Is minimum sink on a paraglider with brakes at 30% or hands-up? Advances in paraglider design mean things have changed - and that means updating teaching and flying techniques.

In dit nummer: Flare Moustache, een parakite | Ferrata&Fly | X-Alps Academy | Red Bull X-Alps 2023 | Acro World Tour 2022 | Paragliding NK Berg 2022 | Recensie Nova Mentor 7 Light | Microavonturen met de paraglider deel 2

Just announced as the new race director of the Red Bull X-Alps we talk to Ferdinand Vogel. “I’m going to watch and learn in 2023,” he says.

Bastienne Wentzel joined a beginner's XC course organised by Parafly and guided by Ferdinand Vogel. Here is what we learnt.

"Understanding The Sky is the essential weather book for pilots – whatever you fly.
This new edition, published in August 2022, will give you a deep understanding of meteorology, from the micro to the macro – “absolutely essential” according to top paragliding coach Greg Hamerton."

Bastienne Wentzel has contributed in desktop publishing the new design and revised text and illustrations.

Bastienne Wentzel took Skywalk’s new reversible harness for a spin during a week of XC flying in Bassano.

Is it a speed glider, paraglider or kite? It’s a Moustache! Seb Ospina and Luke Nicol flew one of the first production wings. Bastienne Wentzel finds out more. (Photo: Miriam Joanna)

In dit nummer: Vliegen in Zuid-Portugal | Paramotorvliegen met een beperking deel 2 | The Single Skin Squad in Norma | Tien manieren om je paramotorvlucht te verknoeien | 'Safe Start' | Nooit uitgeleerd | Recensie: Skywalk Cruise harnas | Microavonturen met je paraglider deel 1

De beschrijving van het onderzoeksproject CATLight spreekt tot de verbeelding en klinkt simpel: chemische reacties sturen en meten met licht. De werkelijkheid van dit project is complexer. Het gaat om fundamenteel onderzoek naar zogeheten plasmonische systemen. Wat heeft de chemische industrie daaraan?

Specialists in single cell dynamics of research institute AMOLF together with CRISPR-Cas researchers of TU Delft were able to measure for the first time how quickly a single cell can build new memory and remove invading DNA using the CRISPR Cas system. Remarkably, they noted a large variability between individual cells in different populations. The results were published on April 25, 2022 in the open access scientific journal Molecular Systems Biology.

"I am a former competition pilot from Feltre, Italy. I started flying in 1987 in Feltre on a Brindazur 24K. The K is for kevlar, it was one of the first paragliders with lines of kevlar. I was lucky because it was one of the best gliders at that time. To launch it you had to pull hard with your hands over your head and you had to yell 'Banzai!'"

“I pull to the right and instantly know I shouldn’t have. Too late. The lines go slack.” Bastienne Wentzel joins an all-women SIV / Acro course with Rise Paragliding in Oludeniz, Turkey.

An acro wing suitable to learn your first tricks and have fun, says Erwin Voogt.

"I am the first woman from Qatar to register and own a microlight aircraft. I am a sports coach from Doha, Qatar. Flying is my passion. I fly a weightshift microlight aircraft, a paramotor and a paraglider. I am learning to fly a fixed wing ultralight aircraft and I plan to obtain my gyrocopter licence."

In dit nummer: Kunnen vogels beter vliegen dan wij? | Stubai Cup 2022 | Interview: keurmeester Bart Adriaens | Nieuwe weersite voor piloten |

Met een onverwacht grote opkomst van ruim 200 deelnemers uit alle geledingen van industrie en kennisinstellingen was Battery Day 2022, georganiseerd door RAI Automotive Industry, Holland High Tech en Battery Competence Center, een groot succes. Onder andere de nieuwste technologieën, de uitdagingen voor recycling, de behoefte aan testfaciliteiten en de ontbrekende regelgeving kwamen aan bod.

Following a single protein inside the cavity of a GroEL chaperone for the first time, researchers at AMOLF led by professor Sander Tans discovered how protein folding can be accelerated. Amino acid chains are pulled inside the open cavity of the chaperone, where they collapse on top of themselves and fold. The findings have implications for our understanding of cellular protein control and folding diseases. The research was published in Science Advances on March 4th.

Bloed- en beenmergkanker zijn goed te behandelen met een stamceltransplantatie van een donor, maar soms keert de tumor terug. Onderzoekers van het Radboudumc onder leiding van Harry Dolstra ontwikkelden een nieuw dendritische celvaccin. Dat heractiveert de afweercellen van de donor waardoor de tumor wordt opgeruimd. Ze toonden aan dat het vaccin veilig is voor patiënten.

Women's World Champion Yael Margelisch on chasing records, doing the X-Alps and winning the Worlds,

"I am a retired Airforce fighter pilot from Cologne. You sign up with the Airforce for twenty years and when you turn 41 you stop flying. I did a tour in Afghanistan which was really hard. Four of my friends didn't make it. So it was time to leave."

Jongens die chemotherapie krijgen tegen kanker zijn later vaak onvruchtbaar. Ans van Pelt ontwikkelde met steun van ZonMW een manier om uit een stukje ingevroren weefsel van hun eigen testikel stamcellen op te kweken. Bij muizen is het gelukt om deze cellen terug te plaatsen in een testikel. Deze muizen krijgen gezonde nakomelingen. Nu is de tijd aangebroken om de therapie voor mensen te ontwikkelen.

In dit nummer: Deltavliegen over de Aletsch-gletsjer | Paramotorvliegen in IJsland | The Single Skin Squad | Vliegsimulator wordt volwassen | Historie: Flanders Fields | Recensie: Skywalk Chili 5 | Ölüdeniz Teleferik | NK deltavliegen

If you’re looking for the ultimate guide to learning to paraglide, this is it! Published in October 2020, Paragliding: The Beginner’s Guide is the essential training guide to learning to fly safely and quickly – from your first flight to becoming a qualified pilot and beyond.