Bring on 2024!
It’s the start of January 2024, Happy New Year everyone! It is currently 3 degrees outside, the fire has just gone out (again) and I am flat out on the sofa struggling to breathe with the second cold in two months. There is only one thought on my mind… Bring on 2024!
This year is starting a little differently. A group of us are heading over to Chamonix to celebrate Alex’s 40th birthday. It’ll be a nice opportunity for everyone to catch up before things start moving again! The team have already begun organising the upcoming trips and the start of the training season in March in Spain. We certainly have an action-packed year ahead!
SkyWeek Dolomites
It all officially kicks off with SkyWeek Dolomites with 11 Pilots, led by Alex, Ricardo, and joined by our trusty cameraman Oscar. This trip is scheduled for the 11th to 18th February. Unfortunately, this is already fully booked and I am gutted to be missing it. It really does look like a special location for some flying and exploring. That said, I have my fingers and toes crossed that we will run the trip again in 2025 and I have already expressed my interest to join. Make sure to contact Alex and tell him as soon as possible if you share my thoughts as this is one trip you don’t want to miss!
Spain Courses 1, 2 & 3
The team, consisting of myself, Ricardo, Ted and Jef head back to one of our favourite training sites, Lake Bornos, with three weeks of courses running from 10th to 31st March. While the towns of Bornos and neighbouring Arcos de la Frontera are sleepy, I have grown to love the Spanish charm and always feel like I am returning to one of the Paramotoring Meccas. When Spain delivers, it really delivers and we have had the pleasure of teaching hundreds of students, utilising both inland and coastal sites, providing various conditions for training. We still have a few slots left so if you’d like to escape the last of the English winter for the warmer climes of Spain - get in touch!
SkyWeek Brazil
Following on from Spain, and still one of my flying highlights, is the SkyWeek Brazil. Very few flying locations compare to the coast of Brazil and I was lucky enough to experience this myself in 2022! Ricardo and a few others are heading out to run this trip from 1st to 12th April. When we weren’t flying we were immersed in Brazilian culture, drinking Caiprinhas, eating Pichana, and floating around Arraial do Cabo in our party boat. Ricardo has worked tirelessly setting up the infrastructure over the last two years, with local support from the team at Rio Paramotor. We are down to our last two spaces on this trip, so as always if you want to get involved - get in touch!
Spain Courses 4, 5, 6 & 7
We have decided to extend our time in Spain by one week in 2024, having had such a successful start to our 2023 Spanish season! Courses run from 21st April to 19th May, with plenty of availability so if you are looking to brush up on your skills, sit an Advanced Pilot course, or know someone who is desperate to learn to fly, get in touch!
UK Courses 1 - 11
This year we are running 11 weeks of courses at Hinton Airfield near Banbury, with courses 1-6 running from 1st June to 11th July, and courses 7-11 from 20th July to 22nd August. We have made some changes this year! We are no longer offering the full 12 day Pilot course, instead we have decided to run the 6 day beginner course, culminating in the first solo flight, before offering students the option to either complete the Intermediate course on an ad hoc day by day basis in the UK or intensively in Portugal or Spain. This is because nearly everyone who booked a 12 day course in the UK wished they had sat their 2nd week overseas where the weather is so much better!
SkyWeek France 1 & 2
We will again be running two SkyWeeks in France this year. The first is 12th to 19th July and the second is 30th August to 6th September. These trips have proven to be a huge success, with many Pilots returning year after year. The ease of transporting equipment from the UK over to France, the reliable weather, the numerous campsites, the incredible flying locations and stunning scenery on offer make France a truly magnificent destination for us. Some of our most memorable flights have taken place in France, whether over the Dordogne Valley, or the Puy du Dôme volcano, the landscape is just breathtaking. If you would like to discuss our SkyWeeks in France get in touch for a chat!
Portugal Courses 1, 2, 3 & 4
Arguably one of the team’s favourite training locations, Portugal will be our base from 8th September until 6th October. Sun, sea, sand, and plenty of flying! Portugal offers the perfect mix of ground handling, top to bottoms, and coastal flying. Our base is 1 hour north of Lisbon in Ferrel, a picturesque surfing town with plenty of restaurants to choose from. For those brave enough to give it a go, the surfing here is great fun. Nazaré, located 45 minutes from Ferrel, is the home of big wave surfing and is a must see if the opportunity arises.
Spain Courses 8 - 12
We finish off the year back in Bornos, running 4 courses from 6th October to 3rd November. In recent years, Spain has offered consistent weather right up until mid November, and with the option of our coastal site or our inland site, we do our best to ensure we use every available weather window to train and fly!
It is certainly shaping up to be another action packed year, and we would love to have you involved! If you haven’t flown for a while we would highly recommend you dust off and inspect your kit. Your wings might need inspecting, reserves repacking, and maintenance carried out on your motors! If you need any advice here please feel free to contact us and we will do what we can to help! We look forward to hearing from you. Here’s to many special flights and happy landings in 2024….
