Posted by Dan Wareham on August 06, 2009

Radio Interview :: BBC Wiltshire

Tom & Damian celebrate the completion of the Solar Electric Flight with BBC Wiltshire’s Mark O’Donnell. Listen on BBC iPlayer : www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p003xg1c/Mark_ODonnell_06_08_2009/

Posted by Damian Cardozo on August 06, 2009

Day 14 : Crossing the Straits

We wake up early and by 6am the conditions are perfect. The moon was still full and for the first time in several day there were no foghorns to be heard from the ships in the Straits. As had become tradition, the team drew straws to decide who would fly, with Hugo, Tom and myself being the lucky trio.

As the support boat left the harbour at Sotogrande with a full crew of family friends and fellow team members, the rest of us prepared the paramotors and wings for take-off. One of the three bioethanol-powered paramotors had been damaged a few days earlier leaving just three working machines for the final leg of the expedition. The electric paramotor, still in top condition, bar a few scratches, was fully charged and ready to go.

At 7.30am we took to the air from a rough slope some 1000ft above the sea, looking out towards the huge ‘cliffs of insanity’ as they had become affectionately known, on the northern coast of Morocco. We head directly south towards the cliffs, to allow some leeway for any build up of the westerly wind during the flight. The thin clouds streaming eastwards from the hills of Tarifa start to evaporate as fly out over the water. Dropping down lower to remain visible to the support boat, we get a clear view of the ripples on the water’s surface and all three of us notice the dark silhouettes lurking in the water beneath them.

Two thirds of the way we turn eastwards, losing sight of the support boat but safe in the knowledge that the support team can track us using the GPS. With the wind steadily increasing behind us, we speed up - moving quickly over the last stretch of water to Africa. As we approach the coast of Morocco and catch the first glimpse of the planned landing spot in the low hills to the west of Ceuta, the turbulence in the lee of the huge Moroccan mountains plays havoc with the wings, all of us are tossed about like paper bags, as the wings collapse and re-inflate a few times before we manage to get clear again.

We are forced further east, but fortunately a large flat area close to the port of Ceuta presents itself as the perfect landing site, where all three paramotors were able to land safely. Fortunately the night before Ceuta had been host to a fiesta and the local authorities were not the slightest bit bothered by the sight of 3 Brits strolling across the port, paramotors on their backs and wings bundled in their arms, to meet up with the support boat on the far side of the harbour.

As we head back across the Straits the team celebrate the successful end to the 14-day expedition, with champagne and cigars. Looking out across the water from the boat, we see that the ominous shadows we had spotted an hour earlier, had become friendly dolphins, leaping and dancing around the boat on its way home.

Posted by Dan Wareham on August 05, 2009

Radio Interview :: BBC Wiltshire

Tom Hughes discusses the Solar Electric Flight with BBC Wiltshire’s Mark O’Donnell. Listen on BBC iPlayer : www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p003x3d4/Mark_ODonnell_05_08_2009/

Posted by Tom Hughes on August 04, 2009

Day 13 : Waiting game!

The Levante is now blowing strong. We tried to fly the short hop to the beach west of Gibraltar today, with Charles leading on the Electric paramotor. The winds were horrendous, and after several wing collapses he landed again. We must now sit tight and wait, but it is a very beautiful place to have to wait.

Charles and his family leave us today, as do Madeleine and the children, so the final leg will be Damian, Hugo and myself, with the possible addition of Ed Hughes, who is flying out to join us. Tilly and Cosmo, as less experienced pilots, will be ground/boat crew and camera team…

Posted by Tom Hughes on August 03, 2009

Day 12 : Shark Warning!

With excitement still running through the group, we wake up to perfect conditions and some exhilarating launches. Hugo, Charles and Damian’s take-off run is along a metre-wide finger of cliff and a launch straight off the edge, a couple of thousand feet up. As we fly through the second leg, the Rock of Gibraltar grows larger.

After refuelling Hugo and I pull off some synchronised launches to impress the locals on the beach - and eventually land in Sotogrande, just short of Gibraltar. Once again we attract the attention of the local police who come over to see us as we land on the beach, but decide that most people are quite pleased to see us, so leave us be, with a cheery warning about the amount of sharks in the straits at the moment - just what we needed to hear…

We are staying with the Isolas, who are very kindly putting us up in their beautiful home in San Enrique. We are so very close to the end now, and must wait for the right wind before hopping down to the beach and over to Morocco.

The Levante is forecast to blow hard Tuesday and Wednesday, so hopefully Thursday will be the day. We are all ecstatic to have made it so far, all a little sad that it is nearly over - this dream of sun and sea, days in the air and nights on the sand - and all so very aware of the pending sea-crossing. The papers here are running an article about a Great White shark being seen cruising the straits. I hate sharks.

So, a couple of days on the beach I think, and then we’ll fly with a new wind…

Posted by Tom Hughes on August 02, 2009

Day 11 : Gibraltar is in our sights!

As dawn breaks we launch off the beach at Adra and fly over the bays and cliff heads to a beautiful wide bay where we stop for breakfast. The wind is calm and the beach huge, so we take the rare opportunity of a large launch site to teach some of the ground crew to fly. Lali Cardozo takes the chance to show off her skills on the jet-ski, with Hannah Collis being towed on the wakeboard behind her, and looking particularly slinky too.

We fly on over some long stretches of cliff, until somewhere near Malaga where the mountains fall back, and the bays become larger, and more built up. Sadly we cannot find a launch site anywhere, so eventually are forced to drive a detour inland around Malaga, and then fly on to Marbella, making the most of a full day of gentle wind.

For the first time we are unable to find an empty beach to sleep on, so we land at Estepona and drive into the hills, camping on the edge of the harsh scrubby plateau.  From the campsite we get our first view of Gibraltar in the distance, and also the coast of Africa. Excitement runs high!

Posted by Tom Hughes on August 01, 2009

Day 10 : Cowboys & Pilots!

Hugo, Charles and I launch at dawn in a favourable wind and head inland to Tabernas, avoiding Almeria airport. Tabernas is on the edge of the Sierra Nevada, set in spectacular mountains, and used as a film set for most Spaghetti Westerns. We fly over the cowboy village, which is all very surreal, and then head on for Adra on the coast. There are a few minor wing collapses coming out of the mountains, but nothing too serious.

I’m now sitting on a beach on the South coast of Spain, with the sun setting to my right, where Gibraltar awaits. We should get to the Rock in 2 or 3 days, and excitement at the thought of the sea crossing is mingled with a little sadness that the end of our trip is so close.

Posted by Damian Cardozo on July 31, 2009

Day 9 : Burning heat & thermic conditions!

We get an early start from Benissa and land at a beach called playa Paraiso in Villa Joiosa - Paradise beach in the House of Joy - what more could you ask for?

After a quick breakfast, we launch from the beach with a gentle breeze blowing along the seashore. Charles takes off and struggles to climb, eventually having to turn inland up a valley to avoid the cliffs. We hold our breath and wait but to our relief he soon reappears around the headland, with good altitude and no visible problems. Whilst our slight drama unfolded, the wind had swung more onshore giving us a shorter take-off. Hugo pulls off a beautiful launch, with his last footsteps pounding through the surf as he skims off over the waves.

Last to launch is Tom. The wing rises up but he spends the first half of the very short take-off run sorting out some lines that are caught on the harness. The lines freed, he finds himself running at high speed towards Madeleine and 3-year-old Bruno in the surf. A hard turn at the point of becoming airborne avoids collision and swings him out over the sea. The glider drops out of the turn, causing Tom to run through a little ocean before regaining the beach, by which time the cliffs are too close and he gives up. Having waited 3 days for his legs to recover from an earlier injury, this rocky launch twists his knee joint, so just the two pilots fly on for this leg.

The pilots make good progress and land happily on the edge of Alicante restricted airspace to refuel. The heat is now huge in the afternoons giving treacherous thermic conditions. The day’s three long legs with a much-needed tailwind bring us to Aguilas by nightfall. We camp out on the beach at Cape Cabo, a beautiful, deserted rocky cove, and fall asleep under the stars.

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 30, 2009

Day 8 : Continued….

The wind continues to howl all day and we hang out with Jaime and Julia until 3pm, when we make our farewells and head inland to Benissa to camp at our next launch site and wait out the wind. With the electric paramotor batteries fully charged, we have excess power, so spend the evening drinking solar-cooled beers from a portable fridge - the first time the sun has cooled beers for me….

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 30, 2009

Day 8 : Reflection!

I sit by Jaime and Julia’s pool, writing at 9am. We went to the launch site earlier, around 6am, but the clouds were black and the winds high. So we are waiting on the weather again.

Much thanks to Jaime and Julia, who have been so very kind to take us all in. In general we are all well - a touch of sunstroke here and there, and a few aching bones in the pilots, but spirits are high and we’ll write again soon.

Ahead lies Sierra Nevada and the desert!

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 29, 2009

Day 7 : A tarantula joins our merry band!

The team wakes to views across the plains and a rising sun over Segunto. The first leg of the day is a long inland flight skirting round Valencia and back onto the beach at the south. Even at 8am, flying inland starts to get pretty bumpy as the rock heats up, but the fast ActionGT wings see us through safely. We re-fuel on the beach amidst some surprised holidaymakers and fly on for Cap San Antonio.

For once, we manage to finish the day by noon, and after a dip in the sea, find the house of Jaime and Julia, who are our hosts for the night - another welcome moment of civilisation. The children cool off in the pool, whilst we repair the gliders (broken lines) and clean off the solar panels. Jaime and Julia provide huge paellas of chicken, rabbit and seafood, and we head off full to our sleeping bags in the garden for a good night sleep, bar a minor excitement where twelve-year-old Harry is found playing with a tarantula in the belief that it is a plastic toy. Luckily the spider is not angry/hungry, but all the same, zips are firmly closed on the tents tonight.

Posted by Dan Wareham on July 29, 2009

Radio Interview :: BBC Cambridge

Gilo Cardozo talks about the Solar Electric Flight with BBC Cambridge’s Jeremy Sallis. Listen on BBC iPlayer : www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/radio/bbc_radio_cambridge

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 28, 2009

Day 6 : Damian’s Grave Encounter!

We are a little late leaving this morning as 3-year-old Bruno joins the expedition spirit by going for a kilometer hike up the beach, to be recovered half an hour later by a relieved Damian and Tilly. We finally take off at around 9am which means that we’re flying into the thermic rough winds of midday.

Damian, Hugo and Charles find themselves forced down in tough conditions with a quarry site for a landing field at S.Carlos de la Rapita. In the middle of the site is a six-foot hole about the size of a grave, into which Damian smoothly manoeuvres his paramotor. Luckily the grave is not needed, but Damian’s back crumples, leaving him unable to fly. The paramotor cage is also dented out of shape, but a good session with our primary maintenance tool (a genuine hickory handled hammer - aka ‘Hickory’) fixes the problem. We offer to fix Damian’s back in the same manner but strangely he declines.

Due to the strong winds, we have not travelled as far as we would have hoped, so have pushed on into the evening, re-fuelling at Peniscola - where they sell a range of ceramic bottles, shaped in a manner befitting the town’s namesake - then on to Segunto. The beaches here are all very built up, so we drive into the mountains and set up camp in an orange grove.

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 27, 2009

Day 5 : Farewell and Welcome!

This morning we were all up early to give a farewell flight over the house, before skirting around Barcelona and onto the coastline heading south. Gilo, Alex and Jim head off to Barcelona airport to catch a flight back to the UK and will be greatly missed, but are later replaced by Charles Collis who will be with us for the rest of the expedition.

Our support team is now vast - Charles’s wife Hannah and their three children, Hugo’s wife Camilla and their three children, Damian’s wife Madeleine and their six children… and two or three others just for fun. As you can imagine, our campsites are now becoming pretty serious affairs.

The final leg of the day runs from Cambrils to L’Ampolla. Whilst we generally try to finish flying by midday, we are running late due to battery problems. The solar panels appeared to have stopped generating power, but we finally realise that a thick layer of accumulated dirt from the dusty trip is the problem. Having hoisted a few children onto the top of the panels, armed with buckets and sponges, the panels start to work again.

The result finds Hugo, Charles and myself flying the last leg through a spectacular sunset. We are at 3000 feet, just clear of the mountains, and flying through occasional pink-tinged clouds. To the right is a long view over the peaks, with the setting sun behind, and to the left, the Mediterranean slowly darkening in colour.

At dusk we arrive in L’Ampolla and descend onto a thin strip of land amidst the swamps. The mosquitos are fierce and thick on our skin, but the support van arrives promptly to rescue us. We drive out to the beach and setup camp on the sand with a firm offshore breeze keeping us cool and mozzi free.

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 26, 2009

Day 4 : A much-needed breath of civilisation!

We wake up to a restored calm in the skies, a welcome break from the last few days. The team launch and fly towards Terrassa, which lies inland from Barcelona. The day passes fairly calmly, with the team taking in the scenery and pausing for two fuel stops.

We arrive in Terrassa in time to give a pre-arranged flying display at the very fabulous Masia Egara - a huge and beautiful estate owned by Alfonso Sala, who shows us huge hospitality with excellent food and wine, and a place to set our tents by the pool. Many thanks Alfonso, Alicia and Gabi Sala who gave us a much-needed breath of civilisation.

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 25, 2009

Day 3: Crossing the Pyrenees

The Tremontana carries on all night and well into the day. Normally, this would leave a group of pilots sitting and waiting in frustration, but Damian has packed our van with a range of toys for windy days, so we pass the time windsurfing, kitesurfing and repairing paramotors.

By 5pm the wind is starting to drop away and we take a chance to launch towards the mountains. Crossing the Pyrenees fills the team with excitement and fear all at the same time, and we experience the stunningly beautiful terrain but the air is still bouncing around, exasperated by the influence of the two very different landscapes on the Spanish and French sides. With great relief we cross over onto the Spanish plains into calmer air and a sunset landing on the beach, just south of Empuria Brava.

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 24, 2009

Day 2: Police, Props and High Winds

6am, the air was already hot and completely still. As we prepare to take off the support crew discover that they have left a fridge plugged into the van’s cigarette lighter overnight, draining the batteries. Luckily the battery chargers supplied by our sponsor, Smart Solar, have been working excellently and we are able to jump-start the van using the paramotor batteries.  The tough uphill, no-wind take-off results in trouble as Alex takes a tumble, loosing his propellers as well as the skin off his knees. After a huge effort, two pilots make it into the air and set off for the first leg of the day.

Landing at the first waypoint we are greeted by the local gendarmes, but it turns out they had seen us flying and had come over out of curiosity, so no problems there…. After a brief chat and posing for a few photographs we were able to crack on. Shortly after launch, Hugo’s speedbar comes loose and is dragged into the propellers, shattering them.  He finds himself faced with an electric railway line or an irrigation ditch, and wisely crash lands in the latter. A bemused Frenchman brings Hugo back to the launch field and is so overexcited that he continually sings “I believe I can fly” in his pigeon English…. The conditions are again proving tough and Jim gets caught in a side-wind as he launches, costing another set of props, but luckily he survives unscathed.

Eventually we get away and fly on to Leucate on the coast of the Gulf of Lion, a little way north of the Pyrenees. Cosmo, the mission cameraman, arrives at Beziers airport and takes a taxi out to Sete to meet the support vehicle. This evening has seen the arrival of the Tremontana, the fierce wind that can appear in the Pyrenees. We are all sheltering in tents that are trying to take off in the 50kph winds, none of us are expecting a peaceful night.

Posted by Tom Hughes on July 23, 2009

Day 1 :: A good start despite tough conditions

We woke up this morning at 5am filled with anticipation, only to find a gentle offshore breeze rolling down the mountain onto our launch site prohibiting take-off. Finally at 9am the weather turned in our favour and the team launched over Monte-Carlo, heading west. We fly north of Nice and Cannes and finally see lake Saint-Cassien, our first refuelling spot. Everyone is ecstatic and relieved to have crossed the worst of the southern Alps without trouble.

Due to our late start, by the time we have changed batteries and refuelled, the thermals are strong and we experience strong gusts. Gilo heads out for a test flight but comes back reporting that it is too rough to fly and we decided to wait until evening. So passes a happy afternoon swimming and windsurfing in the lake, with Tilly showing off her circus skills by diving off a 50ft bridge into the water.

At around 6pm the conditions improve slightly, and we take to the air again with Jim in particular, pulling off a very impressive launch in tough conditions. We refuel once more near Aix, and finally reach Salon de Provence at dusk. With light fading and a lot of power lines around, landing sights are scarce. I headed in first and got caught in a downdraft and forced to bank steeply to avoid a cliff, resulting in a hard and twisted landing. The rest of the guys make it down safely.

Tonight, we have been entertained by Mick and Sian, who have fed and watered us and are allowing us to camp in their garden.

Posted by Damian Cardozo on July 22, 2009

Solar Elecric Flight is Go!

Finally, after many months of intense preparations and a hundred other tasks, the Incredible Solar Electric Flight expedition is underway. Tom, Tilly and myself left England very early on Monday morning and have been making our way through France, arriving in Monaco in time for a much-needed sunset drink.

This morning we have been joined by more pilots; Gilo, Jim, Alex and Hugo. The team head out in search of suitable take-off sites. Monaco sits on the coast, nestled between the sea and the very spectacular and jagged mountains; combined with the good citizens of Monte Carlo being very keen on building this leaves very little space to take-off and land. We end up choosing a spot on top of a mountain above Monte Carlo. In great spirits, the team then head into town for our launch party.

The party is a great success, thrown for us by the very generous Ron and Shahnaz Plummer on the balconies of their penthouse over looking Monte Carlo. After several press interviews and several glasses of champagne, we head up to our launch site and set up camp ready for a good nights sleep before the off tomorrow.

Check out coverage of the launch party at :: www.montecarloin.net