News
"Extreme Testing"
Paramotoring is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a small motor on his/her back and runs into the air with lift from a paraglider wing.
Brothers Tom and Ben Clowes together with Michel Carnet (current World Paramotor Champion) are currently finalising the logistics for their forthcoming expedition in January, 2010 which will take them to the Angel Falls in Venezuela. They will be using lightweight equipement which can be easily transported in light aircraft and motorised, dug-out canoes. (the paramotors they plan to use are the miniplane top 80's with the larger propellor used in conjunction with the Dudek Synthesis 34 wing - larger than usual to cope with the higher altitudes in this area). Previous expeditions have failed due to heavy machines and under-sized wings being unable to cope with the thinner air at altitude.
This expedition will replace the previous plan to fly from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean sea over the Pyrenees vol-bivouac style (which I hope will still happen at a later date) - Our sponsor, Hewlett Packard, requested us to carry out some testing in a humid environment, so we chose the rain forests in the Gran Sabana. The Pyrenees were not humid enough!
The expedition will be filmed and photographed from the air as well as from the ground as much as is possible with a small team. Filming will start at the very beginning, following the planning through to practice flights through the wilds of Scotland and the Yorkshire Moors as well as the heightened emotion of the adventure itself which will no doubt be full of obstacles to overcome.
Tom and Ben Clowes summitted Everest together in 2006 and have climbed together around the world. In 2008, they flew across North Eastern France to Basse Ham (near Luxembourg) from the ferry port at Dieppe. In the Summer of 2009, they circumnavigated London with Michel and Laura sleeping rough in a field near Potters Bar!
Michel Carnet is a flying ace. He is our friend who taught us how to fly. He is the best man (by FAR!) to have alongside us in this extreme and remote environment.
During this Venezuelan expedition, Tom will be taking photographs and Ben, a professional cameraman, will be filming the journey. They are both accomplished speakers and regularly speak at companies as well as schools, about their previous expeditions and adventures...