Join us for an informative evening with legendary wing designer Hannes Papesh, designer of the market changing Mentor series and recent founder of PHI, manufacturer of class leading wings including the Symphonia & Maestro.
We appreciate that a Sunday evening isn't ideal for everyone, but was the only time we could make work and have chosen Paddington because of its good transport links.
We are charging £10 which will give you access to the event and will pay for a drink and pub grub (no profit here), the TVHGC is putting in £5 on top to help ensure we can cover the minimum spend requirements and buy you a pint!
If we do not get the necessary numbers (very unlikely), we will refund you within 14 days. This event is open to members and non members alike, so feel free to share!
Event details: Wing Wizardry & PHI Fountains Location: Fountains Abbey Pub Paddington
Time: 1900 - 2130
Wing Wizardry & PHI (the golden ratio)
An eye-opening talk by Hannes Papesh of PHI, presented by Flybubble - in association with the TVHGC.
Legendary wing design wizard Hannes Papesh shares his knowledge and insights gleaned from over 30 years of designing the truly amazing gliders we enjoy flying so much.
Amongst other things, Hannes will talk about the present state and future of of paragliding, development strategies (and tools), and freeflight.
He will also be able to answer any wing design or other freeflight-related questions like does "shark nose" / "air scoop" make sense (pros and cons), launch behaviour, handling, feedback, sink/climb rate, stability, certification, folding lines... and of course he is in a unique position to be able to any questions pilots might have about his personal history and the PHI team and their wizardly wings.
Hannes loves interaction with the audience and likes to go with the flow. He has a huge amount of experience and background material going back 30 years to answer any kind of question and support it with pictures etc.
Each talk is bound to be highly informative and interesting, and totally unique!
The talk will be presented by Carlo Borsattino or Greg Hamerton of Flybubble, and followed by open discussion forum.
Hannes Papesh has a great reputation as a wing designer, and is held in high regard in the paragliding fraternity having been designing paragliders for nearly 30 years, during which time he has brought through some revolutionary ideas and innovations. Hannes was chief designer for Nova from 1989 until 2013. He then worked for Advance for a while, helping them to establish a new, young development team. In 2017 Hannes launched his new freeflight brand PHI (pronounced 'Fee') producing as well as designing his own range of wings exactly how he wants them to be.
Carlo Borsattino is the founder of Flybubble which he now co-directs with his partner Nancy Elliott. Carlo has been flying since the early 90s, flown very many wings for some thousands of hours worldwide, got sucked into the competitive side of things (competitions and XC leagues) for a while, now prefers the simple joys freeflight can bring.
Greg Hamerton has also been flying since the early 90s. He ran a busy school in South Africa before moving to the UK in 1997, where he instructed with Carlo before leaving to compete on the Paragliding World Cup circuit. He has thousands of hours airtime and has flown hundreds of wings. Greg wrote a paragliding novel, a guidebook for South Africa and published the Best Flying Sites of the Alps. He maintains the Flybubble YouTube Channel where he shares the team's accumulated knowledge and adventures.
Footnote: Flybubble, Hannes and PHI are doing this talk for FREE, to secure the space, we had to guarantee a minimum spend of £600.
Sure, there's a promotional aspect to it, but it is great that Flybubble and Hannes are willing to give up their time to help make the freeflight world a better, safer--but still fun, exciting and adventurous--place to be a part of.
We look forward to seeing you there.
TVHGC Committee