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Past Blog Posts
The X-Pyr Roadtrip begins soon!
Provisional Planned Dates: XC Guiding and Tandem flights available at all locations except period of X-Pyr race. If you see me in your area feel free to flag me down and have a chat. You can reach me on; mob: +44 745 225 7529 email: stan.parakros@gmail.com May: 1st-14th, Romania, XC comps 15th-28th May, Lijak-Tolmin, Slovenia 29th
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X-Pyr 2014 Impressions of an Average Pilot
Above: photo session minutes before the start Lets start at the beginning, in August 2013 i noticed that the X-Pyr pre-registration was opened and i thought to myself that this would be a great way to explore a part of the world that i had always wanted to go to but never had the chance.
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Quick Test : BGD Tala
One of the first things you notice when you take the BGD Tala in your hands is the size and weight of the package, due to the construction method and materials used the glider packs down very compact. Launching with the Tala is effortless even in stronger or cross winds, the glider inflates evenly and progressively
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Road trip begins with Romania & Skytribe XC comp
It was clear roads and not much traffic on the route my Nav choose to direct me on the trip through Slovakia and Hungary towards my destination in the south part of the Carpathian mountain chain, after having a busy day getting formalities sorted and after 6hrs on the road i decided to spend the
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Икс-Пир 2014: Впечатления среднего пилота
Фото вверху: фотосессия за несколько минут до старта. Давайте начнем с начала. В августе 2013 года я узнал что открыта регистрация на Икс-Пир 2014 и сказал себе, что это может быть отличный способ побывать в той части мира, в которую всегда хотел попасть, но не выдавалось шанса. Мой брат недавно начал летать и я подумал,
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Its all about the Glider $afety
Ok here comes the first instalment seeing that its raining cats and dogs here at the moment, Lets begin by saying that I understand how some of these gliders obtain the en-B certification, should some of them really be there is a completely different question. EN certifications mainly deal with how the gliders react to
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Quick Test : Ozone Ozium
A friend arrived in Pokhara and mentioned that he had the Ozium in my size which i could test fly, up until now i would say that by a pretty large margin the Advance Lightness was the most comfortable harness on the market (for those that like a more reclined position). Out of the bag
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Quick Test: Dudek Optic EN-B
Quick Test: Dudek Optic EN-BQucik Dudek Optic Test Untitled Blog Post Nameunfortunately i didn’t have a chance to exploit the Dudek Optic to the full on the day of the test as i was guiding some pilots, but it definitely shows a lot of potential. Hopefully in the coming weeks i get another chance to
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What we do when we are not flying passengers
A Short video of a typical day off tandem flights around Pokhara
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Quick Ozone LM5 Test
Initially i was surprised by the amount of break pressure, its by far more than i have seen on other gliders (i was flying 1kg over max weight). the high break pressure is only present during the first few cm’s of travel until you break the trailing edge, once this occurs the pressure is comparable
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Kyrgyzstan 2013
The initial reason that we chose to go to Kyrgyzstan this year was an invitation from one of the local groups that want to begin promoting the region as a flying destination and their lodge as a base. With the promise of having just under a month of provided backup, transfers and accommodation free we
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Quick Gin Gliders Boomerang X-alps Test
Gin Gliders Boomerang X-alps Here are my impressions of the glider after a 3hr flight in not the best conditions. The glider itself weights in at 3.8kg, which is a slight increase on the Race version LM5 that i tested a few weeks ago (approx. 300 grams more, which comes from standard risers being fitted
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Review: Le BipBip: The little solar vario that will get you there.
Review of: Le BipBip: the solar vario: why would i need one?Review of: Le BipBip: the solar vario: why would i need one? First of all i would like to give a big apology to the guys from Le BipBip who after a quick email session promptly posted a unit out to me for testing,
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EU 2013
Arrival in EU After spending so much time in a country that has everything hand built, without a single straight wall in sight, the roads following the contours of the landscape not to mention the constant ordered chaos on the roads. It is a very strange feeling being on final approach firstly to Dubai
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Over prepared bivy? Here is my list.
For some my gear may seem a bit over the top, but from experience I much prefer to have something and not need it rather than need it and not have it. So here comes the list Harness: kortel kuik 2, previously the Supair Delight Helmet: edelrid foldable compass solar vario spot messenger guide 10 solar charger
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Ryanair : what a joke of a service provider : Never Again
Needing cheep transport from north Italy to Malta to get there for my brothers wedding, the beginnings were going smoothly, tickets booked, extra baggage paid for with a total quite acceptable 90ish euro price tag for the two of us which was about 40eur cheaper then other flights. The problems began when we tried to
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Kortel Kuik 2 : the weapon of choice for 2013
A long wait well worth it.. The very first impressions of the harness as I was opening the bag it came in on the taxi ride to the office were very positive. The materials and stitching looked solid. I was in for a real treat the first time I hung it up and sat in
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Easy mounting method for Holux users
Here is a simple tilt adjustable method I use with success. Needed; Stick on Velcro Thin plastic sheet (I used one from the cover of a notepad). A piece of one sided tape. Tape the plastic sheet to half of the holux, I made a small cut away section to allow more of the tape
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Going for the Nepali record
Even before coming out to Nepal at the end of 2011 i had already searched through the online contests to find who had flown the longest distances, triangles and of course the highest. The flights that stood out for me were, Claudio Mota’s Sarangkot-Sirkot-Dhampus-Korchone triangle, David Hannings flight from Greenwall East 105km east (from memory),
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Being part of something bigger
Two years ago we had the pleasure of becoming part of the Cloudbase foundation, now we are pleased to have become part of Karmaflights. Both organizations are focused on helping the local communities which we all visit during our flying trips and holidays. So make a difference and help some people that are less fortunate
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Are you really ready?
Slowly drawing to the end of our 2 month trip to Bir there are a couple of things you need to ask yourself. Coming to iconic places like Bir or Pokhara and being surrounded by famous names and exciting plans of other pilots wanting to go big in distance, height or not so simply on
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Are you getting ripped off on your flying trip?
the short answer, you more than likely are.. time and time again i fall witness to groups heading out to exotic places to either learn how to fly, improve their flying skills or explore unknown places with an experienced pilot in the lead. about 60-70% of the time i talk to people about what had
Read Morelightening up for India October – November 2012
Our next adventure will be taking us to India, after spending a bit of time in Mumbai i am hoping that the time we spend in Delhi will be more pleasant. We are heading over to Bir Billing for a bit of a holiday and to catch up with some friends that will be there
Read MoreTravelling to Nepal
Im sure that this has all been covered in other posts but seeing that there is some more interest from people searching for information about Nepal, here goes. When to come, for relatively reliable conditions the season starts September and runs all the way through March. What you need when arriving at Kathmandu: Pilots will
Read MoreNepal & India Guiding 2012-2013
This year we are offering fully Guided tours for pilots wanting to improve their Cross Country potential using some of the most iconic sites in the world. Places we will Visit, November through March we will be operating in Nepal; Ø Pokhara, Ø Sirkot, Ø Bandipur. India, October and then April Ø Bir Billing We
Read MoreA Brotherly Visit
Spending nearly 2 weeks surrounded by bad weather in Europe i decided that it wasn’t worth waiting there any longer than absolutely necessary i only managed 3 flyable days where one of them was dodgy to say the least. Not having seen my Big Brother since he was finishing his CP earlier this year i
Read MoreA holiday from a holiday
When you get to call this sort of stuff your ‘work’ its hard to justify that you are going on a holiday. After a while you do start to lose the plot and you do find the need to get away form it all for a bit. Personally i had been in Nepal just over
Read MoreDismissing an Advance Lightness Myth
One thing that I kept hearing from people before and even after I bought the lightness, was that because your reserve was connected to the karabiners once you deployed you would be falling in a more horizontal position similar to that of normal flight position. I decided to let others know that as soon as
Read MoreWhere to go? What to do once I get there? Some advice for beginner comp and XC pilots.
These are the two most important questions I find asking myself when I fly in comps. First things first, I’m sure you get a map when you register for a comp! use it…. Before you fly: Arriving at a new location you don’t really know what will or wont work so the map is your
Read MoreWhat a Ride!
For those of you that ventured towards the big mountains today, you know what I’m talking about. Big blue sky lift taking us higher than we have been recently with absolutely amazing views in all directions. Once again I mounted my trusty safe’ish steed my Airwave Magic 5 that has never let me down thus
Read MoreWelcome to a day off from tandem flying
My office windows are bigger than normal Sabrina taking a day off from teaching. You don’t see this every day, Owen taking a friend up, together singing a song for me while we thermalled away.
Read MoreNepali Holi
What a day it has been, where all the town people celebrate together in an extremely friendly and enjoyable way. The Peace before the storm, Pokhara at 630am a quiet street with almost no people or cars on it awaits the energy of its sleepy population to fill it. one thing I still don’t understand
Read MoreMake the problem bigger and it will get fixed
Waiting for my money to get exchanged I noticed a man wandering around in front of his store with a hammer, I didn’t really think much of this at first as you normally see people walking around town with various hand tools. All of a sudden I was hit in the back of the leg
Read MoreFlymaster Live
First impressions: Several days before taking delivery of the unit I had downloaded the newest firmware update, at time of posting it was 1.1l and installed it with absolutely no problems I had already downloaded the designer to start making my own layouts earlier. here are the links to both the Firmware and Designer. Turning
Read MoreHeading up to Korchone.
I’m much too lazy to trek up to Korchone, so here are some tips for the non trekkers among us. The flight starts as usual Sarangkot-Greenwall-Korchone Ridge and here it changes, rather than flying west to Dhampus we fly north along the ridge line. important: unless your comfortable flying in strong valley winds with rough
Read MorePokhara Cheat Sheet ;)
For those that intend on flying Pokhara here are the main points to look for thermals along the main ridge and the Greenwall and Korchone Circuits. If any of you would like to get these points for your gps, just message me. The same waypoints can be used to race your friends around the PKR
Read MoreCompleting the Korchone Circuit
so we now know about the jump over to greenwall, once we are there we need height. CB is normally about 3-500m higher at GW than Sarangkot, on this particular flight we had 2500m before heading over to the Korchone ridge. when leaving GW, get comfortable, get your camera out and enjoy the ride. its
Read MoreMaking a successful Green Wall run
here are some tips for people that have not been able to make an out and return between Sarangkot and Greenwall. First things first, What time of day is it and how much usable time do you have before the thermals drop? normally you should be able to do greenwall easily in under 2hrs on
Read MoreParagliding One-O-One: Nepali-style | Dr.Shem
A nice write up from my brother who is just discovering flight Paragliding One-O-One: Nepali-style | Dr.Shem.
Read MoreLooking for a ride? Mt Kilimanjaro 2012
Do you want to have an experience of a lifetime? Wing It Adventures currently have only one tandem passenger slot left. “In late 2012, a group of adventurers from every corner of the globe will come together to climb to, and fly from, the “Roof of Africa”. This is the first time in the past
Read MoreIf Batman was a paragliding Pilot
Have you ever wondered what kind of paraglider batman would fly? We have, after spending countless hours getting every line the right length to keep the bat shape the project is complete. The bat wing following in the footsteps of its predecessors, the Eagle and Manta has performed great in both PPG and free
Read MoreWhen planning to fly between KTM and PKR
When planning to fly between KTM and PKR check the weather forecasts, if there is any chance of heavy rain or fog, you will probably end up spending an entire day at the airport, as even when they know that there is no chance of takeoff or landing they will try not to cancel a
Read MoreWith a quick visit to the toilet
with a quick visit to the toilet i managed to stuff my solo reserve, carabiners and spreader bars, cameras, and all electronic’s and some other heavy items in my windstopper with my netbook on top. i got my carry on down to only 6kgs. so i managed to skim nearly 13kgs that were hidden in
Read MoreNeed more charge in life?
I don’t know about others but i absolutely hate the amount of charges that we need for travelling to keep everything loaded. This idea may especially help those that are travelling without a Laptop, those that have one it still may come in handy. You may have already gotten a usb mains charger with a
Read MoreExcess Baggage? No Problem?
I remember travelling when you could have 2 huge 30kg suitcases plus your carry on bag, times when you packed everything you could think of as not to forget anything that might come in handy during the trip. Times have changed, and I don’t think that I’m the only one that hates the new travelling
Read MoreK.I.S.S.
With everyone upgrading to the newest and the best I have decided to simply go the other way, for those that somehow have gone through life without hearing about K.I.S.S. it stands for Keep It Simple Stupid. Down grading can be fun, instead of having a smartphone that you send sms’s, FB updates and email
Read MoreThe Planning Commences : Nepal 2011-2012
The cogs have started turning in my head once again, it is time for a change in my life and life style. I need to get back to who and how I was a few years ago, before several gut wrenching things occurred in my life (those closest to me know what I had
Read MoreBorzhava 2011 : Carpathian Cup : pt1
After winning in 2010 I knew that I would have to return to Borzhava once again, this time however I wasn’t there to win but party, see my friends, meet some new ones and fly tandem. All of these goals were achieved and what a great time we all had.The trip started 9am on the
Read MoreFirst flight of the new season +100km’s
what a nice surprise 😉 arriving at a small 80m hill situated along a winding river valley i had my doubts if anyone would get a chance to go XC. my first start was a sledder most of the others played around up top no one wanting to fully commit. i made it back up
Read Moreukraine carpathian cup summary
Headin to the Ukraine i had mixed expectations as many people talked about really bad experiences. First and only mistake was to choose the road to Sambor. Omg what a mission, the were more holes in the road then there was asfalt. After several hrs of batteling the crappy road we reached sambor and headed
Read Morenew wing
Going through all the new wing offers from different producers I received a great price from Airwave and decided to order a wing from them. Looking through all the dhv 2-3 wings I didn’t want to go over the top with a pure competition wing, as for normal flying they are not the best choice.
Read MoreFirst Official Sponsor
its been a while coming but finally after alot of nagging my brother and his company www.capitalhead.com has agreed to sponsor my new wing for seasons 2010-2011. im not sure if he really wanted to sponsor me or if he decided to do so to shut me up hehe, either way its great that hes
Read MorePerfect Fly Cup
Registration for my first Perfect Fly Cup sent another week of april spent on flying in Slowakia
Read MoreBassano Italy
*Planning has begun for the trip to Bassano during the last two weeks of March. Hopefully we will be able to fly kobarid and lijak along the way there. Some of the schools will be there during the same time so there is sure to be people to talk to during the evenings. Conditions there
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