Mexican pilot Fernando Iriarte Woodside is making last minute preparations for an attempt to break Ramon Morillas’ World Record for distance which stands at 1106 km. Iriarte is the current holder of the Mexican record with an 11 and half hour flight in which he flew 622 km. After taking the Mexican record his sponsors Pepsi Max donated $40,000 (US) to the education of underprivileged children in Mexico and have once again pledged to donate money for every km flown in the new attempt. “I am happy that we got this amount of money for the Mexican kids who don’t have the resources to study” said Iriarte adding “I am sure we will bring some more money for the kids after this next record.”

Over the last few weeks Fernando has been making final adjustments to his paramotor and testing new faster paraglider wings for the attempt. The team have also be tracking the weather. “We have been working with the Mexican National Meteorology Centre” explained Fernando, “and they have predicted a phenomenon called El Monson, which will bring very strong winds that will help me fly a lot faster and for a longer time than the last record.” The team expect to make the attempt during the first week in September.

More information can be found at www.pepsimaxteam.com

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Our associate editor, Michel Carnet, is now in China and will be bringing back all the news, results and behind the scenes gossip from the event on a daily basis.

Click here to read his reports and discuss here.

For those of you that may have had any problems with the buckles slipping on the Paramania trimmers and not gripping well enough (2005 or 2006 production), Paramania have manufactured new stronger springs to replace the old ones with. The new springs are available free of charge from your Paramania dealer or by going to the website and filling out the form to receive the spring directly through the post.

You can find a instructional video on how to fit the new springs here.

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Jim Carolan has resigned as chairman of the fledgeling British Paramotoring Association. He took the opportunity to thank those that supported him but felt that the association needed a younger, more dynamic person to take it forward.

www.bpmaonline.org.uk

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Kim Young Min owner of Korean paramotor manufacturer N-Zin wing was tragically killed during a speed race in Thailand. Initial reports suggest that his brake handle was sucked into the prop causing his wing to enter an unrecoverable spiral.

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Marcus King is the new Editor of Paramotor Magazine. Marcus has been the designer and news editor for Paramotor Magazine since Issue 1, and art director at Cross Country since 2005. Marcus has been paragliding since 1991, and just recently got into paramotoring, completing his BMAA course in July. He’s relishing his new role.

After helping to launch the magazine, founding editor Michel Carnet is now stepping back to concentrate more on his competition flying and other projects. Michel will still be very involved in Paramotor magazine, working as Associate Editor, and on promotion and marketing.

Verity Sowden is heading up advertising sales and working with Michel for Issue 3.

New contact details are:

EDITORIAL:
Marcus King: editor@paramotormag.com

ADVERTISING:
Verity Sowden: advertising@paramotormag.com

PROMOTION:
Michel Carnet: michel@paramotormag.com

After two very successful issues, we’re now working hard on Issue 3, out in October. Meanwhile, we hope to see you at either the World Championships in China, or the Coupe Icare at St Hilaire, France.

Renewed thanks for all your support.

The Paramotor Magazine Team

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The UK Air Accident Investigation Board have released an initial report into the recent paramotoring accident in which highly respected pilot Kevin Rymer-Craig was tragically killed.

The report concludes that the accident was a result of mechanical failure of part of the attachment system of the paramotor unit. The report goes on to recommend that proper test proceedures be implimented for paramotor units of all types. The AAIB advices pilots not to fly extreme manouvres until these tests are in place. “Only when precise reserve factors have been established,” the report concludes, “can these aircraft be considered to be structurally safe.”

The manufacturers, H&E, told us that the frame involved in the accident had been modified. Their standard frames are one of the few frames on the market that have DULV certification for the German market. The company said that they hoped lessons could be learnt from this tragic event for the benefit of the sport as a whole

The full report can be found here

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Southern Skies are pleased to announce that their new PPG wing the NaJa (pronounced Naadjaa) has successfully passed the DULV flight-tests in three sizes.
The name is latin for Cobra and the Southern Skies team say that the wing like the snake is very fast and agile but easy to launch. They also say that the wing does not have a reflex profile, instead it relies on heavy wing loading and new, never used airfoil for its fantastic speed. For more info, including special introductory pricing, go to www.southernskies.net

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To possess a small part of the big history of paramotoring is a dream for many of us. When this history is that of a unique and exceptional pilot, as is the Spanish Ramon Morillas, there is no reason to hesitate to “invest”. Ramon is an uncommon pilot because he is very talented and practices all types of flying. He is not only a great paragliding champion, but also a paramotor champion (2 times world champion), and holder of world records. His last record was his unbelievable flight of 1105 km above the Atlantic ocean, crossing from Spain to the Canary Islands, in April 2007. He also recently took part in the X-Alps race and finished at an outstanding 7th position !

The Advance Omega 7 wing and Pap engine used by Ramon during his record are being put up for auction. The offers must be sent at Draco (infodraco@draconexion.com / www.draconexion.com), the deadline is the end of October. The starting price is 4000 Euros for the wing, and 4500 Euros for the engine.

The buyers, or maybe the buyer, will spend 2 days in Granada with Ramon to meet him personally and to take delivery of the products. Also be included will be a complete file of the flight, a CD with all the pictures, the vidéo of the flight and a certificate of authenticity.

A unique occasion to have at home a part of a unique person ; thanks a lot Ramon for all you do.

Discus Here

Two paramotors, one mountain and half a million dollars! Bob Drury goes behind the scenes of the GKN Mission Everest expedition

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