When you do a zen landing, the nose should stall and the tips keep flying.
As you lose speed, that becomes more accetuated.
Why is it that you don't whack? читать полностью

New gliders from Gradient, Swing and Advance added as well as instuments from FlyTec and Flymaster and harness from Independence.  You can see full list of products here.

If you used those products please rate them or leave reviews so that others can make better choice taking your experiences into account. читать полностью

Полеты возле Санкт-Петербурга 7го марта 2012.
читать полностью

Nicole McLearn published few reports in her blog on spring paragliding in Canada – very nice pics! читать полностью

"Remember that the race isn’t a 10-15min sprint so take your time and think about what your doing, what you need to do and how you are going to do it. I have seen many top pilots bomb out literally meters away from goal as a result of rushing when they didn’t need to and watch as the followers flying slower gliders pass over head and land in goal." – Stan Radzikowski is sharing some basic competitions tips and advices. More in his blog.

Photo from paraglidingworldcup.org

Paragliding World Cup 2012 finished in Castelo, Brazil. It was 3rd task today – 60km race to goal and prizegiving ceremony in the evening.
Task was won by Yann Martail (2010 World Cup Champion) from France and his is also cup winner this time!
Second place in the task was Peter Neuenschwander(2011 World Cup Champion) from Switzerland but overall second place belongs to the Swiss Michael Sigel.
Third place in the task is Andreas Malecki from Germany and 3rd overall place is Carlos Cordido from Venezuela.

France is once again #1 in country results.

Official results page

Yesterday was Task #2 of Paragliding World Cup in Castelo, Brazil. It was 72km race to goal. 

"Today we had really nice weather and forming cumulus clouds on our way to the takeoff. We set a 81km task zig-zag task around Castelo. The airstart was at 12:30 and the conditions were almost perfect with strong thermals, but also with a strong north wind. Because of the wind, a lot of pilots got low on their way the first and the second (Castelo) turnpoint. But the thermals were working well and most of the pilots could get up again and the cloudbase was 2000m agl. After Castelo pilots separated to get to the third turnpoint in the west. I went more to the mountains and was honoured with strong thermals and a fantastic view. The race was really fast until the last turnpoint. After this one, the goal was against the wind and many pilots got too low." – reporting Michael Sigel in Gin Team blog

Task was won by Stefan Wyss from Switzerland with 03:00:56 time. German Andreas Malecki was second with 03:04:17 time and Yann Martail from France is third with 03:05:09.
Russian Marina Olexina is first among women with 03:57:11 time. Richard Pethigal from Brazil is overall leader so far.

Day 6 today was cancelled due to the rain.
 

To collect and share common knowledge Tim is asking in his blog what rules do you set and follow when you do paragliding to increase your safety?

"To start the ball rolling, here are some of my own self-imposed rules:

• First time I fly a site, always top-to-bottom, that way I can gauge better how much glide I need.
• Don't top land at Curium unless conditions are quite benign.
• Always take my time setting up. This way I won't miss anything.
• Always check my reserve before launch to make sure all pins are in place etc.
• Never fly alone. This means I always make sure someone is with me, either on the ground or flying with me.
• If the wind feels strong - it probably is. Don't bother.

Photo from the Gin team blog.

After so many days of bad weather it was finally good day and Task #1 was set – 50km triangle race to goal.
Raul Penso Henandez from Venezuela was first with 02:45:35 time, brazilian Richard Pethigal is second with 02:53:28 time and Jean-marc Caron from France is third with 03:21:38.
First three places in women category were won by Russians today: Svetlana Piskareva first, Darya Krasnova second and Marina Olexina third.
 

Photo from paraglidingworldcup.org

Looks like weather gods are not favoring Paragliding World Cup 2012 in Castelo, Brazil.
In the morning weather looked good and promising so everyone jumped into trucks and went to the takeoff but soon after weather changed and it started raining again so task was cancelled.
Few pilots were still free flying today.

It is raining in Castelo, Brazil so second day of paragliding world cup was cancelled. 
So instead of flying everyone went to see Gruta do Limoeiro – spectacular cave in Castelo region. In the evening there are plans to watch 461km paragliding world record in the local cinema.

Photo by Matjaz Klemencic. Race winners, left to right: Christian Zehetmair, Christian Chiech, Tom Weissenberger.

3rd Aeros Hang gliding Winter Race just finished in Slovenia and was sponsored by world class hang glider manufacturer Aeros from Ukraine.

It was good race with 3 tasks. Christian Chiech from Italy took the first place, Tom Weissenberger from Switzerland was second and Christian Zehetmair from Germany is third.

For more information about the race:

• Official race blog

• Official race website with results

• Matjaz Klemencic and Jochen Zeischka had daily reports in their blogs.

Paragliding World Cup 2012 started in Castelo, Brazil on 17th of March and will continue till 24th.
It was ment to be first task today but it was cancelled due to the rainy weather to the great relief of the pilots who had opening celebration and drinks yesterday :-)
So instead of flying there is a trip to the waterfalls organised for today.

You can follow latest news from the event here at Aviacamp where we will be aggregating daily summary. Also you can find more news in following sources:

• Official competition website

• PWC website

• Swiss League reports (in English)

• Philippe Broers youtube channel with daily videos from the event

If you have any news from the event, photos or other sources of information please post them on the website, or as comments or via email to news@aviacamp.com

Photo from sharemyjoys.wordpress.com

Just came across one very interesting blog of chap who lives in Australia and flying his paraglider in a beautiful mountains of New Zealand. Every his post is a little adventure that is always interesting to read so I would definitely recommend to follow his blog!

Pat Dower recently published description of 5 distintc methods for thermalling in his blog, well worth to read for anyone wishing to fly XC.

"The ability to climb in thermals is the core skill for every pilot wishing to fly XC. For top level pilots, climbing fast in all situations will win races and break records. Climbing out in difficult conditions sorts the wheat from the chaff and adjusting your techniques for the conditions you face can be the difference between success and failure."