PWC pilot Silvia Buzzi Ferraris was the Naked Pilot in issue 189 (May 2018).
I’m named after the physicist and electrical engineer Galileo Ferraris (1847-1897). He invented the electric motor and is touted as one of the “greatest inventors of all time”. I actually teach physics and maths, to teenagers and college students.
I was born and still live in Milan, Italy. Near to the Cornizzolo flying site. My husband has always wanted to move to Rome or somewhere else, but I love it in Milano. I usually fly in Cornizzolo, it’s convenient.
I started flying when I was really young, in 1989. It’s fantastic, it’s my drug. When I was young I always dreamed of flying.
I stopped in 1997 when I got pregnant. Then I flew sailplanes, and when I wasn’t able to pull the command stick anymore because my belly was too big, I stopped that as well.
I have two daughters, they’re twins and they’re 19. One of them is interested and we’ve flown together in the tandem but I don’t want them to fly on their own, it’s too dangerous.
I came back to XC first and then the comp scene a few years ago. The gliders are totally different now. Before, we used to fly comp gliders and we just knew how to fly. Now, there’s CCC but nothing has really changed because comp gliders are not always so easy.
I fly an Ozone Enzo 3 and I love it because it’s friendly. When it collapses it waits and doesn’t turn. Its good because it gives you time to pump the deflation out and doesn’t get you in trouble.
I do think though if everybody flew Zenos it would be the best for everybody. I always wonder, why do we have to fly these gliders? The Enzo 3 is a nice glider, but I still wonder.
Competitions are very fast now – all we do is push. We don’t turn, we just go. I think something has changed in the minds of the pilots and that’s why competitions are this way now.
Since I’ve been back I won the XC Contest Women’s once, 2012. Now it’s impossible to win it because I don’t have two gliders and I don’t see myself flying an Enzo 3 for 10 hours. If I had a Zeno, sure, I’d fly in both comps and XC with it.
I was third in the World Championships last year and it was huge for me because, first of all it was the Worlds and then, it was in Italy! It was very important for me because I turned 50 last year and it was a goal that I had, to win the Worlds when I turned 50. Although I was third I was still really happy.
I’ve done many sports. I did volleyball, alpine skiing, free climbing, swimming, kitesurfing, triathlon, but nothing gives me more pleasure than paragliding. Flying is my addiction, the others are nice because they provide endorphins, but flying is amazing.
My husband flies as well and we go flying together, but not so much now because he stopped flying comps, so I come on my own.
I genuinely don’t remember what my first glider was! I remember having an Edel but I honestly don’t remember. I remember the Gin Boomerang 3 was fantastic and my glider was special and flew really well.
I fly an M size usually. I don’t fly a large glider because I don’t want to carry ballast because it’s too dangerous. I think we should have weight classes because different sizes fly differently. I changed sizes and I can see the difference. Heavy people don’t understand this, but there is a difference
