Brazilian Richard Pethigal (Swing Stratus WRC) has won the first round of the 2010 XCOpen series paragliding competition which took place in Araxa, Brazil, from 10 – 17 October. Sebastien Bochet (FR, UP Edge) was second and Washingtom Peruchi (BR, Macpara Magus 6) third. Natalia Bonilla (US) was top woman; Gustavo de Oliviera (BR) won [...]

Cross Country photographer Fredrik Gustafsson told us about this Merino wool base layer from Norwegian company, Aclima, which he describes as “really superb for paragliding”, so we thought we should spread the word: Made of 100% Merino wool which has been ‘super-washed’ to further straighten the fibres, the manufacturer says it can be worn against [...]

Flight Culture is once again running a trip to the central Sierras of Argentina, from 28 February – 13 March 2010. Flight Culture’s John Welch says, “This trip has always seen pilots achieving new personal best distances. It will suit pilots of all levels as it will be supported by an instructor”. If you’d like [...]

Paraglider manufacturer, Nova, have just announced that 44 year old Swiss pilot Urs Haari is their Pilot of the Year 2009. Flying a Nova mentor (EN B), Urs managed to win the worldwide ranking of XContest.org 2009 (which is the XC online contest with the highest number of participants) in both the standard and sport [...]

Team Spirit Hang gliding and Paragliding have been offering flying tours and glider rentals in Punta Santiago, Puerto Rico, since 1997. They can now also offer guest house accommodation in their ‘Barefoot Travelers Rooms’. Situated right next to a huge nature reserve, on a 3 mile stretch of beach where kayaking trips, surfing and kitesurfing [...]

South Africa’s Flying Unlimited have created a wireless PTT for hang glider, paraglider and paramotor pilots. Originally developed for their own needs for formation flying, it will be appreciated by those who like the idea of communication without dropping the brake lines, and of not having the pallaver of feeding wires down sleeves and into [...]

The Parahawking team based in Pokhara, Nepal, are pleased to welcome two new members: The first is Venezuelan/Canadian pilot Claudio Mota. Claudio will be taking over from Brad Sander as one of the Parahawking tandem pilots. Scott Mason says, ” Claudio has been a regular visitor to Pokhara and has been an avid supporter of [...]

Himalayan Raptor Rescue is a small, privately run organisation dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of Nepal’s birds of prey. The project now has it’s own dedicated website. Parahawking’s Scott Mason tells us, “It’s still a bit of a work in progress but the pages are filing with lots of information about the birds [...]

Larry Bunner, Owen Morse and Terry Presley have flown their Wills Wing T2C hang gliders into the record books this summer. Larry Bunner flew his T2C 197 miles in Pennsylvania  on 7 July, setting a site, state, and regional record. He flew without retrieve and relied on the support of his wife Sue for a [...]

Rick Duncan, director of Airborne, has won Australia’s Canungra Classic on the new Rev 13.5; Jonny Durand took second place and Rohan Holtkamp third, also on Airborne’s Rev 13.5. Rick was world champion in 1988 but “doesn’t fly as much as he used to these days” and had very little practice prior to the comp, [...]

Manilla’s Godfrey Wennes has sent us this update on how the forthcoming flying season is looking in Australia: Most of central eastern Australia (north of Forbes and all the way into Queensland) is in severe drought again and a long hot summer is anticipated by all forecasting models for this area. Interestingly the southern areas [...]

Austrian paraglider manufacturer Nova have again analysed their brand’s popularity and success in the online paragliding competitions and contests, and are pleased to have once again had a successful season. They looked at XContest, DHV XC and Onlinecontest.org. Taking Xcontest, the comp with the highest number of participants, they were delighted to have achieved 11 [...]

Apco’s Anatoly Cohn wrote to us with the sad news that Peter Vascoyvch has lost his fight with cancer: “My friend the young, talented paraglider designer – Peter Vascoyvch – member of Aeros Team lost his brave battle against cancer. I had the priviledge to work with Peter in the past and highly admired his [...]

With the season about to really get underway, Swing’s new speed riding paraglider, the Spitfire, will be ready to replace the Savage in December. It will be made in five sizes: 9, 11, 13, 15, and a 7, reserved for Swing Speed Team members only. Manuel Croci heads up the Swing speed riding development team, [...]

Swing are very proud of their new LTF 2 sporty intermediate paraglider, the Astral 6, which they say is the first glider in its category with an aspect ratio of 6.4. Swing have incorportated their High Arc Technology (HAT) giving strong canopy curvature in tandem with a high aspect ratio, into a serial glider for [...]

Windtech have released a new entry-level EN A wing, the Impulse. Little sister to the Zephyr, the Impulse borrows some of its sibling’s design features: 3 risers, very few lines and a high arch, but Windtech say they have impoved the flight behavior over its predecessors, making it faster and more solid in turbulent air. [...]

The Zenith is Windtech’s new EN C, sport intermediate paraglider, described by the company as their ‘Royal Vessel’. It replaces the Tecno, and is aimed at ‘ambitious XC pilots searching for glide and speed without compromising safety’, Windtech say they believe the Zenith is the most cutting edge cross country sport wing on the market, [...]

Two competitions are set to take place in the Caracas area of Venezuela over the coming months: The Placivel Open, organised by the Soaring Paragliding Center (www.soaring.com.ve, website downat the time of posting), runs from 19 – 22 December. The Andes Open is organised by the Venezuelan paragliding Association, AMVA, and runs from 3 – [...]

Czech manufacturer Gradient now provide a small rucksack, accommodating up to 110 litres, similar in design to their L and XL ‘sacks. Gradient say it is ideal for pilots with lightweight equipment (such as the Montana) or freestyle wings (like the Aspen2 Freestyle or Seven) or with small wings. www.gradient.cx

Bob Drury meets Gábor Kézi and Pál Takáts to talk about life, acro and their new film Adrenaline and Turbulence If you haven’t come across the names Gábor Kézi (27) and Pál Takáts (23) then you clearly haven’t been reading the acro news of this magazine or any other. From humble beginnings the duo have [...]