HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 31 March | April 2018 Cold Weather Plagues The Icarus X Florida Icarus X Florida forms part of the Icarus X Series, which this year consists of four races, which can be entered individually or as a whole, in the USA, South Africa, UK and Australia. by David Ferguson Instructor and a HGFA Chief Flying Instructor. All are available and readily accessible to club pilots wanting anything from an experienced helping hand on launch, to getting that extra qualification, or even to just improve their flying skills with some advice from our own knowledge bank. Club pilots have a huge amount of local knowledge about their flying sites and local areas and are always looking for flying mates to go for a fly with, any time of day it is flyable. We all just love to fly and welcome absolutely anyone into our club. You can find the joining form document pinned to the top of the current post timeline on our Facebook Group (search for VIC Blue Skies Paramotor Club). Joining is free and we’d love to see you in the club and in the flying paddock. A host of competitors took off from Lake Wales Municipal Airport for the 232Nm race to Palm Bay and Lake Okeechobee before heading back to the finish at Lake Wales. Few pilots had anticipated such cold temperatures when they signed up for the Florida race, however, and on the first day the chilly weather, part of the record-breaking cold snap on the east coast, led to one pilot having pulling out. The rest of the field battled on, resulting in a close fought race with several pilots neck-and-neck as they bedded down for the first night, wherever they could find somewhere comfortable to sleep. The next morning one of the pre-race favourites, Jon Eisele, a US Marine Corps veteran, had a mechanical failure which effectively ended his chance of a win. This left two main contenders in the air battling it out, with American Bryan Richards eventually first across the line that evening; taking the title and winning a place in the Icarus Trophy (the larger scale paramotoring race taking place in southern Africa in July), before fading light stopped play for the day. Whilst some of the remaining pilots managed to cross the line the following day, strong headwinds meant others had to sit out the day and wait another full day to finish. Despite the chilly start, most pilots had a great time, resulting in a fantastic race above some of Florida’s iconic landscapes and the organisers hope to bring the race back to Florida again soon. For further information please contact Daniel at <daniel@newchaptermarketing.co.uk >. If you want to learn more about the Icarus X series or its big brother, The Icarus Trophy, head over to [www. icarustrophy.com ]. Winner Bryan Richards crossing the finish line