I did a flight in the alps when there was no snow. I took off from a steep hillside with my skis on, then the "instructor" shouted at me to turn. The further I flew the less I could hear, but I did remember him say, you will go where you are looking. I did. I landed on my skis just in front of a cafe terrace full of sunbathers. Yup, ploughed through the lot of them scattering tables, chairs, drinks and people. I really milked the "wow, did you jump out of a plane? Are you on a secret mission?" Got home and became a fully qualified paraglider pilot....
Swim? He’s got 200kg of metal and fuel strapped to his back. I think the term you’re looking for is “sink without trace”
A riding pal of mine on the old visordown forum used to do this and bought one. I went to watch him one day with an idea that if it was fun I might get one too……he spent all day in and out of hedges. I decided it wasn’t for me.
That did occur to me. I wondered if there was a Nitrogen fired type buoyancy device fitted. Bad day at the office if that fails!!
Pedant alert. As someone who flew hang-gliders for 10 years I do know this stuff. That video was of an ultralight aircraft - i.e. a low-weight, fixed-wing aircraft that suffered engine failure with inadequate height to escape the inevitable 'landing'. He was lucky to end up in those trees & alive. Also - cliffs and microlights - no. Hills and cliffs are hang- or para-glider territory. Microlights are hang-gliders with an engine, so don't 'plummet' when there's an engine failure, they glide quite well especially as a lot of pilots have come from a hang-gliding background so they know what to do to maximise glide for safety. In 10 years of hang- & paragliding the worst injury I had was a twisted an ankle; carrying my glider to a launch site. I see road motorcycling as far more dangerous! /End pedant
Very true. The BHPA take training and certification of pilots, conduct and equipment very seriously. I did the SIV (simulation d'incidents en vol) course on lake Annecy, France. Saw a guy fly straight into HV cables, left hanging, then fell. He had bought his gear that morning, kitted up, launched and straight to french A&E.
There's always been a thing about freedom versus regulation in hang/para gliding and the BHPA have, as you say, done a great job at dealing with the dichotomy. The influx of easy-access paragliding caused a lot of issues in the early days (it's a lot easier to get flying on a paraglider) but that was sorted as soon as it caused issues in the UK, but not everywhere. Fortunately there's a strong 'Darwin-level' filter for this sort of flying...
Stunning view of the Lake with the Alps in the background and reflected in the Lake, stopped off there a far few times on the way to Snowboarding.
When I showed that to my kids last year, they correctly pointed out that the bike would have been kicked into a million pieces and I would have thrown my helmet so far it probably would have gone into low earth orbit.
Oh no, I would have definitely blamed myself but punching yourself in the face in public tends to look like a psychotic episode and often ends up with the person being sectioned.
