winguu ° fly high ° land gently

Mike Robinson of BlackHawk Paramotors was welcomed back to REI Sporting Goods to conduct an introductory Powered Paragliding demonstration. The event was a total success! Numerous people preregistered online, leaving only a couple of empty chairs once the seminar started. Mike Robinson of BlackHawk Paramotors said: “Any chance we get to expose people to the life-changing experience of flight, we are there!” The BlackHawk team brought everything, from their top-selling flying machines, to the latest gear and accessories on the market. Several students attended to show their support, as well as BlackHawk’s head instructor Rick Hallowes. The audience was captivated by seeing these machines in person for the first time. Many of the attendees were very excited to hear about the upcoming 2013 BlackHawk Ranch Fly-In in Valley Springs, Ca. Mike Robinson stated “this will be a great opportunity for everyone who attended the seminar to see these machines in the air.” The management team at the REI store were very pleased with the feedback from customers and they look forward to having the BlackHawk Paramotor team return in the near future.

Please remember to mark your calendars for the 2013 BlackHawk Ranch Fly-In!  This family-friendly event will be at 8591 Hoagan Dam Road, in Valley Springs California – April 18th-21st.  For more information, please visit http://blackhawkparamotor.com/ or call (209)-481-0493.

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Source: US Paramotor News

PWC Porterville, the new season is on! …read more
Source: Niviuk

Nick Warren, communications manager for the Red Bull X-Alps in 2011, relives the decade-long history of the world’s toughest adventure race …read more
Source: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

Image: Red Bull Content Pool

The Red Bull X-Alps 2013 is to be the biggest yet, with organisers announcing that the route is now more than 1,000km long as the crow flies. At 1,031 km long the course is almost 20% – 167km – longer than the 2011 race, which was 864km as the crow flies.

The route was officially unveiled at a launch in Salzburg, Austria on 11 March, where organiser Hannes Arch said the longer route would “test athletes to the limit”. The route is longer because of extra turnpoints. The 2011 race had eight turnpoints plus the start and finish – 2013 will see 10 plus start and finish.

The 2013 race will zig and zag through the Alps. After the start in Salzburg pilots will head south to the Dachstein, before heading west to southern Germany. They will then have to turn sharply south to the Sud Tyrol in Italy, before heading west but staying north to reach Interlaken. From there it’s south to the Matterhorn, west to Mont Blanc, and then even further west out to St Hilaire, home of the famous Coupe Icare.

This adds a whole new dimension to the event – in all previous X-Alps races athletes have made the Mont Blanc turnpoint and then headed south. This year they will instead have to follow the arc of the French Alps all the way round before turning south towards Monaco and goal.

TURNPOINTS

Like 2009 and 2011 the race will begin in Salzburg, Austria. From there athletes must make their way southeast to the Hoher Dachstein (2,995m) and then west through the Hohe Tauern national park to the Kitzbühel Alps where a tough ascent of Wildkogel (2,224m) awaits.

Athletes must then negotiate tricky Innsbruck airspace and a potentially confusing Karwendel crossing to the Zugspitze (2,962m), Germany’s highest mountain. The route then crosses to the southern Alps, passes through Sulden in the Ortler region and then heads west on one of the longest stages to Interlaken in Switzerland. Then it’s south across the Bernese Oberland to the Matterhorn (4,478m), one of the most spectacular parts of the route.

The race then takes in Mont Blanc (4,810m), before heading west to St Hilaire. After that it’s south to Monaco and, for the elite few, splashdown on the raft in the Mediterranean. Athletes who complete the 1,031km 2013 race could well travel over 2,000km by foot and paraglider to get to Monaco, making the 2013 race the hardest yet.

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Source: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

Looking for a secondhand, used or ex-demo paraglider? Want to find a secondhand hang glider or paramotor? SkyAds.aero is the new website for doing all that and more. …read more
Source: Cross Country – International Free Flying Magazine

One of the iconic pieces of Utah state history is currently being mined away and we are on the brink of losing a great treasure. Paragliding and Hang Gliding are ingrained in the history of Salt Lake and Utah County. Each year, this flying site brings thousands of visitors from all over the world and is frequently chosen to host both national and international Hang Gliding and Paragliding competitions. Images of hang gliders and paragliders are shown on underpasses and in state tourism commercials. These sports have transformed this entire neighborhood and they inspire people everyday. Walk down the street and take note of how many houses are occupied by pilots. If you live in either Salt lake or Utah county, this mining is also affecting your air quality by adding to the dust and pollution infiltrating the air. Finally, the Point of the Mountain serves as the catalyst for the air flow of both valleys. Change the mountain, you change the air flow, which expands our problem from local to global. Welcome to our site, we hope you will help preserve a part of Utah’s history so that it can be a valuable and viable part of Utah’s future.

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Source: US Paramotor News

Two years ago we were privileged witness to the arrival of the Takoo 2 at the top of the world. On that occasion, the pilot Babu Sunuwar flew over the highest mountain of the world, Everest, piloting a light version of our tandem glider setting the world paragliding record of altitude. Historic!

From that point, we knew that flying higher would be almost impossible, but new goals were waiting us…On February the 7th, we lived another exciting event: the Nepali pilot Babu Sunuwar, again with his ultra light Takoo2, brought us from Everest to the highest summit in Africa, Kilimanjaro while he was taking part of the Wings of Kilimanjaro. Superb!

As a result, Takoo 2 has achieved two incredible records and it has proved to rise to the occasion. It has demonstrated being a glider with excellent handling in extreme conditions as well as maximum performance in order to enjoy freedom and security in tandem flights.

Congratulations Babu! We thank you for trusting us and for bringing us to the world summit. “Next destination?” We will keep a close eye on your new adventures!

Source: Niviuk

Congratulations to Felix, Keiko and Kirsty who all finished on the podium in the first PWC of the 2013 season!
Porterville, South Africa delivered 6 out of 6 tasks. The first few days were difficult, with inversions and stable conditions, but it improved throughout the week to give some great flying at the end. Pepe Malecki was leading the competition on the last day, but then dropped to 10th overall after getting stuck on the course. Felix flew excellently all week, and finished strongly in the last task, just behind the task winner (Julian Wirtz) for a 2nd place overall, just 20 points behind the comp winner Andre Rainsford. Well done Felix! It is extremely rare for a pilot to stand on podiums in both acrobatic and cross country paragliding, and Felix is truly one of the most talented (and dedicated) pilots we have ever known.
Congratulations to Keiko …read more
Source: Ozone Paragliders