The Paraglider Podcast

Ten Random Questions for Mark Meadows, organiser of Parafest. He is a keen paramotor and paraglider pilot who puts flying way before work. In this podcast he talks about his inspiration for the Parafest event and answers random flying-related questions on his proudest flying moment or achievement, what his parents think about his flying and whether he was an instructors dream or nightmare.

In our continuing series of fortnightly podcasts called Ten Random Questions for... we have come up with 250 flying-related questions and put them into a random question generator. This weeks guest is Viv Fouracre, well known in the south west of England and a long time committee member of the British Paragliding Cup. She answered questions on diverse topics like whether she has ever had a cravat, whether she has ever exaggerated her flying exploits to non-pilots and how low her lowest low save has been. Enjoy!

In the second podcast on flying and motherhood I speak to Ruth Churchill-Dower and Judy Leden from the UK, Heidi Insam from Italy and Elli Torro from Finland about being a flying mother, childcare arrangements and flying with your kids. If you have not already done so, you can download the Flying when Pregnant podcast from the podcast page on this site.

The latest in our series of fortnightly podcasts called Ten Random Questions for... is with Tim-Patrick Meyer from Germany. He learnt to fly in Chile and has since competed in various events, including a pre-PWC where he succeeded in getting onto the podium in the sports class. At the Paraglider have come up with 250 flying-related questions and put them into a random question generator. Tim-Particks questions included queries about his flying dreams, a flight that still makes him smile and whether he would fly without a parachute?

In this podcast I talk to Ruth Churchill-Dower and Judy Leden from the UK, Heidi Insam from Italy and Elli Torro from Finland.

This podcast is one of two about paragliding and motherhood. Many women give up the sport when they become mothers. This may be due to a greater perceived risk, a greater feeling of responsibility or because of lack of sleep and time. For these two podcasts I have spoken to Elli, Heidi, Judy and Ruth, all of whom decided not to give up. All flew during their pregnancy and have continued to fly, compete, work as tandem pilots and instructors as their children have grown up.

In this first podcast I will look at flying and pregnancy and in the second we will discuss motherhood, child care arrangements, responsibility and taking your kids with you to fly.

At The Paraglider we have started a new series of fortnightly podcasts called Ten Random Questions for... We have come up with 250 flying-related questions and put them into a random question generator. We then interviewed a number of pilots and this weeks guest is Matthew Tandy, organiser of the Advance British Clubs Challenge. He has been flying since 1993 and is a professional helicopter pilot for the Royal Air Force. His questions included where was the most unusual place hes had a flying related bruise, whether hes ever missed an important event to go flying or XC and whether he has ever shouted at someone in the air. Enjoy!

Our latest series of podcasts is called Ten Random Questions for... We have come up with 250 flying-related questions and have fed these into a random question generator. Each fortnight we interview a pilot using ten randomly selected questions. The results are interesting, educational, insightful and sometimes hilarious. No two sets of questions are ever the same. We start our series with Lee Tryhorn, proprietor of the Free Flight Academy, a paragliding school and guiding service which operates all over the world. Lee is a keen acro pilot and he has some interesting tales to tell!

In this podcast Judith Mole examines how we make decisions, what influences our decision making process and looks at ways we can make better decisions. Drawing on research from economics, psychology and neuroscience, she explains how the brain works and applies good general practice to a flying context and gives you some tools to try to help you make good decisions when it comes to being on launch and deciding whether to take off or not.

John Hovey is an experienced first aid trainer and expedition leader with the with the National Outdoor Leadership School (www.nols.edu). This podcast looks at what to do in the event of an accident. It covers liability, taking charge, moving a casualty, emergency procedures, kit to carry etc. This podcast could help you feel prepared if you have the misfortune to witness, or be involved in, an accident.

Gavin McClurg is a professional adventurer. As well as circumnavigating the world by boat, he used to be in the US ski team, is an accomplished white-water kayaker and he currently holds the North American foot launch distance record (387 km), set from his home town of Sun Valley to near Helena, Montana.

In summer 2014, Gavin and Will Gadd, himself a flying, climbing and ice climbing legend, set out to complete a 700 km traverse of the Canadian Rockies and fly to the US border and into the record books - they did the distance flying, without any hiking. The aim was to make forward progress only when they were in the air. The project was filmed and sponsored by Reel Water Productions and Red Bull and is released as The Rockies Traverse.

The Canadian Rockies are remote and there are few landing opportunities, which made the flying both exciting and dangerous. Added to that, Will and Gavin had never met before commencing the adventure. As a result of this amazing trip, Gavin and Will were nominated for the prestigious National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Award. In this podcast, Gavin gives me the background to the journey and lets me have an insight into the planning and execution of this remarkable adventure.