Cross Country, issue 133, Jan/Feb 2011
A Flatland special, with a six-page feature on places to fly over 200 km: Quixada, Piedrahita, Zapata, Manilla and De Aar. Kicking off with Zapata, Texas...
“IF YOU'RE INTERESTED in big cross country flights by far the finest place to find them is in Texas,” says Davis Straub, US hang glider pilot, world record holder and Zapata zealot.
“They say everything is bigger in Texas, and when it comes to cross country flights, they’re right. I consider Texas to be the best place in the world for cross country flying, whether by hang glider or paraglider.”
The records make the case. Manfred Ruhmer flew 700.6 km here on 17 July 2001 to set the world record open distance for hang gliding. Officially it’s unbroken, unofficially, pilots have flown further here. Will Gadd flew from here both times when he set the world record open distance for paragliders, pushing it past 400 km to 423.4 km on 21 June 2002.
Pilots hunting records wake at dawn to see if there are clouds streaming in from the south east and the Gulf of Mexico. Ready to launch by 8.30am they tow 1,000 m up – above the clouds – before releasing and flying downwind. After 10 km or so they find themselves back down at early morning cloudbase where they start to scratch.
The first 70 km is difficult terrain, so land-outs are a no-no. “Combine weak lift, a low cloud base, restricted landing areas, and difficult retrieves, and some pilots feel the adventure is more than they are willing to take on,” says Davis, “even for the chance to set a world record.”
Read the rest in issue 133 of Cross Country magazine, available as a download through Zinio.com or as a back issue
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