SAFA Skysailor Magazine

21 November | December 2020 SKY SAILOR booked a beginner’s course in 2008 with Inferno at their home spot near St Vincent-les-Forts, France. What was that week like? Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t ideal for beginners. After groundhandling and first hops, we waited on launch at St Jean Montclar for two days, adrenaline levels off the scale, before the clouds opened up on Friday morning. I was one of the first in line, eager to fly. Against all advice, I put a camera around my neck and filmed the flight. I sound a little nervous on the video, but I managed to enjoy the beautiful view. We immediately booked a second week. And another one in October. And another one... What was your first glider? Swing Mistral 6, purple and white. I miss it sometimes, such a great toy! And what do you fly now? What are your passions in paragliding? My favourite glider is my Gradient Freestyle 3, to fly be- ginner’s acro. I enjoy the high level of control and precision, to get the glider to do exactly what I intended. My other glider is a BGD Base for mountain flying and I even take it for hike-and-fly. I love it for its solidity and quick responses, and for the Lava colour of course. Your day job is a science writer, what does that actually mean? I translate what scientists do into something the general public can understand. Day-to-day this means talking to researchers, background reading and then writing a story which is compelling to read yet scientifically correct. These stories are published as articles or press releases in trade journals, popular science magazines, websites or in books. You also teach paragliding. How did you get into that? The school where we learned to fly encourages new pilots to help teach beginners, like helping out at introduction weekends in Sauerland. I still do those weekends, they are lots of fun, the yells and smiles on the faces of people after their first hops never get old. Gaining experience, I helped teach more advanced courses in France and during towing operations in The Netherlands for several different schools over the years. You also edit the Dutch association magazine, ‘Lift’. What does that involve? I’ve been the editor of the magazine as a volunteer since 2011, coordinating a team of seven. I make sure it gets done on time, with the best quality content we can get as a volunteer magazine, four times a year. It’s very rewarding for the positive feedback we get, and I met many wonderful new people through the magazine. You have now combined your two passions in this book – writing and flying. How did the idea for the book come about? The Netherlands needed a book. Around 2013, Erwin and I set up theory courses for Dutch students to pass their exams. The existing study material for the exams was old, partly incorrect and needed replacing. So I just started to write. SPIRAL DIVE: Test pilot Russell Ogden flew the manoeuvres for the SIV section in the Advanced Flying chapter Photo: Marcus King