Pilot revels in the open skies

This is what South African paragliding pilot, Russell Achterberg had to say about the sport and why it is gaining popularity in the country.

Lowvelder caught up with him in Barberton at the South African Paragliding Nationals last Friday, where he competed in a few of the days against pilots from all over the country.

There are very few sports which give you the freedom paragliding does. When you take off, you have no idea where you are going to end up, and you have the most amazing experiences flying over beautiful mountains, valleys and hills,” he said.

Achterberg, who works in Johannesburg as an engineer in the telecommunications industry by day, explained the intricacies of a paragliding competition.

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“Each day, the committee sets a task, which is to fly a particular route. The pilot loads the task onto a GPS. Organisers decide on a starting point, participants take off and wait for the starting time,” he said.

The output of the GPS connects to computer software which works out the scores.

The aim is to get as high as you can, glide, find another thermal, glide again and repeat the pattern. The height you reach depends solely on the weather. In Barberton, on a good day, you can get to 2 000 metres above the mountain. This year, the highest is probably 500 metres.”

He said there are between 600 and 800 pilots in South Africa, and that the cream of the crop are able to compete internationally.

“We don’t have the massive numbers like in other countries which have better paragliding environments and are fully equipped with a team doctor, manager and captain. They are flying every day as professionals,” Achterberg explained.

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The 42-year-old will be heading to Feltre, Italy for the 15th FAI Paragliding World Championship in July. He is no stranger to international competition, having finished second, fourth and sixth in his three previous world championship appearances.

He has some colourful stories about getting home after landing in places not on the GPS route.

In Turkey, for instance, he and his teammate landed in a small town where no one spoke English. The wanderers were offered food and refreshments and taken to the local governor, who turned out to be an incredibly important person and a great fan of the sport. The governor personally drove the two South Africans back to their accommodation in his SUV limo.

Achterberg admits paragliding is an expensive sport. He had been flying for 12 years now, but he originally could not afford to do it.

“I went on one tandem flight, and just knew this is what I had to do!” he said.