www.FlyingMax.com – Paragliding

Archive for the ‘Paragliding’ Category

Well, I never was thinking about it myself.
Last December Pascal was asking me if I would do a P1 & P2 course in the winter…. my reply was that it is to cold and there is to much snow at the practice hill.
By the end of January, Kaymin contacted me with the same question … Looking outside, there was not much snow here in the valley at all and before I knew it, I had 2 students starting a 2 week course.

Conditions were absolutely perfect and within 4 days each of them did more than 10 flights from our 40 meter high practice hill.
The week after we started to do our “high mountain” flights at Panorama Mountain Resort with skis. A week later each of them had over 20 flights.

Flying with skis at the resort works very well. The access to the launch site is super convenient by using the chair lifts. Panorama Resort supports our sport a lot and only charges $35 for a day to fly. On some days we ended up flying up to 5 flights a day.

In the mean time we have 4 other P1 pilots working on their 25 supervised flights at the Panorama Ski Resort. This works very well and besides running courses in the spring/summer I already started to schedule a P1 course for late fall this year so we can do the high mountain flights in the winter at the ski hill.

Check out our Calendar as we keep on adding courses and events…. PPG, SIV, XC and P3 workshops coming soon.

Happy, healthy and prosperous 2019 from flyingMax.com.
We are looking forward to a great new year with lots of adventures and flights!
Here is a video of Penny and Max flying into the new year!

Hang gliding and Paragliding is regulated by Transport Canada under CAR 602.29 which states in short that we can only operate in Class G airspace.
Transport makes the exception to be able to fly in Class E (controlled) airspace if you have a valid HAGAR (based on your medical)

First, what is Class E airspace?

“3.5.5. Controlled Airspace – Class E

Class E Airspace is designated where an operational need exists for controlled airspace but does not meet the requirements for Class A, B, C or D Airspace. Operations may be conducted under VFR or IFR. ATC separation is provided only to aircraft operating under IFR. There are no special requirements for VFR aircraft. Low-level airways, control area extensions, transition areas, or CZs established without an operating control tower may be classified as Class E Airspace.

Hang gliders and Paragliders can operate in VFR flight in Class E Airspace if the pilot is at least 16 years of age, is in possession of a Category 1, 3 or 4 medical certificate and has passed, or is exempted from writing, the HAGAR examination. In addition, the hang glider must be equipped with a magnetic compass and an altimeter, the flight must be a cross-country flight and the pilot must inform the nearest flight service station (FSS) of the time of departure and estimated duration of the flight in Class E airspace.”

Bottom line of the HAGAR is to make every Hang glider and Paraglider pilot aware of other air traffic (faster and IFR traffic) procedures and airspace regulations which will keep everyone safe while sharing the same airspace.

For H3/P3 pilots NOT having a HAGAR and like to go XC, the question is where and how high is Class G airspace?

In simple terms, Class G airspace is from the ground up to 12500 feet ASL or 18000 feet ASL
except if you are under an airway/air route, or under one of the shelves of airspace of a control zone around an airport.

How can you find out more about that?
The easiest way to see which airspace you’ll be in, or at what altitude the controlled airspace starts is to have a look at the IFR Low En-Route Charts. VFR Navigation Charts (or VNCs) also give you the information but it is less apparent.

On IFR Low En-route Charts anything in
“Solid Green” means Class G is up to 18000 feet ASL
“Hatched Green” means Class G goes up to 12500 feet ASL
“White” means Class G goes up to 2200 feet (670 meters) AGL. This can be lower and is indicated at the VFR Navigation Charts

How does this apply to a XC flight from Golden to Canal Flats or further?

• Golden to about Parson is “Solid Green”, meaning Class G is up to 18000 feet ASL.
• Everything south from Parson is “White”, meaning Class G is only 2200 feet (670 meters) AGL.
  • If you look at the VFR chart, south of Fairmont Class G is only 700 feet (213 meters) AGL.

I hope this will give everyone a more clearer picture and will show the benefit to have a HAGAR.

See the Low Level IFR En-Route Chart below.

 

ParaFreddo.com is coming from Quebec to the Columbia Valley and will be doing a Reserve Clinic just before our SIV at Whitetale lake. He will also be offering a Paragliding Reserve Parachute Workshop, for those who want to learn to pack their own reserves, and will be doing Paraglider inspections and trim tuning services while he is here.

Please register early (e-mail max@flyingMax.com) as we only will have limited spots available!

Reserve Clinic
9:00 am to noon June 8th 2018
Invermere Airport Hangar 5
Cost $50

Our Paragliding Reserve clinic teaches pilots to decide when and how to throw their reserve parachute. It is highly recommended to practice this once a year, particularly one day in advance of our SIV course.

Paragliding Reserve Parachute Workshop
1 day starting at 9:00 am June 11th 2018
Invermere Airport Hangar 5
Cost: $200

This workshop is essential to pilots who like to have the skills to inspect, maintain and repack their paragliding reserve and eventually want to be certified to repack reserves.

Paraglider inspection and trim tuning
Freddo is going to be in the Valley from June 8th to June 13 and will do the trim tuning here in Invermere.
We only can take a limited amount of wings to be done here and the once he can not do here in Invermere, he will take them with him to Quebec (shipping charges will apply)

NOVA Trim Tuning – $100
We will measure all the lines, analyse the trimming using special software and then put your wing back to its optimal flying condition.
https://www.nova.eu/en/service/nova-trim-tuning/

Complete control Paraglider inspection – $190
Complete control inspection (porosity check, line and tissue strength) structural check and trim
adjustment)

*these prices are higher than Freddo is listing at his website to cover fro Freddo’s travel expenses. The overall cost is still lower considering you are saving the shipping costs. More info at www.parafreddo.com

 

Tandem flying at Panorama Resort is in full swing and the conditons for flying and skiing are superb!

Sometimes we do have some very interesting flights, one of them, was last week with Sam MacMillan.

Sam is working for “Sunrise” channel 7 in Australia (which has about 8 million live viewers) and they did a episode here at Panorama.
I did meet with the film crew the night before to discuss details and if I would be able to mount some cameras on the tandem wing.
First, I stated that the weather might be kind of challenging due the high winds and if the conditions are good, I would be able to get at least a camera mounted into my wing for filming from the top down. Then they saw the footage of my “Santa” flight with a trailing camera and asked if I would be able to add this. Again, my answer was if the conditions would be good I should be able to do it, although, the trailing camera can be very challenging. Later this evening they saw a video me flying with the Canadian flag and they asked if I could do that tomorrow as well. Again, my answer was, if the conditions are good, we might be able to pull that off. I knew that this would be my most challenging take off, as I have never had a trailing camera, wing mounted camera, selfie stick and Canadian flag at the same time.

The next day, we got up by snowmobile to get set up early as they needed the material for the live show. The conditions at the takeoff where okay, meaning we had no wind and light wind from behind (which is not the best). I decided to set up all the cameras and the Canadian flag as this seams to be a cool project and all would be worth the effort.

The only part I did forget to check more carefully was if my passenger could ski!

Once Sam was on the mountain and I found out that Sam can not ski at all, I knew I was up for a challenge. Actually it was quite entertaining to get him onto the skies and trying to get him to ski 5 feet. But being ready for takeoff in challenging conditions with all the extra cameras and gear and a passenger who does not know how to ski added a “little” spice to the project.

Everything went well and you can see the archived video of the flight and the vow to Shania Twain what was at the live breakfast show at
https://au.news.yahoo.com/…/38638…/sam-mac-goes-paragliding/

And here is my video of the takeoff and flight with the takeoff part Sam was talking about at the show. 

 

The last couple of days, Penny and I have been talking lots about the upcoming xAlps, starting in a couple of days! We have lots and lots of great memories. What is going on there right now? … everyone is now in Fuschel am See, checking in, going through the safety and race meetings, working on the final touches of their gear, going over the route again and again, meeting fellow pilots, supporters, photographers, runners, and you name it…. It is a huge family!

We feel very privileged to have competed 4 times in the race. The xAlps helped shape us into who we are, how our relationship evolved, and what our family is today.

Yes, we would love to participate again, but we also know how much commitment it takes to be there and we are now at a different chapter of our lives. We created lifelong friendships over the years of racing, and we learned a lot, but it was time to move on, and pursue other goals and adventures in our lives.

Our thoughts are with everyone there, as well as Hannes’s family and friends, being the first race without him. It won’t be the same, and he will be sorely missed.

Penny, the kids and I wish all of the xAlps teams, the competitors and supporters, and everyone involved in the race, all the best, good health, and a lot of fun, in the very unique and personal adventure of the 2017 Redbull X-Alps!!! (www.RedBullxalps.com)

 

This year is a fantastic snow year here at Panorama. At the same time we had so far an incredible year of flying. Andy logged over 50 flights in 2.5 month and I have not even counted how many tandems I have done this season.

Thanks again to Panorama Mountain Resort and all their staff for this awesome season and to make this place so special!

Next weekend we have our 21st annual Easter meet  at Panorama Mountain Resort and so far the weather forecast is looking pretty promising and I am sure it will be a lot of fun again.
If you can, book your room and come for the good flying and socials we have.
If you like to rough it in a outfitter cabin, contact Brent and Tanya to arrange for a bed in their cabins.

See you in the sky and happy landings,
Max & Penny

 

 

 

The 2016/2017 ski season at Panorama resort is open and has been since Dec 9th. The flying season will be open once the Sunbird Chair is in operation. Currently Panorama is working on the ski runs to open the terrain to our landing site. Once this is in place, Panorama will open up the Sunbird chair lift which is needed to get you from the landing site back on top of the mountain.
It sounds like this should happen in the next couple of days, but until then, there is no flying at Panorama as of yet.

Once again, for this season, Panorama is very supportive of pilots with a special fly/ski ticket this year.
Please keep in mind that this special day pass is for pilots who are going to fly only! If you are at the take-off site and it is not good to fly, you can leave your wing at the launch site and ski until the conditions improve. Please do not abuse this special deal, or we will be in jeopardy of losing this privilege.

The take-off and landing is the same as the years before.

Please respect the following points:

• No flying over the bottom high-speed Chair (Mile 1 Quad) area at all (see picture below)
• No landings at the village. Only land on designated landing site or on Golf course if it gets to windy.
• No launches after 3:00 pm
• Cross lifts with at least 150 feet
• Pilots need to have skis or a snowboard to get a ride with the lift
• Contact RK Heliski before you head up the Mountain at 250 342-3889.
  This is just to let them know we are flying as they will inform their pilots of the activities.

Here is what you need to be able to fly at Panorama: 

• Novice Rating (P2 rating)
• HPAC Liability Insurance
• NO Speedwing flying, Paragliding only
• Access to launch sites only possible with skies or snowboard.
• All pilots to sign the 2016/2017 waiver
• Pilots are required to get in touch with Max Fanderl (max@flyingMax.com) to get the waiver forms
  • Send your HPAC membership number, expiry date and rating

More details at https://flyingmax.com/area/panorama/

Seasons greetings and happy landings

Max, Penny & the kids

 

Based on how long ago I posted my last blog, lots of people are wondering what is happening,

It was a very busy summer with paragliding, ultralight flying, working with TrappeurHomes.com and ColumbiaRiverPaddle.com. The summer flew by, and it is hard to believe it is almost winter.

So, what’s new with flyingMax?

Besides certifying new pilots, running a SIV at Whitetale Lake, doing “Discovery” flights with my Quicksilver ultralight, guiding in the Dolomite’s, visiting a SIV workshop in Annecy and attending the Nova pilots meet, I renewed my paragliding instructor rating and accepted the invite as a Senior paragliding instructor.

For my instructor re-certification course I traveled to Claudio Mota in Drayton Valley, AB. It was the best thing I ever did and was able to brush up my towing skills.

 

Everything feels like all the pieces are falling into the right places:

• Re-connected with my old friend Juergen Kraus to get all the support to run a “soft” SIV at Whitetale lake.
• Working more extensively with the Quicksilver in regards to Ultralight flying and instructions.
• Re-certification instructor course with Claudio Mota and brushing up my towing skills.
• Accepting the “Senior” instructor status to to be more involved with the HPAC instructor certifications.
• purchased a “Scooter” winch (650cc Suzuki)
  • to offer another option to “foot” launch for supervised P2 flights.
  • use the winch for teaching powered paragliding
• got approved as a Transport Canada Ultralight School in the Columbia Valley (Flight Training Unit #5031)

Based on all the above pieces falling in place, I have the following plans for 2017:

• For the 2016/2017 ski season
  • signed a contract with Panorama Mt. Resort to fly tandems at least 5 days a week
  • offer ski launch workshops
  • offer supervised P2 flights for P1 pilots
• Powered Paragliding lessons
  • Running Ultralight Ground School (min 20 hours)
  • Practical PPG lessons
• Run a paragliding instructor course in the early spring
  • Instructor course based on the on the minimum HPAC requirements
  • Instructor course including ultralight ground school, HAGAR course and practical instructional tips (1 week)
• Run one P1 course through the College of the Rockies in early spring.
• Plan to run another “soft” SIV in May
• Explore the Alps tour in September

Happy landings to everyone and looking forward to the next season.

Max & Penny