The newest craze for adrenaline junkies has hit Lancashire and it involves as little as a kite and a hill……….. Confused?? So was I when I first heard about it but as time passed and its popularity expanded it has now dawned on me that Speed Flying could be the next big thing this summer.
Now I first heard about it from my friend Dave, who I used to believe had suicidal tendencies, as he was always picking strange life threatening sports to keep him self entertained J However the more I heard and the more Youtube videos I (was forced) to watch I have (surprisingly) become quite intrigued.
Now it appears that there are definitely 2 different types of Speed Flying, the actual definition, according to http://www.speed-flying.com/ is; "Speed-Flying is an extreme sport that involves a combination of paragliding and skiing skills. It is a relatively new sport that is growing rapidly and gaining lots of attention"
This is describing the winter side of the sport, the summer side (which is sometimes also known as Ground Launching) is pretty much gliding off hills or any mountainous area whilst keeping fairly close to the ground until it is time to land.
However due to our lack of huge snowy mountains here in Lancashire I will be referring to the summer side of the sport.
According to Speed Flyer Magazine (an online magazine that is in the works) one of the UK’s best speed flyers is Mark Walton who has been taking part in the sport for the past 2 years. He also has an extensive background in other extreme sports, such as Sky Diving and Base Jumping. When contacted he was more than happy to help explain this new phenomenon that is slowly but surely sweeping the Northern parts of England.
When I happily informed him of his new status as one of the UK’s best speed flyers he told me that,
“I’m very flattered but I don’t really see it that way, I just like to go out fly and have fun. There are some fantastic speed flyers in the UK and it’s nice to be up there with them.”
When asked how he got involved in this type of sport he told me,
“My background is skydiving (over 1000 jumps) and base jumping, I was looking for another sport where I wasn’t as controlled by either a Drop Zone or have to do the sneaking around at 3am to jump an object. It was a pretty easy transition to speed flying as the wings are very similar to the skydiving canopies we fly. I love the freedom of Speed flying; you get to climb some of the most amazing hills check out the view then fly back down inches from the ground.”
I am also glad to report that Mark thinks the Lake District is a great place to go Speed Flying, as well as its numerous sites to jump from, its visual sights are astounding. Now like any extreme sport they sound amazing and are a definite adrenaline fix however the dangers have to be considered and when asking Mark if he knew anyone that had been seriously hurt when taking part, he told me,
“Yes, Speed flying is a very dangerous sport we are flying inches above some terrible terrain. If you make a mistake it can be very costly. Thankfully everyone I know who has hurt themselves has made a good recovery. The main injuries tend to be broken bones.”
He does express the dangers within the sport and wouldn’t advise anyone to take part unless they have done their research on it and have fully accepted the possible consequences,
“Before taking part in Speed Flying I recommend to get a good grounding in either skydiving or Paragliding, this will teach you the control you need, as I mentioned before there is very little margin for error so you really have to be very confident in your flying ability. Also like all extreme sports it looks cool but you must be willing to accept the risk of injury or death. If you are happy with the risk then get involved, it is a great sport. The guys who fly are some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Tips and advice are shared freely as we are always looking to learn new skills ourselves.”
So with the hope of a good summer ahead of us take advantage of our northern landscape and join people like Mark Walton in learning to fly.
Breakout
(Mark also included this information and I thought it would be a good idea for a break out on what equipment people would need when taking part in Speed Flying)
“Wing (also referred to as a canopy by skydivers and base jumpers). The wings lines connect to things called Risers, these in turn connect to the harness via Karabiners.
On the risers you will find your brake toggles, and your trims. The trims alter the angle of attack on the wing (basically pivots the nose of the wing up and down) this helps the kits to fly in various wind conditions and helps to match the gradient of a hill.
When we take off it’s called a launch and when we land at the end of a flight it’s called a flare (this is when we pull both toggles down).If we pull the toggles down too much in flight this is called a stall and will make the wing collapse, very scary and dangerous. Two types of turns are a spiral turn or a barrel roll.
We also all wear helmets, body armour and boots”
This article was also published in an up and coming online magazine called EliteOnline, check it out for yourselves :D
