The morning started with Pascal V, Emi, Grzegorz, Alex, Laurent (Lolo) and myself getting a penalty for illegal early practice only for this to be revoked half an hour later! My current 3rd place wouldn’t have been affected though thankfully.

First, in a great series of events was the 5 slowest pilots in a shootout for two places to join the top 10 to make a 12 pilot quarter-final. Dhiego unfortunately sucked a line from his Revo2 into his propeller on launch taking it down to four with Emi and Raul getting through.

We then had some dramatic action during the next two tasks of the semi-final with Grzegorz catching and breaking his little finger in the propeller on launch but still finishing the first task but unfortunately not able to continue from there.

Alex had a big, downwind collapse and had to land, sadly breaking a propeller and ending his task prematurely.

Lolo and I both flew fast and smooth with my result taking me into first place!!

The wind then picked up quite strong with the pylons dancing around and collapsing all over the place and there was word that the competition was valid at this stage and could be stopped with the top five pilots taking the podium positions and me being the winner.

Needless to say I was hoping and praying that it would not continue but it was decided after 20 minutes that it would go on.

I flew the first part of the task well but made an error coming downwind that put me too close to the last pylon. This sent me beyond where I wanted to be to slingshot myself to the finish and possibly the win.

The miscalculation cost me vital seconds and allowed 3 of the other pilots to make better times giving me 4th overall.

Laurent, flew the perfect head-to-head race with Alex, flooring him down the straights with the speed of his GTR18 and covering the corners well. It was very close at the end though with Alex making some aggressive tight turns to close on some of the distance but by the end of the race Lolo was there in front, a fairytale ending for him as he hadn’t received his engine until Friday night and got just a 10 minute practice in the dark!!

-Dean Eldridge

Later I joined Glenn Tupper In El Paso, Texas. Glen is an Army surveillance pilot who loves the maneuverability and low flight capacities that a paramotor allows. Flying together, we followed the US/ Mexico border toward a mountains overlooking the city. After circling the crux on top of the hill, we came down the Rio Grande. The trip started under the best auspices.

At Apache Junction, Arizona, we continued on Lost Dutchman Road, turned second right on Gold Trail and were within a wingspan of Superstition Mountain. According to the legend, in the nineteenth century Jacob Walzer a German immigrant discovered a vein of gold ore. He only revealed the location on his deathbed. Another legend native Indians believe is that there is a hole which leads down into the lower world and is located in the Superstition Mountains . Winds blowing from the hole are supposed to be the cause of severe dust storms.

What did we find? Which legend did we verify?

The breeze was light, the Mountains turn golden at sunset, and we had some priceless flights. The silky fabric of the glider was dwarfed by the rock solid flat iron Peaks…

The full story will be published in the coming issue of Paramotor Magazine.

- Franck Simonnet

Between the rain storms full energy was put into the tasks, many winners were announced including Phil Jennings who took two places on the podium! Phil took 3rd overall in the British Open and 2nd in the National League results.

I would also like to note our other honored pilots that took the stage but not the podium Pascal Campbell-Jones and Dean Eldridge.

Please view the final results listings on the Paramotor Mag site here

I would also like to mention Nirvana for there great LED evening displays and thank Paramania for supplying the Pylons, although they were not used at the event for a Parabatix show they lit up the sky on the first evening of the Nirvana display!

There was also a spectacular ribbon show done by Dean and Pascal.

Per the usual, it is a bit of a worry when it comes to possibly disturbing the towns people of the area but they ended up showing their excitement for the Open with their own groups outside of the organized event space with clapping and cheering to encourage the event on.

I personally hope the event will be held in the same place next year, the turf farm was perfect! Some minor crashes happened but all in all it was a great event, I believe everyone left satisfied.

Nico taking 3rd place at the French Nationals

Two of the Paramania Pilots took places on the podium at the French Championships.

Nico Salinas took 3rd and Phil Jennings placed 3rd as well, as a non-French winner and contestant.

Nico has worked hard with the French team and as a Paramania pilot and should be recognized. Nico is a good pilot that deserves to be noted. At the French Championships he sportingly took third place where the option was open for him to have taken first place. Where many followed others, Nico stuck to his understanding of the rules and positioned himself correctly. After much influence from other pilots and advisers Nico chose the lesser of podium positions and took third. For future

Pascal Campbell-Jones congratulating Nico!

pilots, this event should be remembered.

Phil taking 3rd!

Phil has been training with Dean Eldridge; we are happy to see Phil out there making advancements in his skills and placing at competitions!

Great job to both of these pilots!

Some of the Paramania team will be at beach blast including team rider and fourth place 2009 world champion Emilia Plak.

Team Pilot Emi Plak

At the event we will have demo wings to use; Action GT, Fusion, Revo 2 and Taxi. We will also have wings for sale at special Beach Blast prices.

Also, Mike Campbell-Jones will be talking about reflex technology. In the USA there is much debate as to the safety and performance of Reflex. Some of the major points Mike will cover in his talk are:

*About reflex technology
*Why reflex (pitch positive wing sections)
*Wing Certifications and how we meet them
*Future wing design

Come to Beach Blast and listen to Mike Speak, ask him questions and possibly have some one on one time with him at our booth. He is speaking on Wednesday the 4th and Friday the 6th.

Mike Campbell-Jones

Updates via our Twitter account will keep you better informed at this show with what we are doing. Keep up to speed with the times and places Mike is speaking through the twitter account, follow us on twitter for the updates.

Dear Paramania,

I have been a PPG pilot since 2006 and my first wing was a Revo, I bought it from Land & Space Aviation school in Saudia Arabia, I was trying other wings from other brands but I did not feel comfortable with them. My friend Ahmed Al-Zahrani who I lost three months ago advised me to get the first Fusion and I did and I really liked it soooooo much – that was in late 2008.

After 2008 I wanted to upgrade wings again, and again I tried many wings and did not feel comfortable with them. My friend Fahad Al-Zkeri who runs the school now advised me to get a Revo2 and I just got it a week ago and guess what? It is an amazing wing, I really really loove it.

I think this a continuous successes of your products and this is the reason of making me one of the Paramania fans.

So thank you for making my flying dream nicer and safer.

Friendly note:

If you make the wings with more color options without any extra expense it will be very very nice. Make many colors, make it happy colors, just like the old Fusion.

Best regards,

Awod Saeed Al-Ahmar