British Record Encampment

Simply Gradient will be running a UK Record Encampment to try to break the magical 200km in the UK. Two weeks in May (14th-31st) to exploit a record breaking NE'ly and two weeks in August (7th-20th) for a classic NW'ly or SWl'y. We will travel to the best sites on the day anywhere between the Peak District and the South Coast. You will be able to follow the action on this blog with SPOT. We will concentrate on team flying and 2m radios and a winch rating will be required. If you are interested in joining us please call me on 07974208076. (Flying a Gradient Glider is not mandatory but it may help!)

Beautiful Golden 3 Images

Golden 3 28 certified

The Gradient Golden 3 28 has successfully passed EN-B certification ! Sizes 24, 26 and 30 will follow soon.

Karel does it again! XC3 leads the XC Contest

Karel Vejchodsky flew another 340.7 km from Vosberg (De Aar) yesterday, Jana Kratka (Aspen 3) flew 253.9 km and Jan Kratky (XC2) 252.8km. Climbs topped out at 15,000ft over the high plateau.

'Another nice day in South Africa, north wind in the begining and slow part until DeAar, than conditions improved a lot and I was able to fly another 300 flight. The last part above plateau was amazing with beautiful sunset at landing... New Avax XC3 will be amazing XC machine. '

South African cloud base going crazy!

Two potential record days before the thundery breakdown on Monday and yes that is a 19,000ft cloud base. Go team Gradient.

Update 06/12, heat low breaking down quicker than expected so no record unless you can stay south of this lot!

The inversion finally breaks!

Great flights yesterday from Karel Vejchodsky (Gradient XC 3) and Jan Kratly (Gradient XC 2) of 342.6km and 340.2km from Vosberg in South Africa. Climbs took them to 14,500ft with a flight average of 50kph and the longest flights of the year so far.

295km on the XC3

The Gradient team have travelled further west to our old hunting grounds near Branvlei for a World Open Distance Record attempt. Karel Vejchodsky flew 295.3km on 30/11 in 5 hours 22 mins on the XC3 proto, landing close to De Aar. Conditions didn't look classic with climbs topping out at only 3000m but it was windy and the average speed was a good 55kph ....

'My landing was quite interesting as I was going backwards a lot, I unclick carabins and jump out the harness cca 1 meter above ground. My first and hope last similar experience... :)'

If you want to fly 300km go to Quixada, Brazil

Although the Official Results haven't been published yet, it looks like the XC International Meeting 2009 and XCeara 2009 were a great success again. Alfredo Studer, who we met a couple of years ago in South Africa, is currently winning the XContest 2010 with flights of 318.6 (08/11) and 301.8 (04/11) flying the new Swing Astral 6, Kamira Pereira broke the Female Open Distance World Record twice with flights of 330.3km (14/11) and 326.1km (08/11)! and Washington Peruchi flew 330.4 (14/11). Thats three 300km days in a week! Why would you want to go anywhere else!

Keep an eye on South African weather - again!

With an El Nino in force, the weather is South Africa is likely to be dry and hot! One of the best forecasts come from the South African Weather Service which has its own aerosport section

Have a look at the latest Satellite and Rainfall overlay, Thunderstorm probability, spot graphs showing expected Convective Cloud Base and Thermal Strength. The De Aar 5 day forecast is here. Wind guru provides usefull weathermaps.

Look out for 20,000ft ft cloud base, with zero thunderstorm probability and a strong WNW airflow and perhaps even 500 km won't be safe.

Ondrej Dupal testing proto XC3 in South Africa

Ondrej Dupal has returned once again to one of his favourite winter testing locations, De Aar. With him, he has Gradient’s expected replacement to the highly successful Avax XC2. The design brief for this replacement is a new high-end wing that’s resolutely targeted within the EN D category. We are anticipating a very high performance serial racer to take on the best of the rest in this hotly contested category, combined with all that ‘sweetness’ in both handling and feedback which has become a trade-mark for Gradient.

News has recently been supplied to Burkitt Rudd that Ondrej is very pleased with performance tests of the proto XC3's. What is know is the Gradient team has two protos with different aspect ratios, one with 6.5 and the other 6.8. However news about line consumption and layout etc is still a mystery.

The wing should be certified in early 2010!

Simply Gradient sponsor the XC League

• £1000 and a trophy for the first total score (6 flights) of 1000km or more in the UK
• Prize from Richard Westgate at SimplyGradient

This prize is not specific to any year. It will remain on offer until it is won.

All flights must be valid scoring flights in the UK National Paragliding XC League.

XC 3 proto cleans up at the XC Africa 2009

Karel Vejchodsky was 1st and Ondrej Dupal 2nd in the Gradient XC Africa 2009 event.

The weather only allowed 3 tasks

The day after the competition finished, it looks like Ondrej Dupal had another good flight as reported on the Gariep Dam blog.

Sunday, 22 Nov. 2009:

The day started good. All took off early and some good distances were reported. Uwe & Ru¨diger flew 848km and Hans Wiesenthal 814km. The first long flights of this season at Gariep. In the afternoon Ondrej Dupal from the Chech Republick caused some excitement with his unexpected appearance. He flew with his paraglider from De Aar and landed nicely between the Nimbus and the Blanik on the apron.

XCeara 2009 starts in 21 days

The most successful big distance flying competition starts again on the 21st November. XCeara 2009 - The Cross Country Classic is the 13th such event. Last year 3 pilots (Marcelo Prieto, Rafael Saldini and Frank Brown) broke the World Distance Record from the site with 461.8km. The competition bosts 100% flyable conditions.

Gradient Golden 3

Gradient's Director and Chief Test Pilot,Ondrej Dupal has just released this photo of the all new Golden 3. Gradient aim to start putting the Golden 3 through the certification process within the next month starting with the size 28.

We have yet to get all the info about this new model, but it has a new profile and less lines and we are lead to believe it will be faster on trim, slightly more damped but with, according to Ondrej, "perfect turning".

What's certain, is it will supercede the very popular Golden 2 which certainly has been a real success within the area in which we serve; with many of our 'newer pilots' having chosen this wing, they have found themselves with a near perfect flying partner, which have regularly taken them to the 'top-of-the-stack' above their local sites; instilling confidence and opening up great new vistas for them.

With Gradient's impressive track record in producing exceptional, class winning models. It is going to be a much easier decision this Christmas as to what to place on this years 'Dear Santa Letter' !

Gradient 2009 XC League Results

Congratulations to all participants in this years' UK XC League for making it a record year. In terms of total KM flown, the top three pilots would have won any previous year. Best place Gradient Pilot was Philip Wallbank in 5th with 576.5km and he also wins a prize for the longest flight on a DHV2 wing, 151km from Eyam Edge on 22nd August on his trusty old Aspen. This was also the 7th best flight of the year! Julian Robinson was 6th with 554.4km and Ian Miskin 9th with 548.2km on their XC2's. Judith Mole was 3rd best Woman with 270.9km on her Aspen 2.

In the Local Leagues:

Avon League: Martin Nichols Aspen 2 3rd
Cumbrian League: Burkitt Rudd Avax SR8 2nd, Ben Keayes Avax XC 3rd,
Gap League: Mark Jones Avax XC2 2nd
Pennine League: Philip Wallbank Aspen 1 1st
SHPF League: Julian Robinson Avax XC2 1st, David Thomson Avax XC2 2nd, Ian Miskin Avax XC2 3rd
Wessex League: Paul Hawkins Aspen 2 1st, Gary Puhl Aspen 2 2nd, Shamus Pitts Golden 2 3rd

Congratulations to Gradient Pilots in the UK XC League

Gradient Pilots are storming the 2009 British Paragliding XC League with 5 Gradient Gliders in the top 10.

Congratulations to Bryan Hindle (Gradient Aspen) for completing the longest UK flatland triangle ever flown on the 4th June. The flight of 50.5km was from the Malverns and took 3hrs 36mins.

Ian Miskin managed the longest flight of the day on 14th June with 136.4km. Taking off from Wether Fell in a round of the British Paragliding Cup, Ian managed to get to goal (24km) then keep going, landing on the coast 5hrs and 42min later!

Gradient Bi-Golden 2

After 5 years of loyal service ( & 1 World Record and 4 UK (Local) Records), Gradient have officially announced the replacement of the Bi-Golden; with a new tandem glider, the Bi-Golden 2. The brake pressure of the Bi-Golden 2 is lower than its predecesor and the wing is lighter making launching even easier. It has a slightly wider weight range (additional 10kg on the 42) and both a higher trim and top speed (achieved by long (8cm) trimmers). According to Gradient director and test pilot Ondrej Dupal, the Bi-Golden 2 should hit the primarty target of professional tandem pilots who appreciate agile flight characteristics. The direct and easy handling should also suit those wanting to fly long cross country flights. The glider also features the ability to' lock' big ears in place.

Test reports are here for the 42 (140-220kg) and the 39 (115-180kg). The Para2000 report is here.

The wing is available in 3 standard colour combinations and custom colours with a white underside for those wanting to add logos.

Adam Ingram practicing in Turkey

Amazing video of top UK Acro pilot Adam Ingram practicing on his Gradient 7 in Olu Deniz. Check out the Anti Gravity Website here.

Aspen 3 by Peter Volf

Peter Volf has recently posted these great photos of the Gradient Aspen 3. Have a look at his web site here.

On top of the World!

Ok not Gradient related but my sister, Pam Westgate, has just become the 25th British Female mountaineer to summit Everest (and probably the first to do so on her birthday!). She summited this morning at 6.30 (local time) with climbing sherpa Chewang Palden Sherpa.

The summit was reported as totally beautiful. The weather was clear and not very cold, until the wind picked up after 5am. The views from the summit were incredible. The cloud level was down around 20,000ft, making all the valleys a picture of roiling clouds, with the higher peaks all around rising starkly into the clear air.

Julian Robinson tops the British Paragliding XC League

Congratulations to Gradient XC2 Pilot Julian Robinson who is currently sitting at the top of the XC League with 456.1km. His impressive 108.5km across the Highlands is currently winning the prize for 'Highest Scoring Turnpoint Flight on an EN C' in the league.

Andy Pilmmer 2nd in first round of the BPC

Another happy customer was able to show the rest of the field what can still be done on a trusty Aspen 2. The Borders British Paragliding Cup/ Scottish Open competition got this year's UK XC Comp scene underway, although only one day was possible, due to the great British Weather.

This is what BPCup pilot Andy Plimmer, who was 1st sports class and 2nd placed overall, had to say.

"After a wet and windy first day, conditions soon transformed into what turned out to be an epic days flying. The task a 46k race to goal at Hawick seemed ambitious initially as the very light WNW breeze played havoc with the field coming from all directions but the right one. A chance thermal from right of launch gave a slow scrabble up for a lucky few, one of whom was myself, this enabled connection with proper thermals and the game was on."

His plan was to try to stay high,based on the fact that the route had some long crossings of high remote moorland and to fly conservatively which hopefully would avoid any hot-slog walkout to the nearest road if he tried to rush to much.

"By climbing when able and progressing steadily I got past the worst bit until a long glide across the last valley left me a bit desperate 10km from goal. Some bumpy air and sniffs of lift drifted me on until a good climb from cut forestry got me up in company with an other lucky pilot. Now goal was in site and it was a calculated gamble to leave before my friend and dash for the cylinder. He stayed climbing for two more circuits which was just enough to give me 20 seconds lead and 2^nd place in the Cup. An entertaining landing in the middle of a cricket match was improved by several beers from the pavilion. Later pilots had the full hailstone and big lift experience as the day over-developed as predicted, this caused several to ping into airspace at over 5500ft".

"Brilliant views of both East and West coasts will stay with me for a long time and I really recommend the area if you get a chance."

Great to see that the Gradient Aspen 2 can still do the business.

David Prentice hurt

Earlier this week, Gradient Pilot, David Prentice, legendary Hang Glider and Paraglider pilot, was severely injured during a training session in Florida.

After reconstruction of his right arm and stabilization of spinal injuries, David has been released from the Hospital with the hope of full recovery over time.

The OzReport comments here. Unfortunately, Dave was not insured and his wife Rasa and new son Sky have no resources to fall back on and face astronomical medical bills. If you can help in anyway please look at his website or direct contributions can be made to:-

David and Rasa Prentice
7485 Prairie Road NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109

2nd flight on Aspen 3, 108km

I have finally had a chance to fly the Aspen3 myself and what a great wing. Lighter handling than the Aspen 2, faster trim speed and better glide. The speed bar is also light and very useable. On 22nd April I managed to get away from Golden Ball (Thames Valley) and landed over 4 hours later just north of Milton Keynes for a straight line flight of 106.2km. The Aspen 3 does not have the 'flying on rails' feel of the XC2 but the passive stability made it a much more relaxing flight.

Triangle Planner

Thanks to Tom Payne for this incredible defined task planner.

Gradient Avax XC2 take 1st and 2nd in Winter League

Congratulations to Dave Thomas for winning the British Paragliding Winter XC League with 288.3km. Ian Miskin came second with 173.0km. Both pilots fly Avax XC2s.

Aspen 3 is here!

The Aspen 3 is finally here and the colour scheme is growing on me!

The wing has been certified En C and has passed on the 'safe side' of the catagory. The performance looks good with a predicted glide of 9.0, min sink of 1m/s and a top speed in excess of 55kph.

Have a look here at the test reports here

24 (70-85kg), 26 (80-100kg), 28 (90-115kg) and 30 (105-130kg).