The Beginner’s Guide to Hike & Fly A paragliding book on walking By Aimilios Apostolopoulos, 2021 Available as e-book and paperback via www.hikeflybook.eu
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ike & fly is growing in popularity with more and more pilots wanting to get into it but often not knowing where to start, how to choose the right gear and clothing, how to plan a trip, find a good take-off, and assess if the conditions are safe. The Aimilios’s ‘Guide’ is the first book addressing these issues. It’s for paragliding pilots who have some experience in flying but none or very little experience in hiking and want to get started. Mads Syndergaard who helped with the edit, wrote in the preface that the book represents ‘the very low-tech approach; “So, you’d like to do some hike&fly?? Well pick up that bag and start hiking!’ Statements like these are close to my heart, as I started hike & fly with my 17kg normal gear, running shoes and trekking poles found covered in dust at the staircase of my apartment. We don’t need the lightest and newest gear to go for a hike & fly but on the other hand, most of the questions beginning hike & fly and vol-bivouac pilots ask me, are about the choice of the gear. It’s natural when starting a new activity, we have no experience and no clue, so at least we can have the best gear possible and control this aspect of the adventure. So despite the ‘pick up that bag and start hiking’ intro, the next 60 pages are filled with gear advice and options for everyone, which should answer all the gear questions of an aspiring hike&fly pilot. From paragliding harness to socks to trekking poles, he has it all covered. I’m sneering at the ‘just pick up that bag and start hiking’ false advertising but also understand that the variety of gear choices might be overwhelming for a hike & fly beginner so it’s great to have all the gear basics described in one book. The author starts with a short introduction on the history of paragliding which is interesting and entertaining to read (‘ ‘Mandatory equipment: a piece of cloth, some straps, Adidas tracksuit, moustache. Non-mandatory equipment: reserve, helmet, self-preservation’ ‘). The first chapter covers paragliding gear, showing various options for different purposes, budgets, and for various types of pilots. I appreciate that the author doesn’t try to convince us of his favourite solutions but honestly rates the pros and cons of every piece. When
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trying to shave a few grams here and there, it’s important to remember that lightness usually comes at a price, being performance, durability, warmth etc. On the other hand, if we want to have all the warmth and comfort and all the extra gadgets, our backpack will get so heavy that the day will be over before we even hike to the top! It’s up to the pilot to find their own happy middle. I wouldn’t blindly trust all the exact weight calculations which appear in the book as the final weight will depend on wing and harness sizes and other details but it’s important to remember the main message, every single item, every extra weight will make a difference on the long hike up. In chapter 2 Aimilios discusses mountain gear, deservedly going into trekking poles as they’re a crucial part of hike & fly equipment. There is also a place to appreciate 1001 uses of duct tape, charging electronics, and other extras. At the end of the chapter, there is a bit on vol-bivouac, it’s not a vol-bivouac for beginners’ type of book but it gives us a good sense of what extra gear we might need when we want to expand our hike & fly adventures into vol-bivouac ones. Chapter 3 covers the clothing with bullet-proof systems for any weather conditions. It’s a great place to start and you can’t go wrong when following Aimilios advice. If you’re an experienced hiker or maybe later in time when you gain some experience, you might find other solutions which work for you (e.g. I usually prefer a poncho instead of a rain jacket, if it rains, I want to protect my backpack too! The 4th chapter is a brought introduction to weather forecasting. It’s useful and covers some basics but isn’t intended and shouldn’t replace reading some books on the topic. Some great meteo books and other sources are listed at the end of the chapter. The final chapter is what in my opinion makes ‘The beginner’s guide to Hike & Fly’ so special as it addresses the real core of what makes hike & fly really different to taking a shuttle and flying from an official take-off. From the importance of ground handling to time planning to real-life examples of finding the right take-off in particular topography and wind conditions.
Reviewed by Kinga Masztalerz When I coach pilots, I do it in a very similar way and this chapter comes as close as you can get to understanding new take-offs without actually going there and doing it. A must-read. I just need to mark, that the author suggests using toilet paper for an improvised windsock... I would strongly suggest to learn to assess the wind and cycles without the windsock, by the feeling on your face, and by observing the leaves, grass, etc. Please, don’t leave any rubbish behind! To sum up, ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Hike & Fly’ is a successful attempt to gather all available knowledge around hike&fly into a step-by-step guide, in order to help all those pilots that would like to try it, but are not
s u r e where to begin. It can help novice hike & fly pilots prevent mistakes and omissions that can potentially prove problematic or even dangerous. What’s more, it’s written in an easy, fast-paced way with a great sense of humour which makes the read even more enjoyable. I wish this book was around when I first got into hike & fly, it would surely help me progress smoother and avoid some mistakes on the way.
Godwits are Cross Country Flying Champions
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ecently back in NZ are 80,000 Bar Tailed Godwits (Kuaka). They leave Alaska in the northern autumn, and until recently it was assumed they followed a coastal route south, often over land that would allow them to feed and rest. New evidence shows that most take a direct route south across the central Pacific to New Zealand. They can’t rest on water or feed at sea, so the 11,000 km journey is the longest non-stop flight undertaken by any bird. To track the return journey, seven birds in NZ were tagged with surgicallyimplanted satellite transmitters and tracked to the Yellow Sea in China, a distance of 9,575 km. One bird flew 11,026 km, taking nine days. They can travel at heights of 2-3000m but similar species were tracked at 6000m. Godwits had an average speed of 56 km/hr. Female godwit ‘E7’ flew on from China to Alaska for the breeding season. Then in August departed on an eight-day non-stop flight from western Alaska to the Piako River near Thames, setting a new flight record of 11,680 km. In total, ‘E7’ made a 174 day round-trip journey of 29,280 km with 20 days of flying. In September 2020, a tagged male bird flew from Alaska to New Zealand in 11 days, a journey estimated at 12,200 km. Godwits breed on the western rim of Alaska. A clutch of four eggs is laid in a shallow bowl often lined with lichen. Godwit eggs are relatively large at
Bar-tailed Godwits
Photo from The Crossley ID Guide Eastern Birds
approximately 11% of a female’s body mass. This gives fully developed and mobile chicks at hatching. They fledge after 28-30 days and juveniles arrive in New Zealand after their first transPacific flight when barely four months old arriving early September. They can get as old as 28 years. Godwits may be able to predict weather when choosing their departure date. They often depart early from NZ if there are favourable winds; they seem to be able to predict weather patterns that assist them on the migration route. One tracked bird, nearly in NZ, but facing strong winds, flew to Australia that season instead. Godwits are in largest numbers at; Parengarenga, Kaipara, Manukau, Firth of Thames, and Farewell Spit. They are also found at Rangaunu, Whangarei, Tauranga, Ohiwa, Kawhia, Porongahau, Foxton Beach, Tasman and Golden Bay, Avon-Heathcote, Blueskin Bay, and Invercargill Estuary/Awarua Bay.