It’s a raw morning in Norfolk, England, and paramotor pilot Dan Jones is at his local airfield encased in merino base layers, two fleeces, a jacket, flight suit and waterproof trousers: defence against the damp British winter.
Stepping onto the scales, Dan breathes a sigh of relief: his gear weighs in at 69kg. Every last item has been carefully selected to stay under the 70kg limit required for the flight ahead, in which Dan plans to beat a 13-year-old FAI World Record: Distance in a closed circuit without landing.
It’s Sunday 3 March 2024. After obsessively checking meteorological charts for weeks, the previous day he called up his instructor, friend and nominated FAI observer Mike Chilvers, to announce that the big day had finally arrived. Planning and preparation is key when it comes to record-breaking. Distances, speeds, fuel consumption… Figures fizz inside Dan’s head, data splashing a mosaic on...
