mail info@flyspain.co.uk or check them on Facebook.
Lanzarote in November In November the Flight Culture team will return to Lanzarote for