The Belgian Open Hang Gliding Championships will once again be held in Laragne this year from the 14th July to the 22nd July 2012.

The Belgian Open / Nationals is a relaxed, excellent entry into the world of competition hang gliding for pilots of all skill levels - much more fun and less stressful than some of the bigger Cat-2 and Cat-1 events. Headquarters and daily pilot briefings are held at Camping Monteglin (where everyone stays) and you can sign up for a seat on the offocial retrieve bus if you don't think you'll make it back to the camp site (goal.)

The IHPA hangies have traditionally teamed up to fly in the Belgian Open for many years and it is generally part of our main flying holiday in the French Alps. We usually take one or two cars loaded up with pilots and gear, along with (for a fee!) the gear of any other pilots flying down to Marseille directly. The more pilots going down, the cheaper it gets. We usually break the journey down with a stop-over at Lake Annecy to fly that spectacular site. Contact Phil Lardner or Ken Hickey for further details.

Parties, entertainment and prizes are also laid on! If you haven't flown in a HG competition before then this is the place to dip your toe in the water.

The British HG Nationals will also run in Laragne from the 22nd to the 28th July. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or go to http://bhgc.wikidot.com/2012-nats:info.

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IHPA membership fees have paid for the repair of the fence along the top of the westerly car park hill at Mt. Leinster and for the construction of a very sturdy style giving access to the slope.

Please use the style and do not be tempted to cross the fence at any other point or you risk damaging the fence and quite possibly neutering yourself on the barbed wire!

Please report any damage either of the fence or the style to the IHPA immediatly so that we can have it repaired. Thanks.

CIVL has published new document explaining the GAP2008 scoring formula and options. The document is available at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/competitions/gap. (see bottom of that page)

The IHPA has been officially reinstated as the National Governing Body for the sports of Hang Gliding and Paragliding in Ireland.

It was agreed at a Bureau meeting in Talloires, 1st February 2007, that all CIVL approved Local Regulations for Category 1 Competitions shall be published on the CIVL Website. The Local Regulations published on this page are those approved and accepted by the Plenary, or approved by the Bureau. Also below are the Entry Requirements for Category 1 Competitions which have been approved by CIVL and published in advance of the Local Regulations.

The Local Regulations and Entry Requirements for upcoming FAI/CIVL Category 1 competitions:

2011_18th_FAI_World_HG_Champs_MonteCucco_Entry_Requirements.pdf    57.56 KB
2011_12thFAI_WorldPG_Champs_Piedrahita_Entry_Requirements.pdf    68.75 KB

IRISH SPORT UNITES IN APPEAL TO GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT SPORT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

Irish sport has once again united in making a submission to Government highlighting the vital role played by Government funding in the development of Irish sport.  In a submission made on behalf of everyone involved in Irish sport, the national sporting organisations pointed out the damage that will be done to sport in Ireland if Government was to make drastic cuts in the current funding of sport in this country.

New pilots who have completed their initial training in a BHPA school who want to convert their Club Pilot rating to Para Pro 3, the minimum requirement to allow them to fly unsupervised, should read the following:

Join us on Facebook! The IHPA now has its own Group on the Facebook social networking site, which you can join to help keep you in touch with pilots in Ireland and around the world! Just log-in to www.facebook.com (you'll need to have a Facebook account first) and search for IHPA. Then just click on the Join this Group button and you're in! Many thanks to Graham Tobin for setting this up.

An appeal for help from the Wicklow Uplands Council:

Quad & Scrambler Bike Damage on the Hills

The serious damage to some upland areas from the off-road use of motorized vehicles is a concern for many hill-walkers.  Thankfully, there is something walkers and IHPA pilots can do to counteract this.

360° Turns and Nose Down Spiral Dives

We draw to your attention a very important BHPA Safety Notice regarding accidentally entering high-G spiral dives while flying 'normal' 360° turns. Click on the link above for the full Advisory. While this advisory covers ALL paragliders, it appears that lower DHV (1 & 1/2) rated wings are more susceptible to this danger.

All paraglider and hang glider pilots intending to fly at Lacken, near Blessington, Co. Wicklow should call Casement Aerodrome ATC 01 403 7514 to alert them of their activities.

Another successful parachute repack session was held in the Templemore Garda Training College sports hall on the Sunday morning after the night before's AGM and historic Irish Grand-Slam rugby triumph over Wales!

Parachute Deployment Safety Notice

Moyes, the manufacturer of the Matrix hang gliding harness have issued a safety notice following reports by some pilots about their difficulty in deploying their reserve parachutes. All Matrix owners are advised to read this notice (click on the link above) and view the accompanying YouTube videos.

Geoff McMahon has broken the hang-gliding distance record with a 129.5km flight from Arra Mountain in Co. Tipperary to Valleymount near Blessington, Co. Wicklow on April 11th. Geoff just pipped the long-standing previous record of 128km was held by Eddie Redmond and it has stood since 1988 when Eddie flew from Mount Leinster to Oldcastle, County Meath.

Matt Bickerdyke recently competed in Red Bull Vertigo 2006 - the 1st FAI World Hang Gliding and Paragliding Aerobatic Championship, in Villeneuve, Switzerland. He cleared the qualifiers with ease and finished a respectable 36th.

Our esteemed Chairman, Dara Hogan, said "In my view, to have an Irishman ranked 36th in the world in acro paragliding is a fine result and one of which Matt should be rightly proud."

For more info see Red Bull Vertigo

Australian Team Advance Pilot, Enda Murphy, recently beat the Irish paragliding distance record with a flight of 140km on his Advance prototype on 27th July. The paragliding distance record of 61km is held by Eoin Hogan, set in April 2004 on his Apco Allegra. Enda had been planning to try some distance flying in Ireland, with a two week stay from 14th – 30th July visiting friends and relatives. The weather had been quite warm and dry in comparison with normal Irish conditions. However he had no luck in the first week and a half, as the conditions were either too blue and stable, or too windy with low cloud base to have any real attempt.