HGFA Skysailor Magazine

4 SKY SAILOR May | June 2019 V ideo clips and feature articles of pilots perched high in the Alps, Bir, and other distant places, shacked up in puffy layers of specialty downs and scientific lightweight fibre shelters with amazing scenery backdrops quickly migrated from my eyes to my dreams and I went on a research bender to figure out how to get a foot in the door. Now, the average pilot who has thought about this generally finds a few good obstacles ahead: 1. You may hear: “There is no real Vol Biv in Australia.” 2. Cost: Getting set up, and getting there. 3. Starting out: We often only really see the end result, not the path. Not to say that there is only one way to go about it – quite the contrary, there are always plenty of approach angles. Over the coming pages, I have decided to share my experiences and thoughts on breaking into Vol Biv, and doing it on a manageable budget. So we’ll start with a few comments on the obstacles listed above. Our country Most of Australia doesn’t have the glamourous snow-capped peaks and grassy alpine meadows that often feature in a Vol Biv story, nor does it have the monstrous rocky mountain faces that star in the video clips, but no one can deny that we have great camping, and generally within range of many of our flying sites. Who says you can’t ridge soar for kilometres down a beach or coastal headland and strike a shelter at the end of the day before carting it up a sand dune to fly back? Why can’t you spend a weekend hiking, flying and camping your way around your local sites with only the gear on your back and your own resourcefulness? Of course, you can and in themselves these environments provide their unique set of challenges which are a great way to start out. Remember, like so many things, it’s generally a good idea to start out simple and practice – the extra effort made now will pay off later when you finally step out on that big trip to Bir! In itself, Australia is considerably warmer than many of our other Vol Biv destinations, which means that you can get away with a smaller, lighter, cheaper sleeping bag, but you will likely need an enclosed tent or mosquito net. It also means water is of greater importance, so you will either need to carry more, or have suitable equipment to win water locally. Show me the money! It seems that the smaller and lighter equipment gets, its dollar value increases exponentially! Shaving only grams off the weight of an item racks up zeroes at the end of a price tag at a rate that makes many of us run away from the idea of Vol Biv, well before we have even considered airfares to distant destinations. Materials such as Cuben Fibre, Dyneema, Tyvek, Titanium, and others have astounding weight reductions, but breathtaking price tags – especially if you add particular brand names to them. But they don’t have to! Spend a When I was first told that you could fly with camping gear, my obsession for the sport grew deeper, and I became fascinated in how Vol Biv worked. by Malcolm ‘Bluey’ Hughson Breaking into Vol Biv