Inspired, a new film...
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Our sport has grown and developed in ways that no one could have imagined just a few years ago. Everything that we love about free flight has evolved from the same roots, yet now we have the opportunity to engage in it through so many different avenues. ‘Inspired’ brings us into the lives of a few pilots...
Playing with wings
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Technique : playing on the ground with Jean Baptiste Chandelier
Technique : ‘Touch’ for everyone
Technique : weight shift towards or away from the slope ?
Preparation : clipping in facing the wing
Flying techniques: steering using the rear risers
Take off techniques: cobra inflation
Mad Mike Küng: the pioneer of rear riser steering
News: Niviuk Roller
News: Ozone Fazer 3
Travel: The Danish Dune
Flying techniques: near the ground on a paramotor
Portfolio: Axel Jamgotchian
Playing perfectly: don’t try this at home
Test paraglider: Independence Geronimo 2
Test paraglider: Ground handling wings, Icaro Furia/Kiwi
Test paraglider motor: Apco Lift EZ
Test paramotor: Bidalot Eole 135
And of course you can also read it on one of our exclusive applications: Free Aero Magazine
Coupe Icare 2016
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At the end of September the Coupe Icare 2016 was, as always, an amazing spectacle and the biggest showcase of free flying and paramotoring in the world.
On the paragliding side, the new technology race is clearly on with the ever present SharkNose, or similar, as well as others like mini ribs right down to the EN As.
The EN B category is more and more sought after, the manufacturers offering wings which are very honed and with very high performance. The Nova Phantom, an EN B with 99 cells and at the modest price of 6500€, is an extreme example. We visited most of the stands.
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And of course you can also read it on one of our exclusive applications: Free Aero Magazine
Win a paraglider
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Win with the magazine free.aero:
1 Ozone Mojo paraglider, size M, colour red
19 Sleipnier Vaavud Wind Meters
The grand draw will take place on the 31st of October.
Making-of
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Making a paraglider
- The office staff and the teams
- Digital design
- Raw materials: fabrics
- Raw materials: maillons
- Raw materials: lines
- The parts of a paraglider wing
- Manufacture
- paramotor manufacturers
Different formats available, as always for free:
2016, a new season
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News
Portfolio
Omikron-Advance gets into accro
Grounded thanks to the buckles
Flight Technics
Controlling with your feet
Tests
Gin Carrera+
BGD Cure
Swing Mito - Myth or magic?
Aircross - Double U
Reports
The right mix for a paramotor
Stand up flying on a drone
SMAAP simulator
DHV flying ban for many harnesses
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The DHV have grounded a large number of harnesses with chest straps using automatic T-lock and Click-lock buckles (HSi10) made by the company, Finsterwalder Charly. This concerns numerous harnesses made by Advance, Ava-Sports, Apco, Finsterwalder & Charly, Karpofly, Sky Paragliders, Skytrekking, Sol and Woody Valley, as well as some harnesses used for paramotoring.
The DHV have issued a Safety Notice, legally binding in Germany, to stop using harnesses thus equipped, at the latest, four years after their production or, to be more precise, since the final control when they left the factory. The owners of such harnesses are asked to contact the manufacturer.
According to information received by the editor of free.aero, this was, no doubt, triggered by the fatal accident involving a Polish pilot at the beginning of May in addition to another incident during a SAT. In both cases, the automatic Click-lock buckles apparently opened under load. The T-locks haven’t been involved in an incident yet but their design is identical to the Click-locks.
The problem, according to the DHV, is the repetitive loading on these buckles or, more precisely, the cycles of diagonal load/unload which can, over a long time, wear out this piece of equipment. As a consequence, opening unexpectedly when loaded diagonally, can’t be ruled out.
This only applies to the chest buckles, which are loaded and unloaded, unlike the buckles on the thigh straps which have hardly any pressure on them in flight. For buckles which are subjected to static, non cyclical load, the manufacturer has specified a 10 year life (the normal length of time in Germany).
We think (and special care should be taken with this information which isn’t in the DHV statement), that the risk could in particular concern harnesses with ‘Get-Up’ type fastenings with two waist buckles. In flight they are regularly loaded and then unloaded. If one of them releases, there is a high risk of falling out.
An English version of the DHV’s statement can be read here:
http://www.dhv.de/db1/source/technicdatareportnotes.php?lang=en&item=245
Special Instruments
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What’s the point?
The flight recorder
GSM live tracking
Live tracking by satellite Spot, Delorme inReach SE, Explorer, YBTracking YB3
Measuring the wind
Air speed probes: true speed
Instruments: the new generation
Gyro-vario: new sensors and algorithms AHRS
Tests:
XC-Tracer, Flytec Sensbox & Connect & Element, Compass C-Pilot Evo & Easy Pilot & XC-Pilot, Skytraxx 2.0 & 3.0, ASI Flynet XC1, Syride SysNav V3, Flymaster Live SD, Naviter Oudie 3+ & 4, Reversale VGP, Ascent H1 update, Digifly, GPSBip, Skybean Skydrop, Fly Electonics Motor Monitor
Free.aero is becoming more international by the day!
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In response to popular demand, we will be publishing some of our articles in other languages. These extra issues add to our portfolio of regular editions in English, French, German and Italian.
We’ve just published the following:
- Stalls in Dutch
- Asymmetric collapses in Turkish
- Weather in Polish
- Bir in Polish
http://en.free.aero/index.php/free-aero-other-languages
Happy reading and safe thermalling to all our new readers in these countries.
Trends 2016
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PORTFOLIO: Horacio Llorens - Polar Paramotoring
News paragliding World Cup
Las Candelas
TRENDS:
Trends: the weight of wings
Stretch out! (Trends aspect ratio)
Leading edge rods: a new trend from yesterday, evident today
Stubai Cup
The Swan project
TESTS:
Niviuk Ikuma 23, 25
Skywalk Cayenne 5 S, XS
Niviuk Kougar 2
Ozone Roadster 2
Ozone Viper 3
Dudek Snake versus snake XX
The exhibitors at the 2016 Thermik-messe trade show
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