surrey-dad

NB: These are not my own video clips. They are just some of my favourites found whilst doing my newbie research into PPG. As we move into November, I thought that some autumn colour was in order. Here is some beautiful footage of the autumn foliage north east of Barcelona - on the Spanish side of the Parc National des Pyrennees. Not quite sure why the first 2m30s is used to show EIGHT takeoff attempts, but at least the music is great. Easy enough to skip it if you are not interested and get straight to the colourful mountainous scenery. You can almost smell the fresh air..... If you have the bandwidth, definitely worth watching this one in wider format. (As always right click on video to view YouTube in larger wide format & HQ) [youtubevideo] [/youtubevideo]Andy

Dave - for a moment I thought it was going to be footage of you and your mates blasting skywards on FT's But interesting to see the various tackeoff styles, not to mention the variation in stride patterns... Are you a sprinter, fast shuffler or hop skip and jumper Dave ? Andy

Blimey - you guys must have big garages/drives Andy

Thanks for the post Mike. Great to hear that a good time was had by all. Did anyone get into the air or actually manage to fly-in ? Cheers, Andy

Some possible inspiration for tomorrow nights Firework Fly-in Videos of the Week: Synchronised night flying with fireworks Andy

NB: These are not my own video clips. They are just some of my favourites found whilst doing my newbie research into PPG. Thought this next video clip was appropriate for tomorrow nights Firework Fly-in. Unfortunately it is rather short, but might give some inspiration - synchronised night flying with fireworks (As always right click on video to view YouTube in larger wide format & HQ) [youtubevideo] [/youtubevideo]Anyway have fun tomorrow folks, stay safe - and please post plenty of video for those of us that can't be there... Andy

HFT Just in case anyone else was also wondering, Google => HFT (Hunter Field Target) Andy

Not my photos either, but this has to be one of the most famous foot launched takeoff sites in Europe - used for the annual international Coupe Icare festival (St Hilaire du Touvet, France). Doesn't look so special from this angle: But this view gives a much better idea of this awesome location (the North Takeoff) Better still, here is a previously posted thread - which includes video of takeoffs at the festival : Coupe Icare 2009 Andy

Here you go Gary. I noticed that you replied to my post last night with some photo links, but then deleted the post before I could reply with embedded image.Anyway here is one of your Snowdon photos. Great picture - but looks bl@@dy cold ! Andy

Hi CambodiaIf you are serious about Video and High Definition, then you should go to a Mac. If you are resistant to that, you can use Windows, but you’ll need a state of the art system. You’ll want to get at least a Core 2 Duo, a big hard drive and at least 2GB of RAM, and you’ll want to get Adobe Premiere Elements. You will also want to use XP / Win 7 NOT Vista. I am dubious of your 6GB RAM comment, as unless you are running 64bit version of Windows you cannot address more than 3GB of memory regardless of how much you install. Anyway the main trick here is not to import your video at 1080p, but at half the resolution - 540p (that is 960x540p). By importing at this resolution you reduce the quality very little, and get a useful viewable size. But most importantly you dramatically reduce the file size, which makes it much easier to work with files. So you get the best of both worlds. As far as storing your edited videos are concerned I would recommend H.264 format. If you have a good broadband connection, check out the following BBC wildlife sample video in 540p (yes there had to be a video ) Click on the image and select the 480p option (which is actually 960x540): (File size: ~36MB for 2m20s) Hope this is of some use, but please PM me if I can be of any more help. Andy

No - but will certainly check it out. That is certainly a great challenge! I hope you are intending to keep a blog to share your experiences around the preparation and ultimately the climb and PG flight. Hint Cheers, Andy

As an absolute newbie I certainly found this book a very useful introduction to PPG - as it is well structured, and a very easy read. But you will soon find that it needs to be used in conjunction with information on these forums, when you want to go into more detail around topics such as navigation and meteorology. Don't think that there is a comprehensive 'PPG Bible' out there yet - but Norman seems to be working towards one Andy

That does sound like an epic adventure Rob. So am sorry if this seems a dumb question For those of us unenlightened folks, is a significant part of the fun of PG around the climb and launch from the summit? As it just seems a lot of hard work and time, when you can fly up and over the summit with your PPG. Yes please - I would certainly love to see those pictures...Andy

Dan - was that a rough landing ? Andy

Sorry Dan But can't I do both ? Have been using xcweather up to know - as don't yet have a flashy iPhone app like many of the folks here... But am now off to check out Metcheck... Andy

Dave - I think a number of us would like to be added to the distribution list for your FT insights. I certainly would please... Andy

Blimey - was not aware of so many manufacturers. Also need to add Jock and Gulfstream1 to the list Simon - any chance of setting up a poll to get an idea of the numbers of users per manufacturer ? Andy

Eddie - I am hoping it is. PPG that is - NOT Simon Andy

Can I ask which weather service you got the table from? - as it looks like a useful summary. But obviously hoping for you folks lucky enough to be attending the fireworks, that its accuracy for Saturday is pants... Andy

Thanks Dave - shows off the FT's powerrrrr well Here is a similar clip of an FT helping to launch a skydiver - but takeoff from a jet ski on water.... It looks liks DellS is the pilot (This is a Vimeo video. Click on image to view the movie Andy

NB: These are not my own video clips. They are just some of my favourites found whilst doing my newbie research into PPG. Back to France again now for an interesting video clip of flight to D'ent d'Arcusaz (nr. Annecy). Some fantastic shots of the rock geology and the flight along the sharp ridge down to Annecy, interspersed with nice computer 3D overlay of GPS tracked route. (This is a Vimeo video. Click on image to view the movie Andy

Probably a stupid question, but have to ask anyway :Are coastal radar systems so sensitive that they will pick up and track a solitary paramotor ? Andy

IMHO it is probably because many people are not even aware that it exists as a sport !In my case, although I knew about paragliding, it wasn't until somebody suddenly appeared over a french sand dune with a motor strapped to their back and proceeded to fly off along a long beach into a lovely sunset that I realised that this was something I wanted to try out. But next challenge when I got back to the UK was to find a suitable trainer. Fortunately after trawling the web I found this website and then Simon... Andy

Garmin Foretrex 401 GPS Watch Stretching the limits of what some would call 'a watch' - but pretty good price (Currently £196.68 & Free Delivery with Amazon Prime) Andy

Hi Alan - have you been taking too much medicine ? Hope you are feeling better. Andy