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Skywings News - all non archived years

BHPA 2022 AGM

The Association's 2022 AGM will take place at the Nottingham Belfry Hotel (NG8 6PY) on Saturday 12th February at 10.00am.

BHPA Exec members Marc Asquith, Martin Baxter, Bill Bell, Martin Heywood and Angus Langford are standing for re-election by rotation; sadly no volunteers have stepped forward to join the Exec and the election will thus be uncontested. Nevertheless the AGM offers an opportunity to quiz Exec members on their achievements and on the future direction of the Association; all are welcome.

The 2022 AGM pack is available in the documents section of this web site. The pack includes formal notice of the meeting, details of members standing for election, and a proxy voting form. Completed proxy voting forms can be returned to the office by post or scanned and emailed to office@bhpa.co.uk. Completed proxy voting forms must be received at the office by 10.00am on Thursday 10 February 2022.

It is still hoped to run this year's AGM as a face-to-face meeting, but it will also be available to watch and contribute online via the BHPA Facebook page. If conditions or government advice changes it will revert to a Zoom-type meeting.

Any last minute changes to arrangements will be posted on this website and our Facebook page.

Posted: 11 January 2022
By: Paul Dancey

Brian Milton on screen?

BHGA member Brian Milton Reports reach us that Danish film producer Niels Juul is planning a feature film based on former BHGA member Brian Milton's 1998 round-the-world microlight flight. Juul, executive producer of Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, aims to subvert the Hollywood finance model by funding the film - provisionally titled A Wing and a Prayer - entirely by non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Under the frustrating Hollywood system, he says, smaller productions can take years to reach cinemas. To bypass this bottleneck he has set up NFT Studios to fund a series of films, hoping to raise up to £7m through the sale of tokens to institutional investors and the public.

A Wing and a Prayer is said to be ready to go, with a big-name star and director lined up, with shooting planned for April and a transatlantic premiere in September. Those undeterred by the bubble aspects of NFTs may wish to have a punt, while wondering which current actor has been lined up to play the grizzled, hard-driving, never-say-die Milton.

Posted: 20 December 2021
By: J. Schofield

CANP stats

CANP app usage over the past two years Pete Logan has produced data showing CANP app usage over the past two years. Total CANP reports have doubled to 1210 for the past year, from 624 in 2020. The Cumbria club leads the way in reports posted with 282; the next highest reporting club is North Devon with 190. But note - it's not a competition: these numbers mostly reflect site usage and local perceptions of military traffic. They also reveal how much 2021 began to approach normality compared with the year before.

The graph shows 2020 and 2021 stats and mirrors, to a degree, the amount of flying done through the year. Currently the CANP app covers 57 clubs and 505 sites. To see how this system works to help de-conflict our activities and military traffic, and to learn how easy it is to use, get up to speed on the CANP for free fliers website.

Posted: 20 December 2021
By: J. Schofield

Brits win Worlds – Russ Ogden is World Champ

In a tense final task at Loma Bola in Argentina, Russ Ogden held off Frenchman Honorin Hamard, 2015 World Champion, to secure the individual Gold medal. Strong backup from the British team saw Seb Ospina in 6th overall, Theo Warden 15th and Martin Long 54th, securing team Gold over the Swiss and Czechs. Switzerland's Yael Margelisch was top woman in 18th place, ahead of France's Seiko Fukuoka.

Loma Bola, known for stable conditions and sometimes very short tasks, proved to be a very challenging playground. Seven tasks were flown of around 50-80km, with pilots reaching goal on only four tasks.

Huge respect to Russ, to the British team and to master tactician Jocky Sanderson. This was no pushover; there were some very strong teams and individual pilots present. The French in particular, and the Germans, finished 10th and 9th; both started well but suffered heavy setbacks on the 5th task and could not recover. Russ and the British team were ahead from that point on and did not let up.

Hats off to all involved in the Argentina success, including the British Paragliding Racing Academy who have been leading up to this moment for the last five years. 

Posted: 12 November 2021
By: J. Schofield

Will the British Team take Gold today?

Hope you have been following the exciting developments of the World Championships this week?

Jocky Sanderson has been sending out some excellent reports and photos/videos on his page, and we have been sharing things to Instagram and other outlets as the week has progressed.

Well, here we are. The last day!!! How are we doing?

Well, Russ Ogden is currently winning the Individual. Mathematically, his worst case scenario is Silver medal, but as we stand right now, he is sitting on Gold!

And the team? Well, again the are sitting on Gold, but we still have to get through today. It is anywhere from Gold through to 20th place. Lets show our support and watch, and share, the day as it develops.

You can expect the pilots to be Airborne for around 4pm maybe, and the results could be in as soon as 8pm (UK times). Here are a few links to help you follow the developments:

Official page for tracking and news

Facebook Team group

Jocky's blogging page

Instagram: @british_pg_comp

Airtribune 17th FAI World Paragliding Championship Tucumán - Argentina - 2021 31 Oct, 2021 - 13 Nov, 2021 | Yerba Buena, Argentina

Bill Bell

Posted: 12 November 2021
By: Paul Dancey

British Aerotow Revival!

Deenethorpe Airfield, CorbyThe first UK aerotow competition for more than half a decade will be held at the former WWII bomber base at Deenethorpe, near Corby - away from busy airspace ... and where the UK airmass starts to become continental!

Dates are May 7th-13th 2022. Practice days - for those needing to get current with aerotowing - will be May 4th-6th. The meet director will be 'hang gliding royalty' Jamie Sheldon.

The organisers aim to have five tugs available, limiting numbers to 50 competitors. Sign up early to avoid disappointment. Further details can be found on the British Aerotow Revival 2022 website; registration will open in December.

Posted: 10 November 2021
By: J. Schofield

COP 26 Airspace Restrictions Update

Airspace restriction have been put in place for the Conference of the Parties 26th Summit (COP 26), which is taking place at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), Glasgow between the 30 October and 13 November 2021.

These have now been extended to 11.59pm on Sunday 14th November 2021 due to the conference over running.

A copy of the relevant Aeronautical Information Circular can be downloaded using the following link:

AIC M 091/2021

Posted: 2 November 2021
By: Paul Dancey

BHPA insurance document

Those who may need to confirm, for their own satisfaction or perhaps to reassure a landowner or potential customer, just what the BHPA's 3rd-party insurance covers are reminded that the Association's 'Evidence of Insurance' document is available in the documents section of this website.

Posted: 5 October 2021
By: J. Schofield

last updated: 29 March 2025

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