We saw the smoke coming out like crazy and we was, yeah, we got
to fly there on the from the If you collapse and open really
hard, for sure it will break. When it comes to loading the
acro sport, as you said, you start with SIV maneuvers or a
regular bladder to know how it feels when it's not above your
head. But how far does a high V glider
go in the role of acro paragliding?
Hello everyone, welcome back to Paragliding Atlas.
I am Aninder Singh and this time around we will be joined by a
very special guest. This guy happens to be an
inventor, a creator, an inspire, and most importantly, a lover of
paragliding. How often does it happen when we
go out and say that there's a itch to invent something today?
That I feel like I should revolutionize the thing that I'm
doing or the sport or or the field that I'm in.
And there are a handful of men and women out there who are
still challenging, challenging the status quo and trying to
increase the fun factor while staying within the limits of
flight envelope. And Raul Rodriguez is exactly
one of them. He went out and believed in his
way of life when majority of the community was giving him shit
for what he was doing. Imagine landing at a comp and
70% of the gaggle or 90% of the pilots, they're just being
pissed by you saying that you're flying very dangerously, you're
going to kill yourself and blah blah blah.
And then yet, regardless of all of these challenges, you have
the will, you have the motivation, you have the belief,
Most importantly to say that you know what, thank you for your
concern, but I'll keep going. And eventually, because he did
not give up back then when he started.
And you know, as you will find out in the show that he found a
really good bunch of friends and and made a beautiful tribe that
went around the world. He was able to create something
so unique that it has essentially become one of the
most important parts of the sport that we practice.
Inventing acro wasn't easy and streamlining it into the main
teaching and trying and make a living out of it was a world
only existing in dreams. But as we all know, if you dream
hard enough, if you believe hard enough, you'll find a way to
achieve it hard enough. I don't know if the last part
made sense or not grammatically, but yeah, dream, believe,
achieve is the mantra. And Raul Rodriguez seems to have
lived it to the fullest. So without further ado, here's
presenting episode #4 in the series Risk Versus Reward with
one of the true legends and a great person to talk to, Raul
Rodriguez. I hope you like it.
And if you do, please consider dropping in a like or a
subscribe or even better rating. Yeah, that was a call to action
that I just had to, you know, Spotify has been giving me too
many emails and prompts on how to grow my podcast.
And they were like, bring out call to action to your audience.
And I was like, all right, fair enough.
So here is the first call to action, ladies and gentlemen,
boys and girls and everybody along with them.
Risk versus reward Part 4 from party.
Lighting up this in your ears right away.
Raul Rodriguez, five times world champion, 6 times acro world
champion, and now an owner of a paralyzing school.
Who are you Sir, and how did you get to be this awesome in life?
Hello, nice to be here. And yeah, it was a long way to
make all this, but the beginning was because my father, he was a
really like crazy sportive guy on this early times that he
create a school teaching friends.
So I was there and from 12 years old I start to fly.
And from there I think that this was my way of life, that only
way I want to live like flying. It was progressive from me.
The most important was or the most.
The thing that I really love these times every days and still
now is like they you can, I can learn something everyday learn
something, some small move or something about the wind, about
the thermals. It was a long way, like
competing in cross country on these times to learning how to
move to the mountains and in the distance.
But at the same time was more my passion like control the glider
among others. So really from the first flights
I was thinking that I want want to fly straight.
I need to fly making something better than straight.
And so I start to break and release and make no Delphines.
I see on the magazines, the paragliding Spanish magazine
that all the DHB man others. So I have a list of man others.
So I was like, yeah, 12 or 13 years old.
And then I see this list and tell to my brother Felix, he
started also to fly at this time.
And I tell Felix, this is the list of the maneuvers assistant,
this is the maneuvers we need to control.
But it was not one that I can ask around because we live in
the middle Spain like flatlands. Only my father and me and my
brother flies. But I was playing all of this
alone and teaching to Felix and then also to Oratio, my cousin.
And very soon I finished all the list.
So it was like the list was just like, yeah, beast, beast stall,
collapse and spiral and full stall and negative and not many
things more like really, I finished very fast all the list.
So I practice a lot of this, but then I need to get something
new. Always.
I was pushing all these maneuvers a bit on the limits,
trying to find something. I start with the negative
because dynamic moves was the loop, the mouse top.
But then I found them the negative, something like
different, like a negative that goes around me, that at the end
it was like one year playing this negative.
And at the end it becomes the set the negative, the glider in
one side being so the other side flying, it was around me.
And at the end I released a bit more and it was like a set, it
takes one year. And from this set I understood
that I can do set asymmetric and tumbling for sure.
And at the same time I was playing negative to pull, keep,
pull, release. So mystically my twist.
And I was like this every day straight something different.
I see the videos that we was filming, all the history we were
filming with this mini cameras. And when I see every day is my
flight, it was like crazy trying many things every day.
But the the important thing really on this time was the
family team like we create the SAP team safety acro team with
these cross country pilots the likes acro.
So Richard Gallon, Daniel Grepo, Feli Suraci, Davido, many small
group like this just to be close and play acro, watch each others
and learn from the team, from the group.
And this group created the good ways to to be safe and play very
hard. Like Chrissy, like me alone.
Making maneuvers is good, but trying to be close to your
friend making maneuvers is really incredible.
It still is the best feeling I have.
Like now with last year's with Horatio Maquise doing brohook
manores like stole manores connected with the fields
brohook. For me the most important relief
from always was more like 3-8 manovers was most important than
be the best on the competitions. It was crazy, but for sure new
maneuvers give me more energy. For me, a. 100% man and they all
know sharing the joy with your near and dear ones increases a
temple. So I can imagine how amazing it
must be exploring all these new experiences with your friends
and family. Can you share with us how did
your visualization look like? Like how did you dream?
Did you have dreams like this or how did you plan to go out and
and make all of this happen? What were your thought process
during all of those years when you were progressing?
And yeah, it was really progressive on the maneuvers,
learning from the beginning like a spiral.
I was really progressive on the energy, not going to the maximum
spin, just taking, making use to the energy.
But at the end when I need to create something new like a SAT
or tumbling, but it was in my mind already to make a tumbling
because yeah, why not hang glider can do a tumbling,
airplane can do tumbling. Why not a paraglider can just go
to the front like one it was they had to make one turn for
sure. And then I I was trying a few
times like tumbling, but it was not really nice out of my
understanding. So I was really progressive from
sad to set asymmetric to tumbling lateral to more
vertical. It was really day by day making
a bit of progression on the inclination of the set.
But then one in one year or two years we was like nice tumblings
and then it was the first time it was one turn.
So then the objective was to make more turns, like two turns.
So it was at the beginning only one turn.
Then we start to all right, start to try to make two turns,
then three turns. So I said to Felix that the only
new way to go to tumbling that I was in my mind is to go totally
straight. Because if now I can keep a
tumbling like a bit lateral three times, why not you go
totally straight? But I was never thinking that it
will be more than one turn. I was like, yeah, OK, it will be
straight, totally straight release from hands center.
OK, one turn will be one turn. And then I don't know what will
happen, but then it stay into Infinity.
I stay like 123 until eight turns without stopping.
So the same energy all move every time I land.
And then I say this is the yeah, Infinity the maneuver.
The name happens to my mind because yeah, you can keep
forever Infinity turns. I was thinking in all the
progression from sad to Infinity to tumbling, but I never
imagined that Infinity can happens because yeah nobody
trained it was real, not on the progression.
Progression can be just straight one turn, but to keep Infinity
was either I never imagined. So at the end all the maneuvers
I was thinking imagine this maneuvers progressive like with
more energy or combinations between like dynamic and
negative that Infinity really appears like it was a dream.
The most important at the end, the perfection from sad to
Infinity takes me five years of progression.
Wow. So that's five years of pure
hard work, going out dreaming and putting in the effort years.
And at the end, the last manover to be like crazy was Infinity
and all the rest Manover was in between these five years.
So all the synchro and solo Ma, Twiz, Misty Elli, all these
manovers that we played Twisted from yeah, 2003.
Then I was playing Twisted like simple maneuvers like little
winovers or spiral or a stall, and also Misty flips.
It takes 10 years that other pilots for less start to place
Twisted. It was 10 years like alone
playing Twisted. But the guys don't want to play.
They said it was like crazy, maybe even don't want to try,
but at the end and team start to play twisted and now everybody's
twisted. But that is good because twisted
is very important into the progression.
It it makes it increase the number of combinations because
normal spiral like to the right, you can go twisted to the right
or you can go twisted to the left.
So in the same spiral or you can change the twist.
So in one maneuver you have 3 maneuvers more twisted
combinations and this happens in all the maneuvers.
So you can make all with a lot of variants of twisted That is
for us is a maneuver. Every new twisted combination is
some another because you need to learn the move and it's
different totally if you're twisted right or twisted left or
changing the twist. So the game now is really funny
complicate. They have a lot of
possibilities. Sounds sounds amazing, but
before I move on to the equipment part, I just want to
figure out, let's say these five years of hard work when you guys
were inventing from the beginning of something outside
the DHV safety maneuvers. Everyone around you must be
questioning your moves as these guys are just pushing the limits
away too much while there's being so stupid.
Like even today, if somebody tries something out-of-the-box,
people are like, just don't do this.
You're going to kill yourself for something.
So the risk must have been pretty high.
And I understand you were working hard to make sure that
was, you were diminishing the risk as much.
But how did you manage to stay safe during these years of
progression? And what was your strategy to
try and keep everything under control then and you and, and
and everyone around you of the acro team as well.
So how how did you guys stay within the limits of paragliding
while you were chasing this? Yeah, it was like you say, it
was a a time that we was pushing the limits and for the rest of
the world was we was like a crazy voice even for the
professional pilots, like the actually pilot was telling that
the fullest stall was not possible to control things like
this. Like it was maneuvers that you
cannot control. We was already controlling all
these maneuvers, so the way to they save was really to be
progressive on the control, like not to be trying to not push too
much the limit, just to push a little bit more every day by
day, just a little bit more than the day before or the flight
before. Because always when we try to
push a lot more, it was like not controlling situations.
You know, we have a lot of crashes anyway.
Rescues a lot. Even a crash with one friend,
Pablo Lopez, 100 meters high, making Syncro so we cannot use
the rescue and both crash. It was like, yeah, we don't
break nothing, Pablo break only the backside bomb.
But yeah, it was difficult to manage the risk.
Yes, sometimes it was question of lucky when we push the limits
of her, yeah, it's difficult to not have the risk.
Even I many times it was crossed to to really cross so close many
times. Well, today was lucky, you know,
like everybody's. Well look at this.
I almost crashed to richer. Well, for the matter, I almost
crashed to the ground. But the thing I want to tell you
yeah, was that everybody around was telling us that we are
crazy. Even in some places we cannot do
acro because it's forbidden or organizations telling me to test
the win, then I go and make acro.
But then I make acro into the competition and the book cross
country competition and always tell me like I cannot make these
things. So was a big fight from boy
against the rest of the world. Me making maneuvers that they
don't understand and the rest coming to me.
Please, Raul. Stop this you are crazy like the
best the best cross country pilots in the World Cups comes
to me many times and tell me this or Raul you are crazy.
Don't do this maneuvers or better at the time that I found
the set and the rest of the maneuvers like this.
This times nobody more Tell me this, you're crazy.
It was different from the time I invent the maneuvers, the new
maneuvers, the people come to me and tell me, wow,
congratulations and thank you more and more the people that
can now the new generations give me like feedback as crazy that
acro changed their lives and thanks for maneuvers and all
this. And this is what really making
me makes me happy for sure. The feedback from the people and
then about to manage the risk just we was in the progression
of way, way of progression about the learning crash and learn
something. We crash or we have some problem
and then we learn. So we put two rescues and at the
beginning was only one rescue, but then we saw the rescue goes
on the lines. So maybe two rescues to have two
opportunities then yeah, how to use these rescues?
The Rogallo appears it was so important.
So Rogallo give us the possibility to use the rescue
and go maybe to the landing and safe landing.
And we learned to to use the rescue.
And then finally it becomes our best friend because always it
saves our lives. We learn to use the rescue, take
the glider land safe. So like this on this time to use
the rescue was not a big fear or we always have fear on the
maneuvers. When I'm going to the box
thinking that I will do something new for sure, I feel
wow, I know I've been three times inside the glider, so it
can be again for sure. So I'm scare, I feel fear on the
way to the box, but then you need to decide if I need to
decide if I will do or not. And I always decide to try.
And at the time I decide to try the fear disappear then just
focus in the maneuver. So with the rescues the same
when you never use the rescue, it's like so scary, it sounds
like crazy. Then maybe you will die or I
don't know. But really when you use the
rescue many times then you understand that it saves your
lives. As soon you are out of control,
use the rescue and this also Organia.
It was a crazy and nice casualty to to to be there because we was
the first to be there when no acro pilots assisting.
So it was in the maneuver like four years alone.
So like the sub team and the place is really safe because all
the mountains have little trees and then the landing is like
clean. So we learn how to use the
rescue on this mountain is important.
Also the group on this situation when you use a rescue like in
organ, yeah, a lot of pilots fly in there.
So when someone uses the rescues, everybody looking
what's happened, if the pilots close can fly and be really
close to the pilot, like to see if it's OK and that is give you
some kind of a good feeling. If I fly in Organia with nobody
alone and then I usually rescue, it can be a problem.
If you know, maybe a land on the mountain cannot escape from
there, nobody see me. You alone is not the same as
with the group. So for the safety also this
group like your friends or like in Organia is everybody a big
Group, A family that everybody look to the other and we all
talk and learn from the others. It's important.
I think we have a very good progression in organia because
the group make you progress safety like better feeling and
also like safety A. 100% role. I think teamwork makes dream
work is the saying that comes to my mind.
And that's what you guys did. You as a team, you made your
dreams a reality in the sport of acro.
But tell me something about the early days role.
Let's say that five year period when you had World Cup pilots
coming up to you and saying that, hey, you're doing
something wrong and don't do this, you're going to hurt
yourself and all. How did you manage to shut away
all that negativity and still focus on your dream and passion?
Yeah, it was a question of belief in me.
They really need to believe in me.
It was the the best pilots in the world coming to me and
telling thee these things to negative words.
But I know what I'm doing. I know that I control these
guys. That my my response was like,
OK, you tell me that I cannot control my win overs like this,
but I see, I see that you cannot put the glider on the side.
So for me, are you the guy that are crazy flying then don't know
how to control the glider in all the positions.
So I know really what I was doing and I was just like
passing away. These things continue with my
focus and it's still the same because it's crazy sometimes,
even for me, the things that they as I have are crazy.
Then I need to tell to someone like Horacio, OK Horacio, we go
to sat together connected with the feet and then it's OK.
Really, we want to do this. What if something happens?
We are like close, we will just crash each other.
But I need to believe in me, because if not, it's like always
about the question of fear. If I'm scared to die and I don't
try, for sure. If I don't try a new thing and
you eat there because I'm scared, my evolution is stopped
is done. So surely a question of fear
that you need to try. And you always, for me at least,
I always, I was really scared to try something like a sad fusion
with Oracle, really scared about how we will escape from this
maneuver or but at the end we try and we it was OK, like we
don't crash. So this fight against the fear,
it's always when you try and you see that is not like you thought
that you will die. It helps like it's easier and
easier to cross this limit because we crossed many times.
How many times we say maybe today's the day that I will die
because yes, I will try to do this and I know I can go
together or can go to my friend always is passing in these
thinking on the mind, but we need to fight again this
negative aggressions and just to focus on the way to to make it.
But yeah, I'm really like very obsessive with these things.
If I want to try something I for sure will go, doesn't matter the
risk because is I needed to try everything.
Do you have any sort of marital preparation that you prepare for
high risk situations? Let's say the the latest
maneuver that you did with Horatio let's like legs locked
SAT maneuver. Was it sad or was it something
else? So let's say the the one which
got you drones in the latest World championship.
How do you mentally prepare yourself?
What does your training regime look like when you try to go in
to these brand new situations which are alien even to you?
Like how? How do you navigate that one?
Yeah, we guess before to me to this try we made luck with the
legs. Look at the spider, like very
strong spider like 360, but with the gliders really diving.
So it was a feeling that it give me the point to to tell to that
we can go to the next step. And then we just prepare
thinking about the maneuver together, trying to see all the
possible situations. If we go to sad, if I break to
mats, if I want to release, then if I release what the gliders do
pulling down or is pulling up. So we just talk a lot about the
maneuver and the night. It was like a difficult to sleep
thinking that we will try this thing the next day.
But at the end it was, yeah, really like always to on the way
to the box 12. Why we want to try this.
No, the thinkings like why maybe we crash, I don't know, but it's
always the same. As soon as I start to to make
the maneuver, all the fears disappear and just focus on the
maneuver, focus on the glider. So there's no way to have fear,
but preparation is more like mentality mental.
Yeah, make imagine the maneuver in your mind as many times as
possible with all the variations.
Got it. Can you talk to our audience a
little bit about how this mental preparation or the flying in the
air has changed over a period of time?
Let's say you've been doing this for nearly 30 years now, and how
have you as a pilot evolved in this decision making when you
were a teenager compared to what you are now, although you're
still winning podiums? Yeah.
It changed always changed for sure saying when I was 20 years
old and pushing all this, this limit was like really pushing a
lot crazy. But I still feel the same
sometimes like this summer I was pushing the limits a lot with
with Horatio in this intro. Yeah, trying this sad fusion
that during the summer in Organia with the Jose Colombian
guy that we fly together close, really close into the lines
crossing the gliders all the time like a different way of is
yeah, not really maneuvers, but different ways of flying close
like trying to be inside the glider as much as possible, grab
the gliders, touch. So we was really crazy.
I push the limits really stronger against Jose, but also
it was I was feeling good enough to play maneuvers close to the
ground like a proximity acro. It was a there that I have for a
long time thinking about making in in a mountain with the snow
there. It was in or taking energy 360,
touching a 3A misty flip and then touching 3 misty flip 3.
So I, I attacked the mountain in two maneuvers and this was
really a scare, really impressed me a lot because on the way to
pull the misty flee was like, yeah, maybe 20 meters from the
mountain. So I cannot make a mistake like
not a rescue possible. But it was the feeling.
It was different on the same maneuver.
Misty flip was really different To make it close to the ground
that in the sky, like in the box that you have no reference so
close to the ground was like really focus me on the maneuver,
on the energy, on the my all move rotations energy.
And I play this like really hard.
I found the limits. Yeah, absolutely.
I almost, yeah, touched the all the mountain all the way down,
touching the trees, making misty flips and MC Twis misty fleece
one turn and MC Twis two turns. Sounds so exciting.
In fact I saw a huge Instagram video of yours.
I don't know which size ozone were you flying, Maybe 14 or 18
and you were doing Helicos so low to the ground it was like
the is this, it's the same one that you're talking about.
But not the helicos like Misty 3 protection one to just to escape
again and so close like really between the trees.
So Chris the the the rest of the acropilots, there was not no one
wants to even try. So it was pushing really hard.
So is it different from when I was 20?
But I still like to push a lot. Can I ask you why do you push so
hard? That I need to really understand
everything I want to try to create as much as I can create a
new maneuver for me, so important really.
Or a new style. Create proximity acro as well.
So it's something new. Maybe in the future the rest of
the pilots will do it for me, it's the best feeling to create
something that in the future everybody can play that for
sure. They stay for everyone they
wants and into the future forever.
So it's a crazy thing. Hey there.
Like maneuvers like Infinity. It will be Infinity forever for
everyone. And this makes me, yeah.
Really happy. Wow, what a way to cement your
legacy in the sport. I would say proximity acro.
God that that sounds super exciting though, because I I'm
just a cross country quite and when I fly close to the terrain
or just close to the tree tops, it's it's a whole different
feeling than flying super high up where the reference point
does not exist. So I can just imagine how much
adrenaline you must be chasing when you are doing all of these
Acros so close. Crazy.
I was one. Yeah, maybe I do choose 3 when 4
consecutives and then I need to stop because my hair will
explode at the end. I get used to and I can do all
the mountain down, but then I land like crazy.
Wow. Yeah, 10 maneuvers at this level
is 10 base jumps. Wow, I can imagine Aqua fire
lighting is a whole different scenario compared to any other
form of flying. Yeah, but on there it's not like
this proximity acro we will have on the mountains like big
mountains with cliffs and trees. So I can make lines that they
will be like unique lines like a proximity with also Infinity.
If we have, I have a Cliff that they can do close to the trees
and then side of the Cliff make a few tons in Infinity and then
fly back and then yeah, it's like acro proximity.
So the lines will be crazy. This winter.
I want to play on the snow. Needless to say, looking
forward, Roll and I'm pretty sure all our listeners are as
well, so I think they can chase you on Instagram and see all
your adventures there, right? Yeah, for sure.
Amazing. No, they have the proximity is
really proximity begins to mix it with the snowboard.
OK, in the snow because I love snowboard and then and then
snowboard is a nice combination to play in the mountain like
touching, making accrue and the snow like kind of this it's like
question of need to try something different always,
yeah. Were you a very restless child
when you were young? Because usually that is how, how
these, these kind of people are, You know, they, they can't sit
in one place for too long. So were you one of those kinds
when you were growing up that eventually you turned out to be
the coolest acropolate in the world?
What? What?
Sorry. I'm saying, were you a very
impatient child when you were young?
Yeah, absolutely. I need to you know the the place
I am in now is in my parents house in is a small city in the
floodlands. So I was like making, trying to
escape from this small city because there's nothing around,
not trees even not rivers, no mountains.
So I always want to stay out of here and fly in the mountains.
But I also I need to always create something like
inventions. Yeah, I have 7 machines.
So I make the acro handles that all the acro Pilots has now.
It was my invention because I need something different than a
normal brake handle or the base system because I think I was
looking at the base jams and then I saw that it can be good
to have a base jam also in the harness.
So I go with the Regat and create the first base system
like this. I need to always create things.
I have a lot ideas like crazy, cannot stop and then I need to
find because the videos and the pictures are not good to express
even maneuvers or moves. So better just making painting
or designs on the computer a lot also with the a crew maneuvers
and bears. So yes, also that that I have a
list of maneuvers that I always from boys from this list, sorry
list. I have the list.
So increase the list and I play with the in the external with
group of maneuvers and maneuvers combinations.
And the list is is so big. Really.
Now I have more than 4000 possible combinations.
Wow. Yeah.
So that's the biggest secret I've heard in the world of
parabolic roles. Yeah, now I think Chris S yeah,
more than thousand solo and like more than 3000 singer.
But the thing in this list that I that all the time that I go to
the list to check then it increased because I see more
combinations because we have new combinations so I can put there.
So the list is always increasing.
I stopped to this 4000 or like two years ago.
I stopped to check the list and I decided the number is like
increasing to Infinity. This is my conclusion, but at
the for the moment we have a lot in this list.
Maybe we need a few generations to make all these maneuvers.
Like it's so big with pilot syncro, 2 pilots, 3 pilots
maneuvers of groups. There are two mats a lot
Infinity of possibility sensor. But do you have your favorite
ones from the list? Do you have like top five, top
ten, which you can tell our listers right now?
Yeah, but the best are the the first ones for sure.
Infinity or Misty flim and mass twizz are the best for sure
because are the basics move like different feelings like
straight, totally straight or 1/2 rotation or full power
rotation, mass twist and then synchro bro hook is crazy.
Like really connect to your friend and maybe just fly
straight and then it's crazy. But making maneuvers, wow yes.
And for future maneuvers, yeah, I have some that I really want
to play like, but need to be in groups for pilots, maybe 5
pilots. But there are a lot really
beautiful combinations I need to try for sure.
Is is is it a secret list or do your friends get to see it now
and then? Secret.
All right, Fair. No.
But I think it's important not too far to to put this list in
public and like this, we can all go to a new trick or try to
because there are a lot. If you had the level and you can
try, why not? You go to the list and then
maybe I can try this just to be faster on the evolution.
But yeah, for the moment, it's just like Excel with 9 names.
So to make the list, I need a lot of work to put 3 maneuver
explanation with some kind of rows of pictures because it's
not our only names, but it can be, yeah, yeah.
So work that I need to do for sure.
Raoul, before I proceed to your school and imparting knowledge
to the next generation, I quickly want to touch upon the
topic of equipment. Gliders have come a very long
way since you guys started and of course you were practicing on
very different technology of wings and now the wings are
getting smaller and smaller. We have 14 square meter accurate
sizes. So how have you seen the
technology in Acrobaralleting evolved and is it getting safer
or is it getting more exciting? The Ballucian was like the first
acrobladder that I have. It was Millennium from there was
the cross country top gladder, but it was good to to set at
least because at these times when the SAT appear, then we try
with other gliders and it was like not all the gliders can do
SAT more of them collapse the tips the cross country gliders
because the competitions and then we ask for small sizes and
less aspect drive you to this sat maneuver to not collapse.
It was coming the gliders better and better like in two years,
three years from the first competition with the gliders was
really crazy good making perfect tumblings.
All of the competition actual gliders if you stall and release
it will pass under you. Maybe you go on the glider
because you make in the not in the good time, but it means that
these competition ladders are really technical and dangerous
if you no control. If you make a stall or misty
flip and you forget to break the shooting, you can go on the
glider. I I quickly when it comes to
loading the acro sport. As you said, you start with SIV,
manure works on a regular glider to know how it feels when it's
not above your head. But how far does a high bead
glider go in the role of acro paragliding?
Can a high bead glider do majority of the tricks but
tumbling? And better, yeah, can do their
tricks, but it's like more aspect radio so you need more
control. It's not designed for maneuvers
like simple stall fly backwards. If I have a glider with low as
per radio the tips are really solid but be with a lot of as
per radio even if I'm really good on the brakes, the tips
will go to the front and then so they can do the maneuvers but
not that clean as acrobladers for sure.
The acrobladers are the ladders perfect designed for stall and
fly backwards because the dynamic maneuvers every guy that
will do OK. Dynamic doesn't matter.
Competition, response, free or a glider.
What is dynamic? Spiral and we know there's a
loop. These are dynamic, the positive
flying, but then the problem is when a negative flying like
stall, if the glider is not designed for a stall maneuvers
like it moves a lot is not clean and then it's yeah, not flying
backwards like stable. It's super instable.
So for this glider, they have low aster radio.
It's much better like a glider school glider you will stall and
then glider will stay open. Yeah.
Can you damage the fabric or the stitching of a cross country
glider if you try and put it in some sort of introductory acro
para gliding? We will not be damaged by the
maneuvers like themselves, like in a spiral.
Yeah, you will have a lot of tension.
But the problem is for me I think is when you get a collapse
in the maneuver, like it win over, you make it win over and
then collapse and then it opens really hard.
Then you can then break the lines for sure all the fabric in
their reopenings from collapses into the manovas.
Maybe the manova is not that strong that if you collapse and
open really hard for sure it will break.
Makes sense, Makes sense. Let's talk a little bit about
your latest project role, the one which you're doing with your
cousin Horacio Fusion Paraligning school.
Tell us about this brand new epic journey that you both of
you have started on about sharing the knowledge and how is
it going so far? Yeah, We start with this idea a
few years ago. I make a lot of SCV courses
before, but now the idea is just to to teach.
We don't make a lot of courses. We're more focused at at least
this year we were focused on the competition and training.
So we did 1-2 courses only. But the project we have now is
we are focused on now is film from the family about the story
of the darker. And so it's a thing that we try,
we will try to sell to like the Amazon or Netflix or so a big
film from the family that we already close to finish filming
and will be done, will be finished in in July next year.
So this is our big prayer. Now.
We have more than 300 hours of filming from the beginning of
the acro, from the first maneuver.
All the maneuvers are filming. We're filming all the parties,
the trips, the family life, the maneuvers, the competitions.
Yeah, this is the big period. Love it, love it.
I think sharing the intimate journey that all of you guys
have had together with the audiences around the world is
going to be priceless. So cannot wait for July next
year to come around. And but while we're talking
about filming, I forgot to ask you this.
Gopros have just grown up in popularity and acro paragliding
or any sort of paragliding comes with its own challenges of lines
being thrown around your head or somewhere around that.
When a new beginner is going out there with a camera, how do you
or how have you navigated filming in flight and staying
safe while doing that? Because any external attachment
is quite risky thing in Internet lighting.
Yeah, the best place is to put in the knee.
It's like, yeah, helmet GoPro is dangerous really.
In case you have a collapse lines can grab the the GoPro,
even the brake line or so the helmet GoPro is like really not.
I don't suggest to to use it because really dangerous, but I
use it there using the helmet because it's the best view.
But for me, the most important if I want to check and and make
a report from the pilot is the camera on the knee, GoPro face
to the glider. So I can see like the hair and
the and the arms and the glider and then all the moves then I
can take, yeah. I think Gopros basically opened
up a whole new world which people were not able to.
Through at the beginning we need to use cameras like with mini de
ube cassettes. So it was a big cameras and then
with we need to buy grand fist eyes and then this we need to
fix buy tapes on the knee on the helmet just because we're not
not possible to do in another way only by tape all around.
And then when Gopro's appear, it make us our progression faster,
yes. Makes sense, we are almost
reaching the end of the the show here with the time that we have.
I quickly want to touch upon a topic with your school that this
is a question that I forgot to ask you earlier.
That when a new student comes from an instructor's point of
view, if there are any instructors listening to this,
how do you assess the student and how do you decide giving
that, how to design the progression for the instructor
or for the student that that comes in?
For me it's yeah, a work of the work.
I need to go in everyone and then make like a simple routine
for the first flight and ask a few maneuvers, very simple
spiral so all their things will collapse.
Then from this flight I said I can see if the pilot is pulling,
is feeling affordable or knowing through the energy.
It's very personal work. Like every pilot has his own
yeah, fears and limits. So I try to not push the limits.
I tried that the pilot push the limit himself.
Something like this is my way of checking.
True. Do you all, do you say no to
some students as well who you think are like not ready to be a
part of the course yet? No.
But the course for sure for every level is not a question of
level or I think every pilot is ready to go for this.
The objectives are like learn something new, learn something
about maybe control the glider. That not means that the pilot
need to make all the maneuvers. So for me, every pilot is
welcome. So.
Yeah. I think anyways, any of our
listeners who are curious about what we are talking about, they
can head over to the website of the school called Fusion
flyingschool.com, the link to which will be posted in the show
notes below. So feel free to check out Fusion
Flying School. This is a joint venture by Raul
and Horatio in sharing their knowledge with all of us and
making paragliding and acro paragliding a better place in
all together. I think with that role we are
coming to the end of the show. So before I let you go, I would
request you as I do to a lot of my guests, can you share one
story that I stuck with you? For me the most important about
flying is like friends and of course a connection with the
nature. And I think one of the stories
is that the most exciting story about connection with the nature
was in a trip with the sub team in Chile.
And then we was all together with like 10 pilots tripping,
travelling for Chile and we arrived to boulders to 3000
meters high Fukon volcan full of snow.
But then and, and it's an active Balkan, so we saw the smoke
coming out like crazy and we was yeah, we got to fly there on the
from the Balkan from the bottom. So we go to the rotor side,
which was the only place that we can go by car.
So we really take off from the lease side, but it was from wind
on the bottom side. So we all take off, try to reach
the Balkan, the top, like all the sub team trying to see the
magma, the volcan. But he was super turbulent,
collapsing crazy and and all my friends just fly down because he
was so turbulent. And I was there fighting.
And at the end I can climb over the Balkan and go to the yeah,
to the just over the Balkan and see the magma.
And the whole was, I was just there watching and some, some
little madman was like coming out and inside again.
And he was like, wow. Then I took land there and the
Mountaineers that I there, they were there.
I was like calling me crazy because they took 8 hours to
climb and I was like like in normal shoes.
Yeah, it was so funny. Then I know I can take off
again. So it was a nice spelling with
the yeah with the nature. But there are many stories like
so. I I can imagine and no one
podcast episode can do justice to the amount of experience and
the excitement you've had in your life.
So we'll be sure to bring you back for another one.
But flying over volcano is not something that a lot of people
can boast about, but neither can they boast about inventing
across. So you are one-of-a-kind role
and it's been an absolute honor and pleasure to have you on the
show and have you in the community and have you as a part
of the paragliding sport as a whole.
Thank you so much, Raul. It's been a pleasure.
Thanks to you for the invitation, the experience.