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Cloudbase Paragliding

Jan’s story, and therefore Cloudbase’s story

4 December 2019
mainmac
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Categories: Paragliding

Jan Minnaar, is the Chief flying Instructor, and proprietor of Cloudbase Paragliding School, and has been paragliding since April 1991.

He learnt to fly in Cape Town with Daedalus Paragliding under the instructorship of Kobus Botha and Springbok Parachutist and multiple National Paragliding Champion, Jay van Deventer.

In April 1992 Jan, Julian Herbstein and Anthony Allen started as assistant instructors with Jay and Jan took over the day to day running of Daedalus Paragliding. In February 1993 he received his instructor rating. During this time Daedalus saw good growth and organized many popular flyaway weekends to Wilderness.

In July 1993 Jan went as the team manager for the South African National team at the Paragliding World Championships in Verbier, Switzerland. Following on from Verbier. Jan spent a further 2 months in Germany and Switzerland flying and seeing how European schools operated. He also attended a safety course and experienced tow launching from a static winch.
On his return he was offered the position of factory manager at Fun 2 Fly Paragliders in Durban. Together with Herbert Forsthofer, the factory expanded and moved premises.

Jan loved teaching, and so CLOUDBASE PARAGLIDING School was established on the 1st November 1993. As Jan was still working in the Fun 2 Fly factory, teaching was a weekend passion only and this saw the foothills of Eshowe bedecked with paragliders. His commitment to his Cape Town students saw him commuting every 3 months to Wilderness as well.  After woking for 18 months for Fun 2 Fly it was growing rapidly ,new partners were brought in and  Jan therefore made a decision to leave Fun2Fly and to base himself in Wilderness, where the training conditions were consistently safe, and run his school full time.

Jan set up premises in the Garden Route Town of Wilderness in 1995, including an informal Bed & Breakfast. The camaraderie became legendary. The combination of personal attention, learning experience and fun times when not flyable, ensured steady growth of the school.

In August 1995 the first Alpine Tour was organized, visiting the Austrian Alps and Switzerland. This has become an annual event and has resulted in increased reciprocal visits by foreign pilots. To facilitate this Jan started a new division, CLOUDBASE TOURS.

Jan was the first professional full-time school in the country and to be based in the Garden Route. During his travels abroad he actively raised awareness of the opportunities available as a paragliding destination.

Jan was also the first South African instructor to offer tandem flights to the public in December 1994.

From October 1994 until June 2006, Jan was elected to the executive committee of SAHPA, and in this time held the position of National Licensing and Safety Officer for 3 years, was vice chairman and also the Eastern Cape representative. Jan served for 12 years consecutively on the SAHPA committee.

In November 2004 Jan was given the prestigious Gold Wings Award from the Aero Club of South Africa. The Gold Wings Award is for “his significant contribution to Sport Aviation in South Africa”.

In June 2005 Jan completed his powered paragliding license and in February 2006 obtained his Powered Paragliding Instructor rating.

Jan received his ‘A’ Grade instructor rating in 2018 and was one of the first in the country.

Jan has competed internationally regularly over the years as well as locally, and due to his calm manner and understanding of the sport Jan has been the team manager for the South Africa National team at the Paragliding World Championships in  2011 in Spain, 2013 in Bulgaria, 2017 in Italy and 2019 in Macedonia.

Khobi-Jane Bowden became an integral part of Cloudbase Paragliding in May 2002.

Khobi-Jane’s passion for paragliding started in 1999 in Venezuela whilst on a sailing vacation with her Father. On returning to London she signed up with a school in the south of England to continue paragliding. Unfortunately, it was also at the time of Foot and Mouth disease and very few British schools could operate. This was followed by a long period of bad weather.

In April 2001 she signed up to come to Cloudbase for a two week holiday and to complete her paragliding course.

Prior to joining Cloudbase, Khobi-Jane ran a small restaurant in a marina on St Lucia in the Caribbean. She had studied Maths in London, and then after leaving the Caribbean she studied Business and Computers at Queens University of Belfast. She has had a number of careers and her last role before being a paragliding instructor was as an IT project manager for a major private investment bank in London.

With her love for cooking and her restaurant skills, Cloudbase Paragliding is now able to offer gourmet meals in Wilderness and on the “Smile while You Scream” and ‘Ski Fly’ Alpine tours!!

After a three-year apprenticeship as an assistant instructor, Khobi-Jane received her instructors rating in November 2005. Her thorough training method is reflected in her love for paragliding and people.

In February 2007 Khobi-Jane received her Tandem rating and attained her Tandem Flight Instructor rating in December 2011, and was the first commercial female tandem pilot in South Africa.

Khobi-Jane received her ‘A’ Grade instructor rating in 2018 and was one of the first in the country.

Khobi-Jane started flying competitions in 2004 as a requirement for her instructor license, but enjoyed it so much, that the rat bit and she started flying the circuits.

This led to Khobi-Jane winning the Ladies Championship in 2009, and the Sports Class for the SA Cup.

Khobi retained the South African Ladies Championship for 2010, as well as being The Pre PWC Wine Lands Open Ladies Champion, and Khobi-Jane was 3rd lady in the Pre-World Championship in Piedrahita, Spain.

This led to Khobi-Jane representing South Africa for the first time at the 2011 Paragliding World Championship in Piedrahita. She is also the first female to be in the top 5 ranked pilots in South Africa in the World Paragliding Ranking System.

She retained the South African Ladies Championship for 2011, as well as being The Pre PWC Wine Lands Open Ladies Champion, and was 1st Lady in the Pre World Championships in Bulgaria.

Once again, Khobi-Jane retained the South African Ladies Championship for 2012 through to 2018, and also represented South Africa in the National Team in Bulgaria for 2013 World Championships, Colombia for the 2015 World Championships, Italy for the 2017 World Championships, and Macedonia for the 2019 World Championships. She also qualified for the Paragliding World Cup super final in 2014, 2016, 2018.

Adapting to the EN system

4 December 2019
mainmac
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Categories: Paragliding

As humans, our natural instinct is to resist change, so when the new EN certification for paragliders arrived, we resisted the A, B, C and D class and insisted on still referring to the DHV system of a ‘1-2’ or a ‘2’. Today, seven years later, as dealers, we still get requests from pilots asking for a DHV 2 wing!

The problem with this is that a majority of pilots simply equate DHV 1 with an EN A class, a DHV 1-2 with a B class and so on, and it is not that straight forward. There is no doubt that the concept is very similar, as the definitions of EN and DHV classes in the below table show. However, the classes do not exactly correlate, and hence re-education of where your wing sits with respect to pilot ability is required.

DHV Description of pilot skills required EN

Class

 Description

of flight characteristics

 Description

of pilot skills required
 

1

 Paragliders with simple and very forgiving flying characteristics.  

 

A

 Paragliders with maximum passive safety and extremely forgiving flying characteristics. Gliders with good resistance to departures from normal Designed for all pilots including pilots under all levels of training.
 

1-2

 Paragliders with good-natured flying

characteristics.

 flight.
 

 

B

 Paragliders with good passive safety and forgiving flying characteristics.

Gliders with some

 Designed for all pilots including pilots under all levels of training.
 

2

 Paragliders with demanding flying characteristics and potentially dynamic reactions to turbulence and pilot errors. Recommended for regularly flying pilots resistance to departures

from normal flight.
 

 

C

 Paragliders with moderate passive safety and with potentially dynamic reactions to turbulence and Designed for pilots familiar with recovery techniques, who fly “actively” and regularly, and understand
 

2-3

 Paragliders with very demanding flying

characteristics and potentially violent reactions to turbulence and pilot errors. Recommended for experienced and regularly flying pilots.

 pilot errors. Recovery to normal flight may require precise pilot input. the implications of flying a glider with reduced passive safety.
 

 

 

D

 Paragliders with demanding flying characteristics and Designed for pilots well practised in recovery
 

3

 Paragliders with very demanding flying characteristics and potentially very violent reactions to turbulence and pilot errors, little scope for pilot errors. For expert pilots. potentially violent reactions

to turbulence and pilot errors. Recovery to normal flight requires precise pilot input.

 techniques, who fly very

actively, have significant experience of flying in turbulent conditions, and who accept the implications of flying such a wing.

 

As a .general definition ‘Certification’ refers to the confirmation of certain characteristics of an object, person, or organisation. This confirmation is often, but not always, provided by some form of external review, education, assessment, or audit. With regard to our Paragliders this means a number of flight, and strength tests.

Each glider is put through a number of flight tests and rated accordingly depending on the flight characteristics of the wing during the test. For example:

 

Manoeuvre                                                               Weight 85                                     Classification    Weight 110                                  Classification
Pitch stability exiting accelerated flight A A
Dive forward angle on exit Dive forward less than 30° A Dive forward less than 30° A
Collapse Occurs No A No A
Pitch stability operating controls during accelerated flight A A
Collapse occurs No A No A

The flight characteristics therefore describe the glider’s tendency to recover or to get out of control and fall out of the sky.

For example if you read the description for ‘C’ class gliders, what this is telling you is that with one of these gliders you could reasonably expect ‘dynamic reactions to turbulence’. A dynamic reaction to turbulence would be, say, getting some choppy air on the edge of a thermal and suddenly finding you have a 30% collapse and you need to react accordingly. The description goes on to say ‘Recovery to normal flight may require precise pilot input‘. What this means is that there is a strong likelihood that you need to input the correct actions at precisely the right time to stop a cascade of other events.

The aim of the EN norm implementation was to bring together tests which are unique and to create a repeatable standard that is documented on video. The EN certification for paragliders comprises of 24 manoeuvres, each of which is separated into the 4 classifications. EN certification is controlled by ISO.

Below we have taken the EN classes, and broken them down into two levels, within each classification.

A. Beginners

A1 Especially for training, wings for schools, exercises and the first flights.

A2 Good passive safety, good handling and excellent first wing with guaranteed fun.

B. Intermediate

B1 This is the classic basic intermediate wing with high safety, good handling and sufficient performance. A glider for life!

B2 For some years this level has improved performance wise, it should be good safety combined with good handling and performance. But the general feel from the top pilots is that these wings have become a little more demanding and maybe a little too much for the average Joe Soap pilot.

C. Sports class

C1 Good natured sports class wings, with good safety combined with performance. The original Sports class definition.

A1                              A2                                   B1                                        B2                                      C1                                          C2                              D1                               D2
BEGINNERS INTERMEDIATES SPORT CLASS PERFOMANCE
Nova Prion Ozone Element 2 Advance Alpha 5

Gin Bolero 4

Gradient Bright 4 Icaro Cyber TE Independence Pioneer Mac Para Muse 3 Niviuk Koyot 2

S1 Paragliders Fides 3 Skyline Owl

Skywalk Mescal3 UP Ascent 3

 Advance Epsilon 7 AirCross U Fly 2 AirDesign Rise Airdesign Vita BGD Wasp

Gin Atlas Gradient Golden4

Gradient Montane Icaro Wildcat TE Mac Para Yukon Nova Ion 3/Light Ozone Buzz Z4 Ozone Geo 3

Pro Design Thema 3 Skyline Falcon

Sky Paragliders Anakis 2 Sealk Tequila4

UP Kantega XC2

UP Makalu 3

 Advance Iota Dudek Optic Gin Sprint Evo

Gradient Nevada Independence Geronimo Mac Para Eden 5

Niviuk Hook 3

Nova Mentor 3

Ozone Rush 4 Sol Ellus Five

Skyman Heartbeat Skywalk Chili 3

Sky Paragliders Atis 4 Swing Mistral 7

Triple Seven Rook U-Tum Blacklight

 Advance Sigma 9 AirDesign Volt Axis Para Vega 4 BGD Tala/Lite Gin Carrera

Independence Sportster Mac Para Envy 2

MCC Insinia Niviuk Artik 3 Sol Synergy Five

SW Paragliders Antea 2 UP Summit XC3

 Aircross U Cross Dudek Colt Gradient Aspen 4

Icaro Maverick 2 Mac Para Marvel Nova Factor 2

Ozone Delta 2

Skywalk Cayenne 4

Swing Astral 7 Triple Seven Queen UP Trango XC2

U-Turn  Passion

 Advance Omega 8 Gin Boomerang GTO Advance Zeta             Gin Boomerang 9

Sol Torck 2               Gradient Avax XC3 Mac Para Magus XC2 Niviuk Icepeak 7

Niviuk Peak 3

Ozone Enzo 2 Ozone Mantra M6 Skywalk Poison 3

 

C2 Discerning sports class wings for top XC pilots with high flight numbers logged, similar to the DHV 2-3 class. A bridge into the EN D class.

D. Performance wing

D1 Demanding high performance wings, very experienced pilots.

D2 Certified 2-liner gliders, extremely demanding. Until recently this was the competition class wing, ie the highest certified wing.

CCC Civl Competition Class

This is a new class bought in this year specifically for category 1 events, and is an article on its own, read your next Go Fly!

To help you understand where some of our wings may lie  in this system below is a table of gliders rated by German test pilots against this slightly more diverse system. The table is not all-encompassing.

To truly understand where your glider sits with regards    its flight characteristics download the relevant flight test report, and see what classification it received for the different manoeuvres, and focus on the ones you feel are a priority with regard to your skill level.

It is possible to have two gliders both rated as an EN B for example, but one will have a majority of its flight characteristics rated as ‘A’ with only one ‘B’, whereas the other will have a majority of its flight characteristics rated as ‘B’, therefore the second glider is a little bit more ‘hot to handle’!

The best thing to do before buying a glider is to actually speak to your dealer as he/she should be knowledgeable of the performance of each glider in the range that they sell,   and should be able to advise you on the different flight characteristics the wing has, and depending on your skill level advise you as to which glider is best for you.

The manufacturers are also giving very concise descriptions to which pilot they are aiming their gliders at, so read up on their websites.

Sandy Cochepain, ladies paragliding World Champion, once said that ‘a majority of pilots do not fly their gliders to 100% before moving up to a new class of glider’.

Paragliding

4 December 2019
mainmac
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Categories: Paragliding

Since the dawn of history, man could not fail to have been impressed by the mysterious phenomenon of flight.  As birds and insects were constantly around for him to observe and admire, he must have longed for wings of his own so that he, too, might take off and experience the rush of cool air as he swooped and turned in the skies.  Unobstructed and free, he would escape the constraints of his earth bound existence.  The notion of flight would have seemed even more of a miracle then than it still appears today, so it is no wonder that wings, with their power, mobility and speed, symbolized the unearthly, the superhuman and the divine.

For man, the mastery of flight probably represents his supreme technical achievement, which, in less than a century, has enormously extended his domination of the planet.

Only in the past hundred years or so have we begun to understand the physical laws that govern flight, yet we are still moved or sometimes puzzled at the sight of a swooping peregrine, a dragonfly chasing a gnat, the humble housefly deftly out manoeuvring the descending swat or 400 tons of jumbo jet ponderously rising into the air to weave its way freely through ‘space’, apparently defying the laws of nature.

To fly on the winds has been one of man’s most coveted ambitions throughout history.  The 20th century has, to a large extent, realised that ambition. However, the simplicity of flight has always eluded man, that is until now.  Like no other aviation sport, Paragliding easily combines the excitement of flight with simple and cost-free preparation. To fly a Paraglider is a thrill beyond belief and will give you many hours of enjoyment beyond your wildest imagination. Finally, a fun adventure sport has arrived that does not require the participant to be a superman.

Taking off from a simple hilltop or a mountain, pilots have been able to achieve remarkable flights, causing shock waves to ripple through the rest of the sport aviation community. The World Distance Record now stands at an incredible 583 km, and the Endurance Record at over 13 hours.

A paraglider is a flexible, inflatable, ultra-light gliding wing, not a parachute, but a genuine aircraft wing in every sense of the word. The pilot inflates the glider, raises it above his head and ensures that it is fully open before taking off from any suitable slope. We do not “jump” off mountains but run down a slope in order to get airborne; using the slope exactly like a regular aircraft uses a runway. The pilot then uses a combination of ridge lift and thermic lift to stay aloft, and can choose to land at the bottom of the very same hill or mountain, or sometimes cover vast distances.

Here in the Garden Route we are blessed with many beautiful flying sites, from Wilderness through to Plettenburg Bay. Our main flying season is from October through to May, when we enjoy gentle sea breezes and sunny days, which allow us to fly along the coast line over the beaches. Opportunities to learn to fly or just come along for a tandem flight with a trained instructor are plentiful.

For further details contact Jan Minnaar chief flying instructor at Cloudbase Paragliding in Wilderness – 082 777 8474