Fifty Ways to Fly Better

The current edition is now completely sold out. A new edition of Fifty Ways to Fly Better will be published in 2025. Thanks for your patience!

Do you know the difference between a ‘sticky’ and a ‘fizzy’ flying day? Want to learn to climb faster with the turn-reversal technique, or understand how to surf through the mountains, choosing the right lines rather than getting hammered by the valley wind?

Fifty Ways to Fly Better is essential for all pilots who want to reach their potential. It is packed with the latest techniques and thinking from Bruce Goldsmith and some of the world’s best pilots and instructors.

The book draws on 20 years’ worth of Icaristics, Bruce’s well-regarded column in Cross Country magazine, and combines it with lots of completely new material – all revised and updated for today’s pilots.

Fifty Ways to Fly Better includes:

• Heaps of tips to help you climb fast and efficiently
• Psychological techniques to help you perform at your best
• In-depth guides to flying the flatlands and mountains
• Advice to keep you safe while flying near clouds and terrain
• Skills and tactics to help you fly bigger cross country distances
• Straight-forward illustrations to help you maximize flying conditions
• Simple explanations of diverse wind and thermal flow patterns and structures

Includes contributions from: Ian Blackmore, Josh Cohn, John Coutts, Bob Drury, Jonny Durand, Ed Ewing, Kelly Farina, Will Gadd, Ant Green, Steve Ham, Heike Hamann, Greg Hamerton, Alex Hofer, Marcus King, Patrick Laverty, Antoine Laurens, Horacio Llorens, Dustin Martin, Hugh Miller, Russell Ogden, Honza Rejmanek, Adrian Thomas, Jay Rebbeck, Raul Rodriguez, Jocky Sanderson, Pal Takats, Karel Vejchodsky, Godfrey Wenness and Rob Whittall.

What people have said…

“Fifty Ways to Fly Better is packed with in-depth flying advice from the pilots who really know” – Jocky Sanderson, SIV and cross country instructor

“Successful pilots often look like they get ‘lucky’, but it’s just not true. To fly really well, you need to be 100% prepared. This book is essential reading for anyone wanting to fly to their best potential” – Chrigel Maurer, multiple Red Bull X-Alps winner and Paragliding World Cup champion

“The closest a book can be to a personal coach or mentor” – Skywings magazine

“This is brilliant! Refreshing, focused, and entirely relevant. It covers a diverse range of topics, and they’ve been very cleverly selected. Even if you know some of this stuff, it’s great to read it and ‘consolidate’ your knowledge, preparing your mind for smart decision-making during your next flight.” – Flybubble Paragliding

“An awesome book … to read and re-read and then read the sky in a new way! The best book about flying XC I have read” – Jan Lais, reader

More info

Interested in trade orders? Email Verity Sowden on advertising@xcmag.com

The current edition is now completely sold out. A new edition of Fifty Ways to Fly Better will be published in 2025. Thanks for your patience!