Newsletter- World Record Attempt
On the 15th June 2018 David Broom successfully flew 34.54km engine-off in the Airplay Aircraft EuroFly Snake/Grif 3DC nanolight sub-70 flexwing.
If ratified by the FAI this should become a new British and World Record. No previous record has been set in the solo flexwing class.
If the above video doesn’t show, click here.
David says “I wanted to show hang/paraglider pilots that their core flying experience can be enhanced by flying a nanolight trike. After self-launching from Sandy, Bedfordshire I used only thermals to fly back to near my home airfield. I even landed out in a small farmer’s field to demonstrate that this is still perfectly feasible with a trike unit, before restarting the engine to fly home and avoid a prolonged retrieve.
The Grif 3DC and Snake combination offers glide performance broadly similar to a good intermediate hang-glider. The supine seating position is very comfortable for long periods and makes keeping an adequate lookout much easier than with a prone harness. Aside from using the engine to self-launch, it’s much more fun flying to/from your favourite site than driving there!
The claim now needs to be ratified by the FAI to become a world record; a process that often takes months or even years. There can be no doubt that the flight took place as claimed; I carried 3 separate GPS trackers and filmed the entire flight in addition to arranging the required official observers. However, the approval document hasn’t been updated for years and doesn’t contain any procedures for video evidence. The quickest way for me to force the point was to do a flight and make a record claim!
34km is actually quite a modest distance and the aircraft is capable of much more. I was a bit late taking off and was racing to keep ahead of some overdevelopment. If I’d been a bit earlier I’m confident I could have easily reached the coast.I’m hoping that the FAI will now update their record procedures and this will make it easier for pilots in all classes to show what they are capable of.”–
Phone: +44(0)7773 253454
Web: www.airplayaircraft.co.uk
