Cross Country magazine, issue 131, Sept / Oct 2010
In May Pál Takáts and Gábor Kézi took a tandem and exploded it in the sky above Olu Deniz. In August they finally pulled off what they’d been trying all along: Infinite Tumbling a tandem. Hold on to your hats… By Ed Ewing
Pál Takáts and Gábor Kézi are well known in the paragliding world, both as expert acro pilots, and, in Pal’s case, as a Red Bull X-Alps pilot. Now, in their latest endeavour, they’ve opened another door in the acro world. And this time, potentially, we can all have a go.
Because together, they successfully Infinite Tumbled a tandem glider, rotating their specially designed 31 sq m U-Turn wing 45 times above the Walensee in Switzerland on 7 August.
They went on to make three further successful flights, during which the pair discovered that contrary to what they had planned for, it is possible for the pilot alone to execute the manoeuvre without the help of the passenger.
The pair had designed a special dual-brake system so the passenger could help pull on the brakes to exit the Infinite Tumble. However, after completing a total of 200 tumbles Pal now says it’s possible to “execute everything safely” without the help of the passenger.
That opens up the possibility of people paying top acro pilots like Pal to take them on Infinite Tandems – something Pal is set to pursue this October in Ölüdeniz.
Billed as “the strongest paraglider ever built” the wing has a reinforced inner structure and extra thick lines. The combined strength of the upper line cascades was calculated to withstand a maximum load of 8.2 tonnes and the main lines 5.2 tonnes.
The need for U-Turn to build such a super-strong wing had become apparent after the Hungarian duo exploded all the A, B and C lines on their glider while practising above Oludeniz in May.
However, despite the setback Pál and Gabor got back on their horse, asked for a set of extra strong lines and a new glider and showcased the Infinite Tandem to the world in August in Switzerland. The film of the event, uploaded the next day to YouTube, instantly became an online acro hit.
So how did they make it work?
Read more (2,000 words) in issue 130 of Cross Country magazine, by subscription or through Zinio.com
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