Welcome to the Skywings news archive.
Skywings news stories posted online in Jan 2015 are displayed below.
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If you're looking for stories posted after December 2015, please visit our Skywings News page.
UK Declared Goal record broken
On October 27th a new Declared Goal Record for UK pilots worldwide was set from Quixadà in Brazil by British pilots Richard Perkes and Alex Butler.
The pair flew together on Ozone Mantra M6 gliders for 285km, beating Matt Church's 2012 Mantra 4 record, also set at Quixadà , by just 5km. Both pilots flew on past goal to land at sunset after nine hours 45 minutes in the air.
Alex landed at Lagoa de Sao Francisco at 305km and Richard reached Piripiri for 318km. Richard is sponsored by High Adventure Paragliding and Alex by The Sick and the Wrong.
Posted: 1 January 2015
At the end of November Mark Morgan claimed a World Record for the paramotor climb to 3000m, setting 18 minutes 53 seconds aboard a Bailey Matrix Hornet/Ozone Viper 3 outfit.
This exceeds Jason Whitehead's 2013 record of 22:10 and Gordon Blackley's recent 21:33, still subject to the homologation process.
Posted: 1 January 2015
Chrigel Maurer - return of the prodigal son!
Almost two years to the day since he left Advance for Ozone, Chrigel Maurer is again flying for Advance. In November he was in South Africa testing their new high-end B Iota; now he will assist them in developing their 2015 X-Alps equipment and is to take part in the event himself.
Of his return to Advance he says, "I'm very happy with this comeback - for me Advance represents the best platform for another successful X-Alps participation. I live nearby and can be closely involved in developing my own equipment."
Chrigel, a former European Champion, three-time PWC winner and three-time winner of the X-Alps, is also to pursue his own projects which include his work as a personal trainer.
Advance will also field rookie Sebastian Huber from Germany as their second nominated X-Alps participant.
Posted: 1 January 2015
Aerofix has been fully operational from their new premises at Braithwaite Farm outside Keswick since July. Nick and Kirsten's new workshop space is bigger, brighter and better than ever, they say.
You can now follow them on Facebook for information updates, turnaround times, maintenance tips - and pretty pictures of Lake District sites!
Contact them on 017687 78866 or info@aerofix.com, or go to www.aerofix.com for more info and prices.
Posted: 1 January 2015
GeckGo is an Android mobile phone application designed by BHPA member Jamie Edwards in conjunction with the University of London Computer Science department. It offers a way of getting in touch and networking with fellow sports enthusiasts, and integrates with social media sites.
A pin in the map on your screen represents an extreme-sport person doing their thing. You can filter these to cover your own sport/s - free-running, skydiving, mountain-biking, paragliding, etc - and interrogate them to get a profile of your fellow-travellers.
You can then message them direct and navigate to their location. "The idea came from my personal experiences as a new CP," says Jamie. A short video explaining the app is at www.geckgo.co.uk. It will be released in March.
Posted: 1 January 2015
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.
