Tag Archives: Adventure

Unattached Hang Glider Manages To Hold On

Hand Gliding Hang gliding can certainly have its scary moments but when you take to the skies for your first trip in a hang glider accompanied by an instructor you would hope that you are in safe hands. Well, an American who recently made such a trip may beg to differ.

Chris Gurksy from the USA was recently on holiday in Switzerland and decided to go hang gliding for the first time no doubt to enjoy some of the beautiful green fields as well as the mountains. Unfortunately, the adventure did not quite go according to plan due to a serious oversight.

Regrettably, his safety harness was not attached to the hang glider and this was not something that was noticed by the instructor until it was too late. The pair took off from the edge of a mountain several thousand feet tall. By the time they realized something was not quite right they were unable to stop getting airborne.

Mr Gurksy found himself holding onto a bar with one hand and with the other could be seen holding onto the back of the instructor who was having difficulty controlling the hang glider.

Apparently, both were airborne for over 2 minutes during which time Mr Gurksy was no doubt very scared and possibly thought that his life was about to come to an untimely end. Fortunately, this did not happen but when the hang glider descended Mr Gurksy’s feet hit the ground at a speed of around 45 mph and he ended up tearing his left bicep tendon. He also broke his wrist that was no doubt very painful.

Some of you may be surprised to read that Mr Gurksy would like to take to the skies again in a hang glider when he will hopefully have a more enjoyable flight. He is obviously a very brave man as, having gone through what he did that could have resulted in his death, there are possibly a lot of other people who, having had the same worrying experience, would never want to see a hang glider again. We wish him a more successful and uneventful flight when he next gets airborn in a hang glider.

Here at AIB Insurance, we have many years experience in arranging cover for a range of airsports. So, whether you are looking for cover for the first time or your existing policy is shortly up for renewal, why not give us a call on 02380 268 351 and have a chat with a knowledgeable member of our team who will happily obtain a no-obligation, competitive quote from one of our vetted insurers. We look forward to being of assistance to you.

World’s Oldest Female Solo Skydiver Turns Model

Skydiving Any one who has participated in skydiving will no doubt tell you that it takes a certain amount of courage to step out of a plane at several thousand feet with only a parachute to help you to land safely on the ground. Well, a lady by the name of Dilys Price has never let that get in her way.

Dilys, an ex-college lecturer from Cardiff, is an 86 year old grandmother who took to the skies when she was 54 years of age and did a skydive for a charity and never looked back. Since then she has jumped solo from aircraft on no less than 1,139 occasions parachuting down to earth completing jumps in various locations around the world.

At the tender age of 80 she was awarded the Guinness World Record for being the world’s oldest female solo parachutist. This is no doubt an award she is tremendously proud of and one that she still holds to this day.

Her latest venture is to appear as a model for the fashion brand called Helmut Lang who asked a number of Welsh ladies to model clothing for its forthcoming autumn and winter collection.  As with most things in life, she readily took on the challenge although it was probably not as daunting as when she first took to the skies to participate in skydiving.

Dilys is one of many people who have enjoyed parachuting and skydiving well into their later years whether that be flying solo or in tandem.

Here at AIB Insurance we are able to arrange suitable cover for numerous airsports so why not give us a call on 02380 268 351 to discuss your requirements with one of our friendly members of staff and obtain a no-obligation quotation from our extensive panel of insurers. We look forward to being of assistance to you.

Tom Cruise And James Corden Go Skydiving

James Corden and Tom CruiseOver the years, many of you will have been to the cinema to watch Tom Cruise star in the Mission Impossible films. One of these called Mission: Impossible – Fallout has recently been released and is doing very well at the box office both here and in other countries around the world.

He is renowned for undertaking his own stunts despite some of them being somewhat risky. In his latest movie he took to the skies and skydived from a plane but it took over 100 jumps before he felt he had got it right.

Tom Cruise and James CordenWell, not too long ago, Tom Cruise appeared on the Late Late Show in the USA that is hosted by none other than James Corden. Apparently, James Corden decided to, shall we say, “make fun” of Tom Cruise’s skydiving and, as a result, Tom challenged James to take to the air with him and complete a jump. James accepted his offer although who knows whether he later regretted agreeing to do this.

Perhaps Tom was wondering if James would back down having had time to dwell on his decision and change his mind but, no, to his credit, James appeared on the day and no doubt after some training boarded a plane with Tom and they took to the air.

From around 15,000 feet Tom parachuted from the plane on his own and James did the same attached to an instructor. You will be pleased to read that both stars landed safely on the ground.

All credit to James for doing this although it will be interesting to see if he ever does such a thing in the future.TC and JC

If you are into skydiving or any other airsports for that matter then why not give us a call here at AIB Insurance on 02380 268 351 to discuss your insurance requirements with a member of our knowledgeable team who will be happy to obtain a quotation without any obligation from our panel of insurers.

Military Jet Has Near Miss With Paragliders

If you participate in paragliding then you will be well aware that there are numerous risks relating to your sport that could potentially lead to a serious accident taking place resulting in injury or death.  Fortunately, such incidents are few and far between both here in the UK and elsewhere around the world.

Well, who would have thought that when four paragliders from the Avon Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club took to the air on the 26th January 2018 they were to have a close encounter with a military jet. In fact so close that one of the paragliders apparently claimed that the heat from the jet’s engine could be felt.

The encounter took place at around 12.33pm on the above date with a Royal Navy Hawk T1 military jet over Bratton Camp that is located near Westbury in Wiltshire at between 1,000 feet to 1,500 feet above the ground. The jet in question was in the throes of a practice bombing run.

Obviously the jet was travelling at a considerable speed and it flew between the four paragliders who were no doubt disturbed at such an incident. The near miss was actually filmed by one of the paragliders who had a camera on his helmet.

A comprehensive report was recently published by the UK Airprox Board a copy of which can be found on their website. We are sure that those of you who enjoy paragliding will find the report of interest. Apparently, the military jet pilot had not previously been aware that the four paragliders would be in the air. The cause was determined as being due to the pilot of the military jet not seeing the four paragliders and was assessed as risk category A.

Here at AIB Insurance we can arrange competitive quality insurance cover for those of you who enjoy paragliding. So, why not give us a call on 02380 268 351 and discuss your requirements with a knowledgeable member of our team. We look forward to being of assistance.