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Skywings news stories are available for the following publication years:

If you're looking for news stories published before January 2016, please visit the Skywings News Archive.

Skywings news stories published in 2019 are displayed below.

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There are 42 news stories for 2019 in our database.

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Skywings News - 2019

UK 'tour du lac'!

tour du lac of nearby Rutland Water To encourage XC flying within the Rutland Airsports club Hugh Burnaby-Atkins put up an annual challenge trophy. Hugh also put up a bottle of bubbly as a prize for the first 'tour du lac' of nearby Rutland Water.

Having achieved the feat himself back on May 12th, Hugh was relieved to discover that fellow clubman Richard Barber had also circumnavigated the reservoir, in the other direction, to land about an hour later.

'I didn't take off until 2:30pm as I was on launch marshal duty,' he reported. 'It took about two hours to get round and it was still booming when I came back - the potential for much bigger triangles or open distance is huge.'

At the end of the season Hugh was presented with his own trophy for what is believed to be the first-ever circuit of Rutland Water by paraglider. Led by his example, Rutland Airsports' winch operation at North Luffenham, in the heart of the east midlands flatlands, is becoming an emerging force in XC flying. 

Posted: 17 December 2019
By: J. Schofield

BHPA AGM

The BHPA's 2020 Annual General Meeting runs at a new location - the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall, Shropshire - on the afternoon of Saturday March 7th, straight after the BHPA Trainers Conference.

The current Exec will report on their work and members will be able to cross-examine them on their achievements. Members will be able to vote in person, by proxy and by remotely. This last can be done by posting your voting form or scanning it and sending it to the BHPA Office (see February 2020 issue of Skywings).

The meeting will commence at 2:30pm with the election of officers to the BHPA Exec, followed by Officers' reports and a members' open discussion forum. It will again be streamed live to the internet.

Posted: 17 December 2019
By: J. Schofield

Maurer in the UK!

Swiss legend Chrigel Maurer With support from Advance, XC Magazine are bringing Swiss legend Chrigel Maurer (below) to the UK in January to share his multimedia show with southern pilots.

His two-hour presentation on the Red Bull X-Alps - which he has won six times - will take place on Thursday January 23rd at the Fire Station in Bristol, and on Friday 24th at King's Church in Lewes.

Tickets cost £20 through XC Mag's online shop at www.xcmag.com/shop (look for the Events tab). Capacity at each venue is about 200; book early to be sure of a place.

Posted: 17 December 2019
By: J. Schofield

Lilienthal glider flies again!

Replica of Otto Lilienthal glider flys againMarkus Raffel returned to California in September and made another series of very successful flights on his authentic Lilienthal replica glider. The glider, proven in wind tunnel tests at Germany's DLR Aerospace Centre and successfully flown in 2018, was reassembled at Mountain View near San Jose.

Many flights between 50 and 100m were made at a coastal site in both monoplane and 'Grosser Doppeldecker' biplane form. 'The apparatus is acceptably stable on all three axes and, given enough practice, can be safely steered downhill and landed easily,' reported Markus.

The glider is a precise replica, built from original drawings with the help of the Otto Lilienthal Museum in Anklam. Lilienthal is known to have made more than 2000 flights between his first public flights appearance 1891 and his final flight in 1896 when he died following a crash. Dr. Raffel is Professor at the Institute of Turbomachinery and Fluid Dynamics, Leibniz University in Germany.

Posted: 21 November 2019
By: J. Schofield

Second time out and 100km!

A happy Kacper Kinstler On September 13th Grupa 303 and Derbyshire Club pilot Kacper Kinstler helped himself to 112.3km on a four hour 45-minute flight from Bradwell to Uppingham in Rutland.

100+km on a Nova Mentor 4 on your second half-decent XC is going some. 'I didn't expect 100km but I did have high hopes for 50,' reported Kacper after his flight, '... I am still smiling to myself! It was my first season on my new Mentor 4 and first XC on it too.

Although only CP rated, Kacper was briefed by local pilots and was able to carefully skirt the airspace near Nottingham.

Posted: 21 November 2019
By: J. Schofield

Manufacturer's Safety Notice: Supair Sora 2 42

On Sunday October 27th a pilot and passenger flying a Supair Sora 2 42m experienced the rupture in flight of several A line attachment points. The pilot threw his reserve and there were no injuries. The incident occurred a month after a similar occurrence 
with the same model.
 Investigations led by Air Turquoise have given no indication 
of a structural flaw but Supair intend to investigate further.

While the investigation is underway Supair ask that all pilots stop using the Sora 2 size 42. They will search for a resolution as rapidly as possible and report their conclusions. The full safety warning can be downloaded from the Manufacturers & Importers Safety Notices page on this website.

Posted: 20 November 2019
By: J. Schofield

Saunton news

Saunton in North Devon was flown in October by two pilots from the North Devon Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club, writes Stuart Hall, NDHPC Chairman. This was an agreed arrangement as part of celebrations to mark the AONB Relay.

The club seeks to make it clear that flying at Saunton is not allowed; they have been in communication with the landowners for several years in a bid to gain trust and permission to fly it. At present the answer remains no, and whilst they are working hard to build a relationship it is likely to be a long way off.

With that in mind it is imperative that no one makes any attempt to fly this site. Doing so would instantly jeopardise the years of hard work the club members have put in, and permission would probably never be gained.

North Devon welcomes visiting pilots and Woolacombe is an excellent location to fly, but please do not try and fly at Saunton. Please contact NDHPC if further information is required.

Posted: 18 October 2019
By: J. Schofield

BGD Weightless heads south

After successful events at Tolmin and St Jean in the last two years, Bruce Goldsmith and his team are to take the BGD Weightless event south for the winter - the 2020 event will be at Roldanillo in Colombia in January. Colombia's well-structured and friendly environment will allow the BGD team to build an event ideal for fledgling XC pilots through to seasoned competition hands. The timing and location will also allow pilots to fly when otherwise grounded by the UK and European weather.

Roldanillo will then immediately host the Colombian Nationals and the British Open, offering an opportunity for dedicated improvers to sign up for all three comps. Flights from the UK typically cost around £500-600 return; accommodation is typically £10-15 per night; food is good and inexpensive. The event runs from January 4th (registration) to January 10th; the other events will be held in the following two weeks. More details can be found on the BGD Weightless website.

Posted: 7 October 2019
By: J. Schofield

last updated: 31 January 2025

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