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Pilots
The Incredible Solar Electric Flight will be both exciting and daring, holding the eternal fascination with personal flight coupled with the adventure engendered by the evocative image of 'man and machine against the elements'.
Here is an at-a-glance insight into the skillful and courageous pilots that will complete the 2000km journey to Morocco.
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Gilo Cardozo
Gilo is a successful adventurer and a world-leading pioneer in personal aviation, setting up his company Parajet Ltd combining his two passions - engineering and flying. A self-taught engineer, he is the creator of the extraordinary paramotor that British TV survivalist Bear Grylls flew over the summit of Everest, achieving a world-record. More recently, Gilo piloted the Parajet Skycar on a 6000km journey from London, over the straits of Gibraltar to Timbuktu. The brains behind the Electric Paramotor, Gilo is an experienced pilot having taken part in a host of unusual adventures and expeditions.
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Damian Cardozo
Family-man and adventurer, Damian, is managing director of Haxnicks Ltd; a highly original company that designs and manufactures innovative gardening and DIY products. When not spending time with his six children, he wiles away his time flying paramotors and other unusual flying machines. More recently, Damian was part of a team of five paramotor pilots on a record-breaking expedition, sponsored by DuPont, across the English Channel.
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Jim Edmondson
Having only recently learnt to fly, Parajet marketing director Jim is brushing up on his skills as a paramotor pilot in preparation for the expedition. No stranger to challenging tasks and hostile conditions, Jim is the only man to have ever completed the eighteen-mile swim from mainland Scotland to Eigg Island. With true grit, determination and adrenalin, Jim is ready to take on whatever the expedition throws at him.
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Tom Hughes
Creative thinker and philosopher Tom is, amongst other things, entertainments manager at Haxnicks Ltd. Previously, Tom was a paramotor instructor at the ‘Skyschool Cyprus’ training centre, introducing many newcomers to the sport. A proficient pilot with over ten years experience, Tom was a member of the record-breaking team that flew over the English Channel.
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Hugo Collis
As an officer in the Irish Guards, Hugo has served in many different parts of the world. He has flown his paramotor in all sorts of extraordinary and inhospitable locations ranging from Fiji to the Middle East. Not averse to challenging conditions he has also had some unusual paramotoring experiences, having flown through both snow and sandstorms. Hugo performs paramotor demonstrations at army events and also maintains his skydiving, skipper’s and fixed-wing aircraft licences.
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Charles Collis
Describing himself as a generalist with a broad interest in technology and engineering, Charles likes to keep an eye on emerging technologies and new ways of thinking. In his role as a research engineer at Dyson, he is involved in strange and wonderful projects to help invent the future. Despite suffering from regular air-sickness when he forgets his travel pills, Charles enjoys paragliding in the Welsh mountains, and has been known to paramotor to work when his car runs out of petrol.
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Tilly Cardozo
While most teens look forward to being able to drive once they reach their seventeenth birthday, Tilly is determined to pass her paramotor training and be flying at the age of sixteen. The youngest member of the expedition, she has a great taste for adventure. An aspiring circus artiste and stuntwoman, Tilly is hoping to hit the big screen by creating dynamic and daring new stunts for blockbuster movies.
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Cosmo Cardozo
Cosmo has a dual role on the mission. In addition to piloting, he will also be making the movie of the expedition. When not airborne, Cosmo is an up and coming film director. He recently spent several months working on the Hollywood side of the Atlantic on a movie set, and has returned just in time to document the Incredible Solar Electric Flight. As an exceptionally talented musician, Cosmo will also be resident Bard and Entertainer for the expedition.
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Alex Head
Alex is the senior Research and Development Engineer at Parajet, and spends his days developing a very exciting range of next generation flying machines. When not in the workshop, (which, as his girlfriend often says, is rare), Alex can be found excelling at any number of watersports, except sychronised swimmimg, which he is rubbish at. Otherwise, he is to be found in the sky, playing in a paramotor.
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