Flight of the Pharaohs

Whenever the Tom de Dorlodot and Horacio Llorens dream team comes together, magic usually happens. For more than 15 years the pair have been flying together all over the world, brothers in the sky.

Their latest project with the photographer Marc Marco is no exception, resulting in these incredible night-time shots of the pair flying over the 4,500-year-old pyramids of Egypt last October.

“It was next level,” recalls Tom. “There’s something special about these places – it has to be seen from the sky where you can fully appreciate the size of it all. When you are up there, there’s a special atmosphere and something quite mystical about it.”

“Marc’s pics are amazing and beautiful,” reflects Horacio. He says he’s wanted to fly the pyramids at night for years. “I’m a big lover of the ancient world and had been reading a lot about Egypt and it was top of my list to visit one day,” he says.

Pyramids of Giza

However, the inspiration goes back further to when Tom and Horacio crossed Africa in 2012. “When we did that we really were hoping that we could fly in Egypt, but it was impossible, the authorisation was quite complicated. But we flew the Nubian pyramids in Sudan,” says Tom.

The famous pyramids of Giza, built as tombs for the Pharaohs between 2613 and 2494 BC, were long out of bounds to flying but in recent years pilots have been allowed to fly there, albeit under strictly controlled conditions and only at certain times of year. A team of 35 international pilots showed pilots – and Egyptian authorities – what was possible in 2018 and since then there have been opportunities to fly the pyramids organised most years.

Tom and Horacio wanted to do the trip in 2024 but the permission didn’t come through. Finally, local fixer and paramotor dealer SkyOne Air Sports in Cairo managed to secure the paperwork for a trip mid-October 2025. They have been organising pyramid flying trips for international pilots since 2021 under the banner ‘Egypt Gate’ and are well versed in local bureaucracy.

The final piece of the jigsaw was Marc Marco, a former pro tennis player, now a night photography specialist and friend of Horacio – they both live in Mallorca. “They didn’t give us so much time to check the place,” recalls Marc. “I just had the morning to find the composition. Then I had only around ten to 15 minutes to do [the shots] because Tom and Horacio also had to make some videos.”

He attached LED lights and camera flashes to their paramotors which he could fire remotely. Unfortunately he didn’t know which flash would fire when he hit the button, which made composing the shots challenging.

He also didn’t have radio contact with Tom, which further complicated things. “Everything was a bit stressful but in the end, it worked.” He adds, “I always say the pictures are good because the team is good. I like the challenge. If it was easy I think everybody could do it.”

A touch of magic

As for the flight itself, Tom says it was a dream. “It felt like Disneyland for paramotor pilots. I mean, more than that, you’re flying a wonder of the world.” That is something Tom and Horacio know quite a lot about. “We flew the Mayan city of Tikal in Guatemala, we flew the pre-Aztec pyramids of Teotihuacan in Mexico and I flew Machu Picchu in Peru. There’s always this incredible feeling of being able to see it for the first time. It was really something special.”

Naturally for a ten-time Acro World Cup champion, Horacio wasn’t content just to cruise around. “I was playing a little bit with Tom, like wing walking and synchro spiral, Sat to rodeo, synchro wingovers.

And by myself I was doing rhythmic Sats, infinity tumbling, helicopter Sat – many tricks. The good thing in the pyramids is that you have so many possible emergency landings. You can land anywhere so I was feeling super comfortable flying acrobatics.”

Horacio flew a size 19 Freeride 2 from Ozone while Tom flew an Advance Iota DLS 21, both paired with a Vittorazi Moster 185 Dual, Tinox frame with Helix props from Pap.“The special light system that Marc put in the paramotors made it really special,” adds Horacio. “When you fly by night you usually feel quite lost. You feel like you’re inside a bubble, almost blinded – you don’t see much even when you fly with a full moon.

“But when you have these pyramids completely lit up, you really have a playground to play with and to move around and to fly close by and to enjoy. And that made it really special. It was incredible to be able to do that. I really loved this moment to be able to be flying with Tom, talking by Bluetooth, flying and playing around.”

“The lights added to the magic,” says Tom. “Obviously for me it was also kind of a comeback as I hadn’t been flying paramotors for a long time. The guys at Pap organised a trike for me as well as an amazing paramotor. In the end I could take off running with my carbon boot just to make sure that I wouldn’t break my leg again.”

Tom broke his leg in a kiting accident in Norway in March 2024 and has been battling complications since. “For anyone who wants to experience something very special, Egypt was mind-blowing, flying the pyramids – it has to be on the bucket list. It will be hard to beat,” he adds.

“Being able to fly again with him and sharing the sky together and sharing a little project together was great,” adds Horacio.

Pharaoh’s revenge

After the pyramids the pair headed south to Luxor and spent two days exploring the complex of archaeological ruins, flying over the famed Valley of the Kings. “The site is huge,” says Horacio. “You can’t finish it in a day, even flying by paramotor.”

It was at this point that Tom had to leave but Horacio stayed on, flying with Rob Condella and other pilots. That’s when he had an accident near the Valley of the Kings. “I realised I’d lost my chase cam,” he says. “So, an hour later I flew inside the canyon to search for it. I thought a black camera was going to be really easy to find.”

He explains: “It was 9.30am and already hot and the canyon was not behaving the same as an hour earlier. I had a huge collapse when I was flying low and actually my attention was on the ground and not on what I was doing. The flight was becoming dangerous and I didn’t even realise it.”

The last thing he recalls before impact was getting his legs down, which smashed up his feet, but he believes that prevented worse injuries to his back. Still, he was left with broken feet, broken back and wrist. He says he’s now recovering well. “I’ve had two surgeries, everything’s going well, the doctors are really happy”.

For all his experience, he says that a crash can all too easily happen when you let down your guard. “It’s a reminder that every flight, even if you think it’s the easiest one, you have to do a little analysis of what is happening around you. How are the weather conditions, how is it changing? I didn’t really expect to have this huge turbulence.”

It all makes sense and sounds logical – and all too easy to believe. Conditions rapidly changed due to the rising heat of the morning, which Horacio had not taken into account. But I suggest there could also be another reason for the crash. As an avid reader of ancient stories, surely he must be aware of what happened to the early explorers who disturbed the tombs of the Pharaohs? Had he perhaps conjured the curse of Tutankhamun?

Horacio laughs. “That was on my mind! I was flying for more than an hour with my paramotor over those sacred canyons where the pharaohs have been sleeping for thousands of years.”

If they were awakened from their slumber, the ancient Kings can at least console themselves that they are unlikely to be the last to be disturbed by the sound of a low-flying paramotor.

How to: Fly the pyramids

Flying above the Pyramids of Giza is a unique experience, but it needs to be arranged through a local contact. There are two local operators who can arrange it: Sky Sports Egypt and Sky One Air Sports. Both regularly organise trips. To fly the pyramids pilots must have advanced skills and have logged at least 100 hours on a paramotor.

Paramotors can be rented in the country, making the travel logistics easier. On the ground costs start at $1,500US, which includes airport pick-up, accommodation, permits, fees and ground support including a professional mechanic. Sky One organise ‘Egypt Gate’ in October, a flying festival which attracts more than 60 international pilots.

skysportsegypt.com / skyone-eg.com

This article was first published in Cross Country Issue 263