New junior FAI triangle record of 301km

Hans Petit has smashed the junior FAI triangle record with a 301km flight from Col de l’Izoard, adding 100km onto the previous record. The French pilot, who just turned 18, made the 11-hour flight on 7 August flying an Ozone Zeno 2 having launched shortly after 9am.

“It definitely feels great to have done my first 300km FAI considering that I made my first 200 last year!” he said. “I think a flight like this can show what you are capable of doing.”

Hans is a competition pilot and pupil of France’s Pôle Espoir in Font-Romeu, whose instructors include world champion Maxime Pinot. He’s been flying for five years, since the age of 13, when he was immediately struck “by the incredible feeling of freedom that this sport brings”.

His flight is a substantial improvement on the 200.3km record set by Spain’s Marcelo Sánchez Vílchez in June 2024. Here, he breaks down how the flight went. “I woke up quite early, having camped in my tent at the Izoard Pass,” he says. “I was still quite hazy from the six-hour flight the day before.”

The forecast predicted a good day but mentioned some westerly winds which made him nervous. He was also surprised by the fog. “In the end, I managed to motivate myself and arrived at take-off at 8.15. Small cumulus clouds were forming and dissipating around 2,800 metres. The west winds weren’t yet showing, I just needed to wait for the ceiling to rise a little.”

He launched at 9.11am and says the climb-out was easy – the day was already on. He reached 2,900m above Clôt la Cime and with three other pilots, headed towards the Italian border. By 11am he was at Freissinières, taking advantage of easterly winds. “We followed the classic route toward Le Vieux Chaillol, still slightly pushed by the east wind – lucky for us, because the thermal strength wasn’t quite enough to be efficient.”

That opened the door to the Dévoluy massif and the classic path to the Pic de Bure. “Here it is – we finally felt some southwest wind, but it came with much better thermals: +3 m/s were becoming frequent, but the sky was drying out.”

“I placed my waypoint west of Aspres, calculating that it should make me turn somewhere around Saint-André-les-Alpes in order to get a full 300km triangle. A big mistake at Céüse and a crossing of the Monges later, I found myself attacking the Cheval Blanc.”

The wind was now slowly turning west-northwest which meant an easy flight to Saint-André but a harder return across unfamiliar terrain. Hans managed to climb to 3,000m at Cheval Blanc and again at Le Sapet but on his instrument he saw that if he turned there his triangle would only be 275km. Reluctantly he pushed on south, counting the kilometres before he could make the turn.

“The moment wasn’t that tense, but if I had got it wrong it would have been goodbye 300km and hello four hours of hitchhiking to retrieve the car!” he said.

Hans continued the story: “I climbed in thermodynamic lift in the valley breeze, then found myself in a thermal on the lee side of Le Sapet, indicated by a vulture. It gave me 300 precious metres – just what I needed to comfortably pass Cheval Blanc again. Now, I just needed to get back to the take-off. It was the classic return route without any issues until Catina. After passing over it, the breeze became really noticeable and my positioning for the last section wasn’t great. I climbed back into the valley and managed to land at the pass with Florian Molié (who made 270km) and Jazz Cassanas. A fantastic welcome and I was completely exhausted – 11 hours of flight in total and 301.1km at an average speed of 28.2 km/h.”

The flight is a reminder of the level of talent emerging in France – as well as the popularity of Col de l’Izoard as the place for big triangles. It was from here that Baptiste Lambert flew a 350km triangle in 2023. Hans says he can’t wait for the next chapter of his progression. “For now, I can’t wait to gain even more experience and keep pushing further,” he says.