Paramotor Magazine Issue 30 Preview

PM

APRIL - MAY 2012

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE EDITION 30

EDITION 30

£6.50/€6.95/$8.95

INTERNATIONAL PARAMOTORING, PARATRIKE AND MOTORISED HANG GLIDING MAGAZINE

Footdrag • Glenn Tupper USA 2 • Wadi Rum • Borneo • Andy Campbell • Smoke • Packing Up • Advance Alpha 5

APRIL - MAY 2012

FOOTDRAG +

Pavel Brezina in Borneo + Smoke and how to use it AMERICAN DREAM + Reviewed: ADVANCE ALPHA 5

WADI RUM, ANDY CAMPBELL PROFILED, PACKING YOUR MOTOR, LAS CANDELAS, FLY GAMES SPAIN SALTON SEA, VICTORIA FALLS AND ALL THE PPG NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Parajet, Your Way....

Innovation through adventure www.parajet.com

PhotograPhy by SoPhie boleSworth

Parajet’s highly responsive chassis and cage system coupled with any paramotor engine, to give you your ultimate flying experience.

CONTENTS - ISSUE 30

FEATURES Editor & Designer: Marcus King Assistant Editor: Ed Ewing Sub and Online Editor: Charlie King USA Correspondent: Jeff Goin Regular Contributors: Dean Eldridge, Edward Lichtner & Tracey Tarr Advertising & Accounts: Verity Sowden Customer Service: Celine Rodriguez Accounts: Carol Harrison Tea-making: Hugh Miller

06 GALLERY: Footdragging

30 AMERICAN DREAM ‘That’s Charlie Sheen’s place!’ Glenn Tupper looks down on Hollywood

36 DESERT KINGDOM Daniel Moench heads to Jordan to fly Wadi Rum

Subscribe at www.xcshop.com/subs Paramotor magazine is available exclusively by subscription. Guarantee your copy by subscribing UK, USA and Europe: £34.95/US$53.95/€41.95 Rest of World: £36.95/US$56.95/€44.45 Issue-by-issue and iPad subscriptions also available

40 WILD AT HEART Pavel Brezina drops everything to fly the wild landscapes of Borneo

ADVERTISING

46 NO LIMIT

Contact Verity Sowden at advertising@paramotormag.com

‘The Gobi is going to be a nightmare.’ Andy Campbell is planning a round the world adventure

CONTRIBUTING Send your articles and photos to editor@paramotormag.com and your news to news@paramotormag.com.

50 THE TOOLBOX Sascha Burkhardt explains how to make smoke and impress people, while Dean Eldridge writes about preparing your motor for its overseas holiday

CONTACTING US Paramotor Magazine Cross Country International 5 St Georges Place, Brighton East Sussex, BN1 4GA United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 1273 256 090 Paramotor Magazine (USPS No: 024-657) is published six times a year by XCMedia distributed in the USA by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Road, Emigsville PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville PA. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Paramotor Magazine c/o PO Box 437, Emigsville PA. Global copyright laws apply. The opinions in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Paramotor Magazine

WWW.PARAMOTORMAG.COM COVER Onboard with a footdragger.

Photo: Franck Simonnet ABOVE Enjoying the spring sunshine.

Photo: Mac Para

56 REVIEWS Advance’s Alpha 5 is now rated for paramotoring and is very impressive, says Sascha Burkhardt

REGULARS

04 12 24 28 60 62

EDITORIAL IGNITION: Global News – Africa, Las Candelas, Salton Sea NEW PRODUCTS READERS' GALLERY SUBSCRIBE AND XCSHOP TRACEY TARR

Unit Conversions

Paramotor Magazine uses international standard measurement units, but recognises that other systems are in use around the world. So here’s a quick conversion table to other commonly used measurement systems.

1 km - 0.625 miles 0°C - 32°F 1 m - 3.28 feet 20°C - 68°F 1 kg - 2.2 pounds 40°C - 104°F 1 ltr - 0.264 gallons

CONTENTS

Edition 30 | PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE

3

EDITORIAL

Feeding the Addiction eeding the Addic I Mainlining PPG. Photo: Jason Wright

t’s spring in the northern hemisphere, which means more light, longer evenings and more chances to get out and play. The chance of grabbing a quick flight or a longer sunset session after a day at work is now back on.

There is no better way to relax after a day staring at the screen than by getting outside and into the air. The only problem is that itch – the one that makes you spend more time thinking about what your plans for flying are than your paid job. The one that makes you rush through emails and file things in the ‘Tomorrow’ tray so you can head out the door and up into the sky. Take that, nine to five!

I guess that is addiction for you, the addiction that fuels us as we dash around madly trying to fit a quick air fix into our daily lives. It’s this addiction that makes us unable to commit to family events, DIY, shopping trips or just about anything else if there is the remotest possibility of flyable weather, especially when it coincides with our precious weekends.

It is also this addiction that drives many of us to go to the not insignificant effort of packing up our paramotors so we can put them on a flight to somewhere exotic on the other side of the world.

No matter how much hassle it is, it’s always worth

4

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE | Edition 30

EDITORIAL

it. At Paramotor Mag we’re excited because we’re off travelling soon too. We’re finally going to make it to the States as we are heading to Beach Blast in Florida in early May. We’re looking forward to getting a taste of the US scene for ourselves and meeting some of our readers. If you are going look out for our stand and come and see us, that is if we’re not up in the air enjoying the views of Panama Beach.

For some their addiction becomes their way of living. Pavel Brezina’s love of flying and paramotoring saw him create his own brand, Nirvana. On page 40 he tells us the story of his trip to the Philippines to help train two photographers and make a film about it. When the phone rang and a television company offered him the chance of a lifetime to fly in Borneo he dropped everything, even his precious competition schedule, packed everything up and headed off in search of adventure.

Another pilot whose addiction to paramotoring is burning strongly is Glenn Tupper. Last issue we joined him as he set out on a road trip through the States. This issue we follow him on the second part of that road trip, made in the weeks before he

headed off on a tour of duty. We follow him from the dramatic landscapes around the Hoover Dam, to the opulence of Hollywood and Malibu to the solitude of the dunes. Stay safe out there, Glenn.

Elsewhere we have Dean Eldridge on hand with some great advice on how to pack your paramotor for international jet travel. As Deano says, “I have had plenty of experience recently and have learnt some new things.” Can your paramotor really pack down into a sports holdall? Yes, it can.

Also in our Toolbox section Sascha Burkhardt takes a look at smoke generators. Suddenly everyone is at it. With the popularity of pylon racing competitions we are seeing more and more pilots flying with smoke. It adds greatly to the spectacle of the events and now with an off the shelf smoke generator available we will undoubtedly see many more pilots playing with smoke.

Right I’m out of here, time to feed that addiction.

Safe flights to all.

Marcus King editor@paramotormag.com

POWERFUL LIGHTWEIGHT 4-STROKE Have you tried one yet?

Bailey Aviation Bellevue Farm • Old North Road • Bassingbourn • Royston • Herts • SG8 5JR • England Tel: +44 (0) 1763 246660 • Fax: +44 (0) 1763 242777 • Web: www.baileyaviation.com • Email: sales@baileyaviation.com PARAMOTOR & ENGINE DESIGN, MANUFACTURE & ACCESSORIES

It’s fun, fast and furious but it can trip you up if you’re not careful. We asked Mathieu Rouanet for his advice on foot-dragging

6

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE | Edition 30

GALLERY

FOOTDRAG

Cool, Wet Grass Before going near water practice on wet, flat grass with no wind (wet sand is ok too, but worse for your prop). And before dragging your feet, perfect it at one metre, then 50cm, then 20cm.

KEEP THE SPEED UP Maintain high speed with trimmers a bit more open than neutral and fully open if your glider allows you to have good control in this position. Have a few centimetres on the brakes. Speed will allow

you to be responsive in lift if needed. With a bit of brake applied you can ‘absorb’ small mistakes and stay level.

MANAGE YOUR RPM Maintain your rpm to maintain your level. Adjust rpm by quick, slight responses of +/- 200rpm to be accurate. If you make a mistake, apply full power. Many people are not quick enough in the rpm response: remember, quick and slight, and full throttle. The most accurate foot-drag is a combination of both.

Emilia Plak heads for open water. Photo: Mathieu Rouanet

GALLERY

Edition 30 | PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE

7

30

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE | Edition 30

USA

American Dream Glenn Tupper flies the Hoover Dam, parties like it’s 1999 in Las Vegas, drops in on Charlie Sheen and soars the Pacific coastline. It’s wild, out west…

Dodging helicopters above the Hoover Dam. All photos: Glenn Tupper

USA

Edition 30 | PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE

31

Once again, the scenery was breathtaking

The moon-like landscape of Wadi Rum. All photos: Daniel Moench

Heavy traffic

Dan and Jean-Michel taking off

36

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE | Edition 30

JORDAN

Desert Kingdom On the hunt for a location for an international flying festival Daniel Moench goes exploring in Jordan, and finds clear skies, a warm welcome – and great food

Old-school inspiration

JORDAN

Edition 30 | PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE

37

“

We discovered villages on water in the middle of coral reefs

”

The Tun Sakaran Marine Park, Malaysia. Photo: Cede Prudente

40

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE | Edition 30

Malaysia

In September last year Nirvana’s Pavel Brezina was asked to act as an advisor on a TV documentary in Malaysia. How could he say no?

Malaysia

Edition 30 | PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE

41

The paramotor will play a ‘huge, huge part’

Andy Campbell at home in Scotland. All photos: Andy Campbell collection

46

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE | Edition 30

PROFILE

NO LIMIT NO LIMIT Andy Campbell is planning to travel around the world using his wheelchair, kayak and the wind. Ed Ewing spoke to him

“

So I started looking and thinking, ‘Bloody hell, to get across the Gobi is going to be an absolute nightmare’.”

The Gobi Desert is the stuff of nightmares if you’re planning a round the world trip like Andy Campbell is.

It stretches 1,500km through Mongolia and into China at an altitude of up to 1,500m, in winter temperatures plummet to –40C while in summer they peak at 50C. Unlike deserts of the imagination it’s not sandy like the Sahara, it’s rocky, like the surface of Mars. It is a key part of the trip that Andy is planning. “At the moment Mongolia weighs heavily on my mind,” he says. “I’m looking forward to getting past Mongolia.”

Andy Campbell broke his back in an abseiling accident in 2004. “I’m quite thankful that I’ve got no one to blame but myself,” he says now. “It was poor placement of an anchor … I’d set up a belay around a boulder on top of a crag … the rope came up over the boulder and I just piled in.” He was paralysed from the waist down “in a second” and then spent seven months in hospital “staring at the ceiling”.

A soldier and outdoor sportsman before the accident, one of his first thoughts after paralysis was, “How am I going to get to the hills now?”

Somehow he worked it out. His short expedition promo clip online shows him paragliding, doing amazing things on a sit-ski and racing downhill on an off-road handcycle.

Now Andy is going around the world. His original idea was to cycle around the world in a handcycle but that then morphed into a bigger project. “I started thinking, What if I could use the wind to get across the Gobi? A blokart or kite buggy, or fly?”

His idea took shape and he now plans to travel through Europe, Russia and China before crossing the sea to Alaska and travelling south to the tip of South America.

He will use alternative methods of transport and stay off road as much as he can. Kayaking, handcycling, kite buggying and paramotoring will all feature. “Basically I’m taking all these pieces of equipment along with me to replace the use of my legs in different situations.

“Rather than avoiding obstacles and terrain I can look at the route and take advantage of geography.”

PROFILE

Edition 30 | PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE

47

Smoke in the paramotor field at St Hilaire. Photo: Marcus King

TOOLBOX//

Smoke and Mirrors

Blow it out! Sascha Burkhardt looks at how to leave a trail

F T

ixed wing aircraft have always used smoke at airshows. It’s great for spectators because it adds to the spectacle and helps people understand what’s going on. hey can follow the smoke and be impressed without having to know anything about what’s going on in the cockpit, or how impressive the pilot’s micro control of the ailerons is. It’s just a big jaws-on-the-floor Wow! moment.

Spotting a great thing paramotorists have adopted trails too, in particular during slalom competitions. We all know just how much those Parabatix boys love their smoke, but is it something for recreational pilots, and if so, how do we get to paint trails, chase our tails and generally muck around with the stuff?

50

PARAMOTOR MAGAZINE | Edition 30

TOOLBOX

HOW IT WORKS Early smokers used smoke flares meant for signalling. These are the same ones often used by paraglider acro pilots, but unfortunately they last for a very short time.

As pilots of powered craft however, we have an easier option. Our motors have an exhaust, which is an ideal ‘smoke pump’. Simply by pumping paraffin oil through a small nozzle into the exhaust manifold we can generate as much smoke as we want.

That’s the basic theory, but of course it gets better than that. It’s possible to use other liquids and mixtures to change the quality of the smoke and prolong how long it lingers. Some master smoke mixers such as Jens ‘Higgy’ Hicken of Para Zoom have even concocted their own mix recipes

over the years. These recipes are kept under lock and key and are as closely guarded as the Queen of England’s crown jewels, but Higgy claims to have once drawn a smoke circle at low altitude that was still visible ten minutes later. We can only imagine what could have gone into that mix.

Meanwhile, Eckhart Milsch of Fresh Breeze has found a mix that produces smoke that is a little less durable but has the added advantage of being very inexpensive. His secret is that he uses coolant that he gets for free from junkyards. Anyone who has ever driven behind a car with a cracked cylinder head will be familiar with the smoke generated.

Obviously this experimentation has to be done very carefully. Some pilots have experimented with diesel, and on at least one known occasion

“

”

Flames coming out of the exhaust

have found not only smoke but also flames coming out of the exhaust. Please be careful out there.

Strangely enough this doesn’t seem to happen when using paraffin oil, even though it is also a flammable oil.

COLOUR IT IN One thing that you will notice is that, so far, all the Smokin’ Joe paramotor pilots only produce white smoke. We haven’t seen pilots use different colours to create the Italian Tricolori (green, white and red) or the French Patrouille (blue, white and red). Theoretically this is possible: google for it and you will find recipes that use indigo pigments or methylene blue. If you go this route, just be aware that traces of paraffin oil can often be found on the paramotor after flight and any pigments may permanently mark your kit. That’s ‘permanently’.

FLYSTYLE'S SMOKE MACHINE

Most paramotor pilots who have started smoking are using a new smoke generator made by Flystyle, an offshoot of Czech paramotor manufacturer Nirvana. It was initially developed for the company’s display team, well known for their shows at flight festivals worldwide.

The Flystyle smoke generator consists of a plastic bottle that fits inside a neoprene holder and a small pump that is powered by four AA batteries. A simple on-off push switch is mounted on the throttle, so the pilot can easily add smoke by squeezing the switch.

The smoke generator comes complete with a special oil mixture for white smoke. According to Nirvana it is made using a special process that means not only is it visible but that it has a distinctive vanilla smell too. We’re not sure whether this is a good thing, but it is original.

Blow your own. FlyStyle's smoke machine. Photo: Sascha Burkhardt

w.

t .c -in try un co sos cr

E IB CR E BS LIN SU ON

ww

Read by pilots in over 50 countries worldwide

om

Photo: Waclaw Szczepanski

s ub /s

Subscribe to the world’s favourite paramotoring, paratriking and powered hang gliding magazine and discover what the best pilots in the world are reading.

SUBSCRIBE NOW AT WWW.CROSS-COUNTRY-INT.COM/SUBS

‘the great photography inspires my next adventures’ Mathieu Rouanet, WAG Winner 2009 & Ex World Champion

‘It’s a box full of flying dreams, and it can help those dreams come true’ Thomas de Dorlodot, world record altitude team and Red Bull pilot

‘Fun, informative, entertaining, and brilliantly presented’ Jeff Goin, Top US Paramotor Pilot

www.paramotormag.com - news, reviews, advice and information

XCSHOPCOM DVDs ~ BOOKs ~ GEAR ~ Everything a pilot needs