Robbie Whittall is very well know in paragliding circles, and has been a world champion and record holder. In this short video essay, he describes what makes him love powered paragliding. The visuals are lovely, and I agree with the sentiments so wholeheartedly that I have to share it. Enjoy.
Fly alongside Rob Whittall as he soars above New Zealand’s West Coast with his Paramotor, in search of a little soul satisfaction. White Cloud Productions NZ joined forces with Rob to capture stunning images of Raglan and the surrounding area…presenting Surreal Perspectives.
Yesterday, though the forecast was very strong, when I had a look at the real time wind strengths at the airport and Muizenberg, I suspected that it would be flyable at Wolfgat (AKA Macassar). I headed down there after alerting the lists, and was very pleasantly surprised to have Earl Valentine call me and come to join me. It was quite special to have Earl along, as the last time he properly flew his glider was the day we were flying together at Dasklip, and he crashed with spinal injuries requiring a rescue, surgery and rehab. We arrived to find it too strong (40-45km/h on the traditional launch; 38km/h at the beach), and so I took the dog for a walk and grabbed a nearby geocache. After some intense parawaiting and talking rubbish (as we do), the wind began to drop. By 17h15 it was 28km/h and very steady on the dunes, and 18km/h on the beach, so I volunteered to launch the Gradient Avax XC3 from the beach, walk it up the dune and see how things felt. I was immediately flying, and soon joined by Earl on his Sol Synergy.
One of the Cape’s least appreciated but most consistent winter flying sites sits above the up-market coastal ‘suburb’ of Llandudno, on the western seaboard. Launch is from the slopes of Little Lion’s Head, and offers beautiful soaring and some interesting XC technical opportunities – I’ve flown 20km in either direction, which is a fun challenge. It’s a place to go soar with the laminar per-frontal nor’westerly, smell the damp fynbos, and play with the orographic clouds. Despite its raw beauty, most pilots shun Llandudno for the more convenient Signal Hill locked in the city, and so I’ve been campaigning for years to get more pilots to fly here. My mate and fellow wanderer put together this great little video showing what Llandudno can deliver. Enjoy 🙂
Recently I was at the Red Cross Air Mercy Service hangars at Cape Town International Airport to work on a pilot study (pun intended) for my master’s research project. I was lucky to catch (and use) the beautiful Agusta 109. Here are a couple of hasty snaps:
…in an initiative/competition run by Garmin. They are looking for stories of how people “Live Beyond” in various categories – outdoor, fitness, automotive, marine and aviation. I’ve entered our Cape Point paramotor flight in the aviation category, and now need votes. Click here to visit and vote for my entry at LiveBeyond.co.za
While you’re at it, why not add your own?
WildMedic on PPG over Cape Point - Photo copyright Ant Allen www.aerialphoto.co.za
To date, only two people had ever done it: a powered paraglider flight around Cape Point, the “Fairest Cape of them all”, the Cape of Good Hope: the Cape of Storms. Today, that number was doubled. The Flying Ant (one of the original two) escorted Neil and I in a gentle, cold but perfectly smooth north-westernly on the flight down the peninsula to the very south-western tip of Africa. It’s a long way – the entire tip forms Cape Point National Park, meaning we have to launch north of the boundary and then fly at least 2500ft and offshore all the way – and the weather has to be perfect, but the incredible sights make it all worthwhile. A detailed story and many more photographs to follow, but here are some to whet your appetite:
It’s been quite a while since the flying that generated this footage, but I finally set aside a rainy Saturday and cut together a rough montage. The story can be found in the blog archive, so I won’t repeat it here. In essence: some magic crack-of-doom flying in the middle of summer, when the sun rises early enough for me to get a flip in before I have to be at the hospital. Not many better ways to start the day. Watch it on high quality if you can or come round and see it in 1080p HD at my place over a cup of coffee!
I’ve uploaded another two talks onto the ‘Presentations’ page. These are lectures I gave recently as part of the ILS Aviation Health Care Practitioner’s course at the Red Cross Air Mercy Service here in Cape Town. The should be considered introductory, and there is a lot of (verbal) content not in the presentations, but the framework may be of interest. I’m getting more familiar with using Prezi and liking it more every time. Click the arrows to advance or rewind through my sequence. FYI – You can click, drag and zoom freely at any time, and return to the sequence by clicking on the arrows again. Enjoy!
I went on a lovely post-call aerial meander today. While I caught up on sleep during the morning the wind turned light north-west; cold sea air began to replace the more boisterous south-easter and most of the PPG fraternity were congregated at Dolphin Beach. I joined the crowd around three o’clock and was airborne shortly thereafter with a vague plan to join a group flying up to Melkbosstrand along the coast. Unfortunately, a stubborn pressure-knot in my lines forced a quick circuit back to the field to sort it out, so I ended up chasing after them on full bar and open trims, idly watching the surfers below. By the time I caught up they had passed Big Bay and encountered a bank of sea fog just making landfall. The group turned back.
Today’s flight path
My natural wanderlust extends to airborne endeavours, and I knew that I’d be frustrated flying around Dolphin Beach until the mist arrived there and shut things down completely, so I decided to fly over to Blouberg Hill and survey the options from there. The hill peaks at about 700ft and features some old military ramparts, which are now being converted into nature reserve accommodation. I used some ridge lift on the NW side for a free ride to the top and examined the options. The sea fog looked as if it was thinning out to the north, and experience has taught me that while the sun shines if rarely makes much progress inland. I’d already discovered (to my surprise) that there was very little turbulence over the hill. I decided to venture a little further into the farmlands, make a big loop to which ever side felt good, and try my luck later with the fog at the beach – there are always plenty of landing options elsewhere for a PPG.
