On Friday 25th June, I took off from Pulborough, from my friend Seymore's farm, at 9am. I had chosen to fly the Bailey 175 for fuel economy and I thought that I might just make it to a field near Weymouth on 14ltrs (160kms away). There was a 'Fly-in' that had been organised by Ben de Candole and there were going to be many pilots there. After 140kms I landed to refuel at Winterbourne Kingston (only 22kms away from Weymouth). I managed to hitch a ride from a friendly lady (whom I met in Scats, the farm shop!) to get some fuel in Bere Regis and got back to find the exhaust bracket had snapped! So that was it for me, or so I thought! My lovely wife, Diana, picked me up and I drove like a demon back to Sussex to pick up my other machine (a TOP 80 miniplane). The weather was set to be perfect and I wanted to experience the coast. 
Flying the entire length of Chesil Beach only a couple of metres from the ground was a highlight for me. Waving at the fishermen and the children. Everyone was smiling! What a day!
We landed on the beach at the Abbotsbury end and had a beer! We thought about a swim but we were wondering how we were going to take off again as the pebbles were very hard to run on. We carried our gear to the nearby field and took off from there. Sadly our host, Ben de Candole, had problems with his motor so had to be retrieved later and he got back to the field when it was dark. (from l to r) Colin, Ben, Phil, Paul... 
Paragliders flying the White Horse in Weymouth - the wind was light and not much flying was had for them! 
Evan flying back towards the field from the coast. 
You can see where the exhaust bracket snapped on my machine which was the reason I was unable to take off again to finish the final leg of the journey to the field near Weymouth!
Near Space Balloon Flight, shot with HD HERO cameras from GoPro from Kevin Macko on Vimeo.
I saw this and it blew me away! Check it out!
If you do not already subscribe to PARAMOTOR MAG then perhaps now is the time to. Issue 18 will include our story of flying in the Lost World and it comes out next week! You can see a handful of photos in the Photo Gallery on the right hand side
We are currently in the Gran Sabana in Venezuela. A wilderness of savanah flatlands and magical Tepuis rising high out of dense jungle. Michel Carnet, Ben and I are flying paramotors and it is wild - like something out of a glossy magasine! Yesterday, we flew 30km over dense jungle and past a small tepui called Chiri Cayen before landing in an indian settlement where the locals looked bewildered when we landed on their football pitch. It was a surreal experience! We carry SPOT gps positioning systems and satelite phones so that in the case of real emergency we can still be found. A local pilot told us how his friend went missing and was never found - he was swallowed by the jungle. It is a committing place when you fly over the jungle. We have been having fun on the flat lands testing our Italian miniplane paramotors and our Dudek Synthesis 34 wings. We fly in the early morning at sunrise and late in the afternoon when the conditions calm down. It is very hot. Internet connection is slow but here are some photos... 
Speed Flying descent down the West face of Ben Nevis from Antigravity Acro Team on Vimeo.
There has been good high pressure for the last few days. We flew for an hour or so as the sun was setting on Monday 12th October and then on the following day we flew from Denmead in Hampshire all the way to the Stone Ring at Avebury and back which is about 200kms in total. My brother Ben and our friend, Mark Morgan, joined us for the flight. 
We flew up past Preston Candover before landing at Wadwick Farm where my friend, Rich, is a farmer and he promised us coffee if we popped in. The offer was too good to refuse and so, after an hour and a half of flying we swooped in to land in his stubble field and he met us in his tractor and coffee was served. He is building a house on his land and they were making good progress - we had a guided tour before taking off again, onwards towards the famous rings... .JPG)
We flew up the most beautiful valley low over the ridges, over Coombe Gibbit (one of the best xc sites in the south)... 
...and on towards Hungerford where we then headed west along the A4 towards Marlborough where we could clearly see the high street and the golf course. 
From Marborough, we flew high over some race horse studs before reaching the rings at Avebury which were quite spectacular in this clear, autumnal weather. 
We turned around at this point and we knew we needed just one more stop for fuel before reaching our cars which were now 100kms away. We we on the lookout for a suitable fuel station. We were all flying Bailey 4-stroke machines and just needed a good field that would allow us an easy take off. We spotted a Texaco garage just outside Ibthorpe and landed in another stubble field above it on a hill. Perfect for taking off again as it sloped gently down into wind. 
The garage man looked at me in disbelief when I told him we had to get back to Denmead (nr. Portsmouth) before nightfall. Once we had taken off, I flew over the garage and gave him a wave! I think he then understood? 
It had been a grand day out and we landed as the sun was setting. We passed 3 balloons in the still evening air and got buzzed by a microlight heading for the Isle of Wight in the distance. It was a joy...
The forecast was good and on 24th September, Ben and I took off from our local field near Denmead in Hampshire. The skies were blue with puffy clouds. It was looking good. .JPG)
This was quality flying! We had about 12 litres of fuel on board and flew the coast all the way to Littlehampton before following the railway line and river up to Arundel Castle and then Petworth. The wind had strengthened from the west and we changed our original plan which was to fly to Brighton to land at the Dyke. So we headed home following the 272 to Petersfield and Butser Hill where we saw three paragliders trying to soar on the west slope. 
We cruised by waving and after 3 hours, (110kms) landed back at our field, in time for tea at Mum's... nice... 
I took some photos of Charter House School but then realised when I was over Dunfold, that my camera was flat – I had forgotten to recharge the batteries. This was annoying and it was even more annoying when my GPS batteries ran out too! School boy error!
It was an acrobatic glider and I watched it fly upside down performing stall turns, 4 point rolls and doing fast fly by’s over the field. These gliders don’t come cheap – I believe that one would set you back about £4,000! The tugs are cheaper at around £1,500 - so I am told? 
Another great day out. Sebastian loved pointing out the all the gliders... (one of his first words!) Glidor, glidor, glidor...! 
Daisy Alice Clowes was born at 7am on 10th June, 2009 at the Chelsea and Westminter hospital in London. She weighed in at 3.67kgs and we think that she is the most beautiful baby girl in the world! Of course we do! She is a couple of hours old in this photo. Sebastian also loves having a little sister!Latin Highlands from Paolo Bellezze on Vimeo.
What a lovely weekend - easterly winds 18kph plus... we were staying at Mum's and Ben came down on Sunday. I had 'snuck' the glider into the car in the hope of getting a little flying in before our number 2 baby is born (due 3rd June!!). On Sunday morning we managed a little flying at Mercury but the wind was quite strong and verging on the 'not fun' so we landed and went home to mow the lawn. 
We met at Barry’s field, just outside Guildford and took off at about 5pm. We should have taken off much earlier. It was a beautiful day with light winds and a thermic sky. By this time the air was quite buoyant and the wind had swung around, now blowing from the south, which was good for us because just before Lasham, we headed north and made good ground. We dropped down to follow the Thames over Henley. Low evening flying over the river was QUALITY! 
Onwards skirting around the airspace at High Wycombe now heading East where we landed for fuel at the dis-used airstrip at Bovington. Ben and I ran down the hill for fuel – Michel and Laura laid out the machines ready for a quick take-off to squeeze in some more kilometres before dark. We tried asking some motorists for a lift back up to the airfield but they were all in a hurry (of course!) and I nearly got beaten up by the boyfriend of the girl I asked – he must have thought I was trying to crack on to her – unlikely as she looked like the back end of a bus! Anyway, we sweated our way back up the hill where Michel and Laura had laid out our gear ready for squeezing in some more kilometres before darkness.
We were tired having flown about 132kms. A big thank you to Andy who met us there with some refreshments and a little fuel. Andy flies locally nearby so knows the area well. Sadly we could not persuade him to join us for a drink in the pub which was conveniently near our chosen landing field.
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(The above photo of myself and Ben was taken by Laura)
We flew straight over the Thames by the Dartford Bridge and over Dartford. 
I was shivering with cold – why hadn’t I packed some warmer gear – and I needed a pee! 
I thought for a brief moment of just wetting myself as I was desperate and thought it might warm me up. Fortunately, I thought better of it and held on… trying to concentrate on the route ahead!
We were now flying back towards Guildford but we needed fuel so we landed at Clackett Lane Services and filled up. The wind had now strengthened and launching was easy – a few steps and we were off, flying once again low next to the North Downs – very scenic and a good end to another wonderful adventure, when we landed back at Barry’s field… (total distance flown: 264km) all upon our doorstep! 
I told you that we would be trying again soon!! We all took photos, and Ben filmed the whole thing, we want to organise a lecture later in the year for St Luke's Cancer Centre (Laura's charity). The venue will most likely be in the Guildford area.
