Current Issue
Ready for adventure?
They don’t tell you when you sign up for paragliding school that everything might change. That you might fall in love with the sport, that it might start to direct your life, that it could take you places you never knew existed, that you might end up seeing things and doing things that no one else has. That it might change your life.
When we started to ask pilots for stories about trips that had changed them, as a pilot or person, we tapped into a remarkable seam. We weren’t asking for the highest or furthest or the one where they won something, we were asking for something more personal.
And boy did they deliver. I shivered when I read Tobi Dimmler’s account of his group’s 2016 trip to Kashmir, and I just felt joy reading Algirdas Mažeika’s mini story of his expedition to Iceland. “This journey not only enriched my life with new experiences but also reminded me that happiness lies in small moments,” he writes. Amen to that.
This issue we have a wide ranging focus on the theme of ‘Adventure’. And that means everything from learning to buddy up to getting to grips with the latest tracking apps to exploring combo flying in the Alps to taking first steps into the mighty Karakoram sky. There really is no limit.
It’s an inspirational collection of personal stories and hopefully will help inspire you when it comes to making plans for your own next flying trip, whether you stay local or head off to explore horizons far, far away.
Adventure doesn’t only mean one thing, however. Bastienne Wentzel finds out about a unique partnership between paramotor pilots and ecologists in Peru, and Tarquin Cooper looks back at the remarkable life of Bill Moyes, who died aged 92 last year.
That’s a man who knew about adventure, whether it was taking the first steps towards working out how to ridge soar to flying into the depths of the Grand Canyon a few years later. It’s about unshackling your imagination and letting yourself dream a little.
Wherever you plan to go next, however you want to fly and whatever you want to do, enjoy the adventure – and enjoy this issue.
Ed Ewing, editor
In the Core: People, news and insight
‘The best bit was flying wing-to-wing at 500K’
Hugo Hadaš becomes the youngest person to fly 500km – and on an EN-C
‘The vario was just screaming’
How Ben Lewis survived being swept to 7,000m in a Himalayan storm
On launch with Bruce Daniels
Bruce Daniels on mixing up XC and PPG – and the day he flew into his prom
My flying life: Daniel Tyrkas
“I’m hooked for life, I think.” Daniel Tyrkas is in the hot seat
Flying IQ: Helping you fly better
Fundamentals: Staying connected with Gaggle
Lawrie Noctor on why the Gaggle app could be a game-changer for groups
How To: Buddy-up
We need to look out for each other. Jack Sheard talks to Jocky Sanderson about buddying up
Q&A: Puretrack 101 with Tim Bromhead
Now there’s a good idea: all the tracking apps, on one map
Weather: The science behind Cu-nims
Honza Rejmanek looks at the science behind embedded cu-nims
The long game: Chasing the monster
Gavin McClurg gets the tandem ride of his life on a 1,000km wave flight
Welcome to: Speedmo
Race up, fly down. Jack Sheard gets an insight into the new world of speedmo
How to: Fly the Egyptian pyramids
Rich Dolan on flying Egypt and its famous Pyramids of Giza
Features
A new puzzle to play
Jake Holland and Fred Souchon tackle a classic Alpine route by paraglider and mountain wing
A trip that changed me
Flying trips can change you in profound ways as a pilot – and also as a person
The Karakoram, my way
What does it take to fly the Karakoram if you’re not Durogati or Damien Lacaze? Ollie Carr finds out
Air to air
Bastienne Wentzel talks to the scientists and pilots involved in a remarkable conservation project in Peru
The original Moyes Boy
Tarquin Cooper looks back on the life and legacy of one of hang gliding’s founding fathers, Bill Moyes
Kitlist: Design insight
The right connection
Ever stopped and looked at your karabiners in flight? Bastienne Wentzel investigates our most critical links
Hike-and-fly submarines
Ultralight subs offer cutting-edge performance and design. Przemek Marek learns more
