UltraFlight Magazine
December 2000
By Eric Dufour

The first PPG Rally in France for the world record
 
Eric's report features the first French paramotor rally in Base-Ham, a little town located in Lorraine area, held on June 24 and 25.  This friendly meet was a concentration off all types of paramotor (foot-launch, wheels, mono and tandem).
 

At Sun 'n Fun this spring, Guy Leon-Dufour, president of the Adventure PPG company, invited me for the first powered paraglider rally in Basse-Ham, Lorraine, France.  Since I had to go and visit Meikel Werner and Markus Muller, the two Fresh Breeze PPG company owners in Germany, I decided to kill two birds with the same stone and at the last minute booked for the Rally.

After three days with my German friends, Meikel Werner and Meikel Piochos, his friend and PPG pilot, went with me to France for the rally.  We drove to France with three units in the van:  One Fresh Breeze Monster, a Solo tuned pipe Fresh Breeze unit and one SD Monster (a Fresh Breeze Monster engine on my SD frame).

Jean Claude Chausse flying over the rally take-off area.

We arrived on Friday at the place of the Rally in Basse-Ham, and met with some of the organizers at headquarters, which was a municipal room where we would all have our meals together.  This was their first experience of this kind and it showed at times.

Grand Air, who conducted this rally, had all together a good organisation.
It was big with 124 pilots from 10 different countries:  Belgium, Birmany, Canada, England, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Kuwait and Russia.  It was very successful with tasteful meals with an interesting visit to the Malbrouck Castle on Saturday night, where we all had a good banquet "a la Francaise" that lasted about three enjoyable hours with hors d'oeuvres, meat, bread, good wine, etc.  Adventure, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary was also part of the organization and had a tent of its own.
 
After registering, paying our fees (about $125.00 US) and receiving the papers (map, wavers, rules, ticket ect.), it was 5:00 pm and we still had time to go to the field which was huge and right beside the Moselle river.  We met a few pilots who arrived that day, but only a couple flew that evening.  No need to ask, Meikel and I wanted to go for a flight and in no time we where in our machine, flying over this nice field and admiring the beautiful countryside.  A few people were waving to some pilots.

There were at least 15 different brands of units, Adventure, Fresh Breeze, SD, Jet Pocket, La Mouette Zenoha 250, Fly Castellucio, Fly products, Rad Aviation, Back Bones, Vittorazi, a few amateur constructions and some on wheels also. No DK or Miniplane.
PPG pilot enjoying the view from above the French countryside.
 

Meikel Werner and I did some demo and tandem flights, which seemed new to the French pilots.

After the Saturday breakfast and briefing at 6:30, we all meet at the field.  The weather was not so good with the wind already blowing but as it was still possible to do ground handling.  So we all started the ground handling competition, witch consisted of going around stakes on the ground with the glider flying and the best time wins.  There was also accuracy landing for the most experienced pilots, with the engine shut off at 300 feet over the target.  The closest got the points.  The wind then became too strong and we all went back for lunch, where we all ate, drank wine and chatted.  I usually never drink during a flying day, but I made an exception to share this delicious meal with the pilots, and we were all still there at 3:00 pm.

Ground handling contest.

We went back to the field for the evening but only to fly for fun.  No record was possible because some were not there since most of us were tired after eating and drinking. Some drew a map to be ready for the Saturday night banquet, held at the beautiful Malbrouck castle, where we all happily socialized again. Saturday was just a warm up for Sunday.

 

ATTEMPT AT THE WORLD RECORD

Sunday morning started with a 7:00 briefing and breakfast. At the most, we had about 100 paramotorists present.  The weather was cooperative enough to set up for a record of the most powered paragliders in flight at the same time and place.  We all rushed to the field and by 8:30, pilots started taking off.  It was slow because, even though the field was big enough to launch 10 at a time, they all took off one at a time for safety reasons (don't forget that it was their first experience of a massive launch). 

At 8:45 I counted four pilots in flight, at 9:12 am there were 14 paramotors in flight, and all were flying everywhere at different altitudes.  The wind was already strong enough for reverse launch. At 9:20, 17 PPGs were in flight and three had already landed.  Meikel Werner, Meikel Piochos and I waited to make sure we would be in the air just long enough for the record. So at 9:20 we took off.  Everybody was flying at different altitudes and in all directions so it was a bit confusing and maybe scary for beginner pilots.


I flew high and away to take some pictures and to be able to count the number of pilots in the air.  I counted a maximum of 42 powered paragliders in flight at the same time, which was a beautiful sight to see and good, considering the number of pilots attending.  At 10:00, the pilots were still taking off, but the wind was blowing a little hard. Some pilots had landed already and the conditions were getting bumpy with some good thermals, giving real good climb rate under certain clouds.  At 10:35 am, after one hour and five minutes of flying, I landed and most of the pilots were on the ground by 10:40.

View surrounding the PPG take-off area.

 
Once back on the ground, we were all happy with the experience and talked between ourselves about how many we could have been in the air at the same time.  I said 42, some others said around 40, maybe 50 and some people on the ground had counted about 40 or maybe a little bit over.  I thought that my estimate was about right but when I asked for the official number from Jean-Claude Ludwig, the director of Grand Air and the head of the organization, I was shocked to hear the number of 97!  "It is impossible" I said.  But he reaffirmed that three judges counted 97 powered paraglider.  "All right" I said, "but I don't agree".

Those judges maybe counted the number of take-offs and missed take-offs, but surely not 97 paramotors in flight at the same time and place.  During the attempt, maybe they didn't take into consideration some who missed their take-off and some who landed during the attempt.

Following this announcement, I kept asking pilots what was their best guess and when I told them that the official number was 97 they all were surprised and could not believe it.
 
Since, the beginning, in North America, this record must be set at the same place and all the pilots must be in flight at the same time.  When a pilot is landing we subtract him and when he takes off again we add him. When there are more pilots who are landing than taking off, the record is set and we count the maximum number at that time.

A group photo of the pilots in the record is taken just after the debriefing.  Everyone who made the flight also signs a roster attesting to the record.  If the rule's change from one country to another then this is not a world record anymore.
 
 
Eric Dufour getting ready to fly over Malbrouck Castle.
With my experience, my opinion is that to get 100 paramotors in flight at the same time, you almost need twice as many pilots and excellent weather.

It was a good experience for me to be there for the first time.  I was not in the organization and could just participate as a pilot.  Except for the world record number, this paramotor rally was clearly a success.  For Europe, it could have been bigger, but not necessarily better in terms of friendship amongst the pilots that came from all over the world.  The atmosphere was great, the food and wine delicious, the weather not perfect but acceptable, no crashes, a few broken propellers and all happy pilots.
Click here to visit the Ultraflight Magazine Web site