Brad Sander talks to Cross Country about his groundbreaking 224 km paragliding flight through the Hindu Kush in Pakistan in June 2008

Cinnamon Development have released emergency distress beacon software for the Apple 3G iPhone, which sends out an accurate GPS location to rescuers when activated (as long as there is a phone signal!) It also works on non 3G Apple iPhones but will be slightly less accurate. http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=288770664&mt=8

The Final Waggas paragliding beach Festival takes place from 9 – 17 January 09 in Western Australia. It was conceived and has been organised by local pilots to promote beach flying and freestyle and create awareness and development of this form of flying. The event comprises two, three day stages of waggas, with refresher and [...]

The body of Polish pilot, Wojciech Siudek, who went missing on Sunday during the pre XC Open at De Aar, South Africa, has sadly been found a couple of hours ago. There are no details yet of what happened, but it appears that he may have flown into power lines. Our thoughts go out to [...]

The Canoa Open, Ecuador, ended on 3 November with Dustin Martin (US, Wills Wing T2) finishing victorious and  Daniel Velez (Co, Wills Wing T2) and Mike Glennon (Co, Moyes Litespeed RS4) in second and third spots. Raul Guerra became the Ecuadorian National champion

News from Hans Bausenwein of the Paraglider Manufacturers’ Association is that From January 1st 2009 all paraglider testing will be done as EN testing only, EN will be 100% implemented into LTF. The existing EN will stay for the moment and only has to be defined more exactly in some manoeuvres. This proposal has arisen from [...]

The Sports and Leisure Aviation show takes place at the NEC, Birmingham (UK) over the weekend of 29 – 30 November 2008. The UK’s biggest indoor show it covers the whole spectrum of lightweight sport flying, from paragliders to composite microlights capable of cruising at 130kts or more. Cross Country magazine will be there with [...]

The selection committee finally put 100 applicants out of their misery and announced the successful entrants to the 2009 X-Alps event on 31 October. 23 countries are represented in the international field, with South Africa and New Zealand being represented for the first time. Many of the faces have been seen in previous events, with [...]

5 tasks were flown on the Reunion island of St Leu between 5 – 10 November, in the second of their annual “World Cup Series” competitions. The tasks varied in length from 29 to 62 km, and Frenchman Jeremie Lager (Advance proto) was the overall winner, with fellow countryman Jean-Baptiste Berlioux (Niviuk Icepeak) in second [...]

Australia is have just joined the ranks of countries who use XContest for their official national scoring for XC flights. As the season is beginning in Australia right now, we hope to see a lot of great flights during the coming  European winter. Aussie pilots can contact their national administrator Kym Fielke with any questions. [...]

Nova have brought out a new, close-fitting speedshirt for paraglider pilots to be worn over the top of their regular flying wear. It is made of highly elastic and wind-resistant Lycra with a front zip and separate wrist cuffs to reduce drafts and has Nova’s emblem on the arms, back, collar and chest. Available in [...]

Ozone’s week-to-view calendar is back for the 3rd year, with totally updated photos and a flying tip for every week of the year. It will be available to order soon! www.flyozone.com

There are a lot of new developments in the Ozone Speed range this year, including a dedicated section on their website, www.flyozone.com/speed/en/. The Bullet 009 is based on the Bullet 008, with a few upgrades and a new 16m size for the big guys, and for pilots who want to have a wider flight range [...]