On Saturday 21st February 2009 I went to Fumay with Jean-Yves and Jean. Flying conditions were also good on sites at the sea-side in north of France and the soaring dune of Zoutelande in The Netherlands. As for soaring at the sea-side, that day we should had to wait until the evening to get interesting windforce, so we decided to go to Fumay. The wind here was also very weak but we didn't mind about that. It's good to practice starts and landings in calm weather conditions in the beginning of the new flying season. In the afternoon we have met a local pilot (Jean-Luc) who's been cleaning up the start at Revin the same morning. I don't know if he was involved but the Fumay start has also been cleaned not so long ago. So no obstacles and no branches at this starting place. Look for yourself, enjoy the pictures.
On Sunday 8 Februari 2009 I went to Zoutelande in the Netherlands for some wintersoaring. Conditions in the morning were quite excellent, but temperatures were freezing. While some early birds were already flying, most of us were still doubting if it would be worthwhile making the trip to the coast. Around noon, as the wind blowed harder and forced the wings to land, some delta pilots showed up and were dancing on invisible winds together with the glorious seagulls. Together with Patrick and Bart we arrived at 13:00 in Zoutelande, some good flying already in the morning (isn't it Hans?) and it looks like the weathergods aren't happy to see us. Half an hour later we greet Jean-Yves, Steph and Jean and a whole bunch of colleague Pickupclub-members Seppe, Steven, Carl, Ronny, Frank, Bart and new member Danny... I bet I have forgotten to mention some other members, sorry for that and thank you for being there, this was a great gathering! Winds were blowing hard, more than 40km/h and no possibility for taking-off. Grey clouds approaching the coast, they soon delivered some strong wind and melting snow, most of us flee in the direction of the beachrestaurant "De Zeeuwse Riviera". Thank you for giving us the chance to take a pauze in the warmth, time to chat with one another, drink a "Belgian" beer and ask the wind to take away the bad weather from the seaside. Prayers were answered around 16:00, some impatient ones were already taking-off from the beach. Others were taking their bags to the official start on top of the dune. Clouds break and behind these fluffy curtains blue sky still exists, sun finally showed up. One by one taking-off, more and more sunbathing wings swoop above Zoutelande-beach. Around 20 wings were airborne. Windforce is decreasing and goes under 30km/h, Bart is giving a helping hand at most starts on the dune, thanks for your help Bart. Most impressive and divergent colored airballet, earth turned, sun disappeared behind the horizon, full moon showing up behind the dunes, this was a day full of wonders. Enjoy the pictures.
It has been 2 months that theres been no
flying with the wing.Weatherconditions
were not ideal for flying on the Belgian sites, neither on the sites over the
border.Except a day or two of groundhandling
and a reserve-throwing-exercise, the wing has been kept folded in the bag,
waiting for real flights.
Then, all of a sudden, it was last week
that Ive got this question from a colleague at work.He told me about his plan to organize a
cyclo-cross race in his hometown, Loonbeek.He wondered about the Free Tibet-paraglider flying nearby, as an
additional attraction during the race.As there are no big hills in the area and that thermals at this period
of the year hardly develop, I
said that this only would be possible if someone would fly the wing with a
paramotor.The idea was born and I found
someone who could borrow us a paramotor.As Jean-Yves has some paramotor-experience he was ready to fly with it.
On Sundaymorning we had some slight
battery-problems but we finally managed to get the wing into the air.As the wing took-off late in the morning,
there was already some wind blowing. Because of this, the bumpy flight only
took about 20 minutes with afterwards a safe landing.In any case the action was a great success. I would like to thank Jacques for bringing up the idea, Olivier from Easy
Flying for using the paramotor, Jean-Yves for flying, Patrick for the pictures
and Lena for supporting.Enjoy the snowy pictures below.
On Octobre 30th I went for a long week-end to Marlens in France, it is situated not far from the Lake Annecy. I stayed at the Auberge des Aravis, formerly known as Espace Marlens Parapente. The gîte has a big landingfield next-door. Due to bad weather conditions on the first day, it wasn't ideal for any flying activities (quite normal for this time of the year, see first picture). But on Friday 31st of Octobre the conditions were much better than the day before and as a result I made 3 flights from the Col de l'Epine above Marlens. On that day I also met a dozen of sympathetic paragliders from the north of France, the 'Champagne Vol Libre'-club. On Novembre 1st, All Saints Day, the weather was delightful. For the first flight of the day on the Col de l'Epine I meet again the same amiable club from the north of France. At the landing field we meet Patrick Berod, the 2001 Paragliding World Cup Champion. He's authorised dealer of Gin- and U-Turn gliders and he tells us that conditions are also good at some other interesting spots in the area. We decide to leave Marlens and drive in the direction of Saint Jean De La Porte where we will find the MontLambert. On this site resides the club of 'Les Indiens de Montlambair', they have a magnificent totem on their startingfield and the view on the valley is sensational. We meet the members of the club while they are cleaning up their startingfield. Conditions are quiet good, we let the Indians continue their good work and take off into the air. This site is most interesting and needs another visit in better conditions, we'll see how it flies in Springtime! After landing and packing all our gear we decide to leave the area and head for Chamoux Sur Gelon. Here's another flying site with a difference in altitude of almost 1000m. Conditions are also good here, wind direction is okay and we take off for a long flight down. You can't see the landingfield from the startingfield because you must fly out of a small valley first. The landingfield is close to the village of Chamoux and can be found easily. When flying out of the small valley you have a fascinating and wide view of the area. This is our last flight of the day and we are invited for dinner at the gîte of the 'Champagne Vol Libre'-club. The French hospitality and warm-heartedness of these guys is natural and spontaneous. Paragliding brings people together, for sure! On Sunday the weather is still favourable and as it is our last day, we go up early to the startingfield of Marlens. The weather is sunny and stable, we fly a lot, I'm practising some steering manoevres and the day ends with a big banana on my face. We take leave of the club 'Champagne Vol Libre', we will see them again some day. Thank you Sylvain, Davye, Bibsi, Patrick Berod, the Club Champagne Vol Libre and the Indians of Montlambair for this unforgettable week-end. (link to Youtube-movie at the end of the picture-list)
In the weekend of Octobre 19th I went with Lena and Jean-Yves to the Belgian flying site of Coo. Conditions were good and some other gliders were already in the air when we arrived. We managed to stay up in the air for a while, conditions were a bit thermal and for a while soaring was possible too. Enjoy the pictures.
On Octobre 3rd 2008 I went - together with Sébastien - to the Annecy
lake in France for a steering & incident course with K2-parapente.
The main goal of this course is how to counter possible
flight-incidents and learn specific steering competences. The course
was a great succes thanks to the professional assistance of
K2-personnel Maxence & Christophe Waller. This was the first
course for me and there is much more to learn, but next year we'll be
back for other exercises. Thank you Maxence & Christophe. Thank
you Sébastien for inviting me to this course.
On September 6th 2008 I went to Dune du Pyla - near Arcachon - together with Christine, Jean-Yves, Jean, Guido and Patrick. The weather at that time of the year wasn't ideal, sometimes too much wind, sometimes only a weak wind. But the sun showed up almost the whole week. We had some days with nice temperatures around the 25C°. Ideal for an evening swim in the sea or to relax body and mind at the beach. When the earth turned at the end of the day, before the shade turned into darkness, the mirroring sun spreaded magic colours in the sky and the sea. We could fly half of the time during our stay there and we have trained a bit our steering and groundcontrolling techniques. It's the ideal spot to improve your skills. When the weather was improving, more and more paragliders came out of nowhere to richly colour the dune. This spot is a magical place, we will cherish the memories it gave us and it's for sure, we'll be back. Please find below some sweet pictures of Dune du Pyla.
When the Olympic games started on 08-08-08 I made a flight over the Belgian border in Fumay (France) That flight is dedicated to the young Panchen Lama and his parents who were arrested in 1995. They have never been seen again since then. Where are they? (click on picture to see movie)
On Thursday 17 July I went to the Atomium in Brussels. As it was the 50th Anniversary of the Expo'58 and also the Atomium's birthday, Belventura installed a death-ride from the top of the Atomium. As this installation stayed only for a few days and it will probably never be installed again afterwards, I took my chance. After queuing for about an hour, Jean-Yves and I went to the top of the construction which is about 100 meters high. Of course I brought my small Tibetan flag. After 20 seconds the ride was over, but what a rush! Thank you Belventura and thank you Françoise and Patrick for the pictures.
On the 7th June I went together with Bart, Patrick, Seb, Danny and
Carl, to Mieussy in France. We hired the cosy Gite du Bois Riant for
one week. You can find the gite on your way up from Mieussy to
Sommand. Thanks to our well experienced and local paragliding-guide
Joël, we discovered several flying sites in the area. We have been to
Samoëns, Thonon Les Bains, Agy Cluses, Salève and where it all started
30 years ago, Mieussy. We have made a beautiful flight at Salève
where some of us tasted some small thermal activity. From the
Pertuiset in Mieussy Joël and Seb made a transition to Samoëns. Below
you will find some pictures from that week. Due to bad weather, we
didn't manage to fly often that week. But we are happy that we had the
chance to fly. Special thanks to Joël for his guidance and support.
Last monday 12th May 2008, I went to Volmerange-Les-Mines. It is situated just over the Luxemburg border in France and for flying here you need an eastern wind. Like the Zoutelande-dune, this site is very interesting for soaring. Arriving in the afternoon I first observed the other pilots at the start and before unpacking my gear I waited for calmer conditions. It was almost 18:00 when I took off for a flight that lasted 70 minutes. Instead of making a tricky toplanding I landed on the landing field some 150m below.
During the long weekend from 1st May I went with Guido to the Vosges in France. Springtime is very delicate for flying because of the extreme temperature differences between night and day, which causes strong flying conditions. Also man must be aware that some of us (paragliding pilots) didn't flew very much or absolutely not during wintertime. On our arrival I made a very short evening flight. On Fridaymorning we had both first a bumpy flight. On our second flight in the late afternoon, we didn't manage to get to the landing field, you can say that we saw the top of the trees very close... On Saturday we met the local pilots from GrandVol and the newbies from their school. Conditions were better that day and more than one pilot managed to make a small cross in the valley or reached maximum altitude (1350m). Our flights lasted longer and good thermals brought us above our starting point. That day we made 4 flights. I selected some pictures, scroll down to see them.
Last Friday 28th March, the Free Tibet-paraglider made a flight in the Swiss airspace of Crans Montana. All week long the weather conditions were too bad for flying, even on Wednesday it was too bad for skiing. On
Friday I finally managed to take off from Bella Lui at 2600m altitude
and thanks to my local guide (thanks Yves!) I landed safely a 1000m
lower on the frozen lake 'Etang Long'. On the attached pictures you
can see the take off at Bella Lui, the Abricot-glider of Yves and the
Free Tibet-glider.
Made some groundhandling a few kilometers from home. I found a nice open space where groundhandling is possible in every wind direction. I convinced Bart 'AWF' & Patrick 'PPD' to come over and they fully approved the new groundhandling-area. Watch the pictures on next link and decide for yourself:
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