The Turkish distributor for Ozone paragliders, Hakan Akcalar, broke the Turkish cross country record with a 255.5km flight from Denizli on an R10.2 on 3 July.
The seven-hour record-breaking flight put back into Turkish hands the record that had been with Frenchman Patrick Andre for a year. It was then almost repeated but in reverse nine days later by Yurdaer Etike, also flying an R10.2, who launched at Eskişehir, near where Hakan landed, and ended up 5.5km short of Denizli.
A report about the flight on Ozone’s website reads:
The day started very weak with thermals reaching 2,300m max, which is quite low for setting off on an XC flight at this site. Leaving the home thermals early, low and alone, he was about to bomb out after his first short glide, but luckily he was able to pull off a low save and then the flight truly began.
His goal was to complete 150+ km open distance, but when he reached his goal at around 16:00, the day was still quite switched on with high cloud bases and long inviting cloud streets, so he continued to almost sunset for a total in flight time of 6 hours 58 minutes with an average speed of 49 km/h. He was flying his R10.2.
See the flight details on Leonardo.
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