Jonny Durand has released film from his flight along Australia’s famous Morning Glory

I innocently reduced my flight to save all [parties] the hassle. Your report implies I cheated to gain multiple advantages. This is not the case

Czech paraglider manufacturer Gradient have a new 18 litre daypack to add to their accessories collection. Ideal for mountain walking and day hikes,  its laptop pocket ensures it is equally useful in day to day  life, and the straps can be hidden, making it safely stowable in aircraft lockers. www.gradient.cx

UP have made a paraglider for cross country hounds and serial class competition pilots: The Trango XC is an EN D / LTF 2-3, three line glider which UP say “launches better than most school wings, handles like a hot knife in butter, has a top speed of 57km/h and remains very stable all the [...]

Porcher Sport are working on a revolutionary lightweight paragliding cloth, to be prototyped in the first paragliders this winter. The Skytex 27 g/m2 double coated material will be as durable as the heavier 40 and 45 g/m2 versions. A 40g/m2 version of the Evolution range is also now available commercially. Its coating is particularly resistant [...]

The 2009 Canoa Open hang gliding competition in Ecuador takes place from 24 October to 3 November. Registration is open now, at http://goflyxc.com/node/21558/signup. The organisers ask, “What more can you ask for…a warm place to fly in October/November, some XC flying, some ridge racing, cheap beer, cheap food, inexpensive accommodation? Just show up and everything [...]

Cross Country and Paramotor magazines have teamed up to bring you the Fly Forever 2010 calendar. Packed with paragliding and hang gliding images on one side, and paramotoring on the other, the calendar will brighten up your room for a year whilst ensuring you don’t forget your appointments. Until 30 November you can buy the [...]

András Kollman’s brilliant film about two young acro pilots from Budapest, Hungary, won the top award at the 2009 Coupe Icare film festival

The Cross Country free prize draw from the Coupe Icare festival in St Hilaire, France has just taken place. One lucky person has just won an XCertina bag! Acrotwinz star Anthony Green pulled the lucky winning email from the hat. Just waiting for the winner to reply…

Ozone’s new ‘Baby HPP’ has landed on the competition scene, with immediate results. The world’s first successful 2-line design, the BBHPP features a complex internal structure that is the brainchild of Luc Armant, a recent addition to the Ozone Test and Design Team. Ozone say that although they have always been passionate about and totally [...]

On Saturday 12 September 111 teams took part in the 22nd Red Bull Dolomite Man race. Starting in Lienz, Austria, the teams of four had to cover a 50 km and 3,000 vertical metres course in a relay race against the clock and each other. Each team comprised a mountain runner, paraglider pilot, kayaker and [...]

The smallest (18 m2) Triton has now been certified EN D / LTF 2-3, taking all-up weights of 70 – 90 kg. In Nova’s words, “Now also lightweight pilots have access to a well-tempered, high-performance wing”. www.xcmag.com/news/2009/01/2167/ www.nova-wings.com/english/products/triton.html

The Ynovar team and Clube Araxaense de Vôo Livre (CAVL) invite pilots to the Araxá Open in Brazil. The event, which also serves as the second leg of the Brazilian Nationals, takes place from 3 – 9 October 2009, just before the XC Open World series event the following week. Organisers say Araxa is a [...]

SAHPA and the XC Africa Team would like to invite all pilots to join them at the SA Winelands Paragliding Open (FAI cat. II) to be held from 13 – 19 December 2009 near Porterville, an hour and a half’s drive from Cape Town, South Africa, where conditions are usually fantastic for fast technical tasks, [...]

Britain’s Graham Steel literally flew cross country on 22 August when he flew 175 km across southern England. After taking off from a tow site in the west of the country he flew to the Wash on England’s north east coast at an average speed of 44 km/h. His flight put him at the top [...]

Cyril Planton has achieved a first in the acro world, becoming the French acro champion in both solo and syncro, flying a Sol Supersonic. Four solo and two syncro rounds were flown at Doussard over the weekend 29 – 30 August, with windy conditions on the Saturday. The results table looks like this: Solo: 1. [...]

Woody Valley have unveiled their new logo, which will soon be appearing on their products and adverts. www.woodyvalley.com

Sol are bringing out two new harnesses, the Spring and Spring Airbag, aimed at leisure pilots seeking comfort and all mod-cons. A high level of passive security is ensured thanks to 18 cm foam back protection and the side protectors for both versions, and an airbag on the version so-named. The under-seat reserve pouch has [...]

Nova’s new low-end LTF 1-2 / EN B wing, the Ion, is ready to take over from the Rookie in the Austrian manufacturer’s lineup, and is described by Nova as “an ideal paraglider for recreational pilots and first XC flights”. The company say the Ion has “inherited the Rookie’s important qualities, of suitability for instruction, [...]

7 September 2009 saw the final day of the Piedrahita round of the XC Open World series, completing not only this week of competition, but the 2009 series. Paul Tomassi (CH, Gin) was the winner, with Christine Miller (DE, Icaro) the top female. The series saw only one task held in Manilla, but then six [...]