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Skywings news stories posted online in Mar 2013 are displayed below.
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Recognition of pilot qualifications
At this year's EHPU AGM it was agreed to recommend the following statement to member associations of EHPU:
"The member associations of the EHPU agree that the only qualifications that (subject to national law) they recognise and accept are those issued by Government Ministries, the FAI, National Aero Clubs and National Associations."
Some countries may demand additional qualifications. Please visit the national hang gliding and paragliding federation for further information on national rules.
Posted: 5 March 2013
Russ Ogden 3rd in PWC Superfinal
After a tough ten days at Roldanillo in Colombia, Russ Ogden (Ozone Enzo) took 3rd place in the PWC Superfinal behind Italy's Aaron Durogati and Switzerland's Michael Maurer, both flying Gin Boomerang 9s.
Russ made a poor start but was able to scratch his first two task scores to end up just 45 points adrift of Durogati's final tally of 6,234. Nicole Fedele was top woman pilot on a Niviuk Icepeak 6.
Guy Anderson (Niviuk Icepeak 6), apparently none the worse for his Sun Valley crash and subsequent 48-hour walkout, was 27th; Adam Hill finished 44th and Mark Watts an uncharacteristic 85th, both flying Enzos.
Posted: 5 March 2013
The objective of the Long Mynd club's new X-Hills comp is to fly or walk between the club's sites during the thermal season. Any combination of walking and flying is permitted and there is no designated route. Pilots can make a flight between sites and continue on for open XC, so it will not stop the long-distance XC pilot from having a go.
Pilots can also walk to link up separate flying tracklogs. All flights and walks need to be documented with GPS speed and altitude tracklogs; scoring will be by tracklog elapsed time. The winners will have taken the least amount of time to travel between sites.
Flights can be made at any time between March and September, with no restriction on how many attempts are made or the time taken. The X-Hills is open to any LMSC member, or anyone who joins on submission of their first tracklog. Entrants must be flying members of the BHPA. For further details go to www.longmynd.org.
Posted: 5 March 2013
Building on last year's successful Parafest, the Pennine club are to repeat the event on June 28th - 29th. The Pennine Parafest is open to all flyers, and camping will be available on both the Friday and Saturday nights.
This year's event will feature music and food on both nights and a properly-organised fun competition. The location will again be the Chipping Show Field at the foot of Parlick. The site is within ten minutes drive of local sites taking all wind directions and you can land at the venue itself; electric hook-up facilities will be available. There is no need to book for the competition or camping.
More information will appear on the PSC website at www.penninesoaringclub.org.uk.
Posted: 5 March 2013
A new trophy is being set up to honour Richard Westgate's memory, and to acknowledge how much he inspired others achieve all they could in paragliding.
Pilots who were close to Richard have suggested an annual UK-based award, and his brother Guy has been asked to set the parameters. It has been suggested that the Cup could be awarded to the first pilot to reach 1000km in the UK XC League, for the longest open distance, best tandem flight or greatest number 100km flights, etc.
A bank account has been set up to receive donations towards purchasing a trophy. It is hoped that a commemorative cup, inscribed with winners' names, will be presented annually for the winner to hold and pass on the following year.
Posted: 5 March 2013
Dates have been released for the 2013 British National Paramotor League series.
The first leg will take place at Hull Aero Club from Friday April 19th - Sunday 21st, with the British Open Paramotor Championship at the same venue from Thursday July 18th - Monday 21st.
More details are at the recently refurbished paragliding comps website at www.ppgcomps.co.uk.
Posted: 5 March 2013
The second RAeS Human Powered Aircraft (HPA) Icarus Cup will take place at Sywell aerodrome over a nine-day period from July 19th - 28th.
The aim is to progress the sport from occasional record attempts into a viable activity. Tasks will include duration, distance around a triangular course, 1km and 200m (sprint) races, slalom, take-off performance and landing accuracy.
The FAI have has sanctioned the meeting as an FAI Category 2 event. For details go to 'events' at http://aerosociety.com or contact Kirsten Scully on 0207 670 4345.
Posted: 5 March 2013
Further information about the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association and skywings magazine can be found on the about the BHPA and Skywings magazine pages on this website.
