National training camp of the 2023 France Paramotor squad

A successful vintage!

The 2023 national training camp of the France Paramotor team took place from Monday 26 June to Thursday 29 June 2023, at Saint-Affrique Belmont aerodrome (LFIF), thanks to the kind welcome of Roland Andral's local club.

The aims of the camp were to bring into the France team the new pilots spotted after the 2023 French Championships, to improve the technical skills and performance of high-potential pilots, and to assess the site technically with a view to the planned organisation of the 2025 French Championship.

Wind and thermals were part of the day, but a dense programme could nevertheless be offered to the 16 pilots present, in magical landscapes.

On the programme:

• 5 practice flights on the theme of fuel economy: the machines are filled with a given, weighed quantity of fuel (for example 1 kg of fuel for foot launches and single-seat trikes, and 1,5 kg for single-seat trikes on the first day) and the aim, in an "eco on axis" exercise, is to fly as far as possible along a given axis and then return to land at the airfield. Pilots therefore need to know their equipment's consumption perfectly and to assess correctly the impact of weather conditions. Doing these tests in a supervised environment, without the stress of a zero in a competition round if the fuel runs out, lets pilots refine their calculations and their knowledge of their equipment.
• Inflation exercises. As Pascal Vallée (Flight Director) puts it: "If you are good at inflation, you will be good in the air!"
• Take-off and landing exercises: to rehearse the sequences of actions for taking off or landing (approach and loss of height, final, flare)
• Handling exercises for trikes: rolling as slowly as possible along the whole runway without leaving the ground.
• Introduction to mental preparation by Pascal Vallée: explanation of the 7 feelings that drive motivation, and of the impact of goals and the importance of routines.
• Reminders on the subject of Health and Sport (nutrition, alcohol, exercise, sleep).
• Reminders on the importance of warming up by Mathieu Farcy (representing the National Technical Directorate).

Finally, a group-bonding activity took place in the form of a mountain-bike outing combined with a photo hunt. 4 groups of 4 pilots set off to find 33 photos on a route around Belmont-sur-Rance. The aim was to help one another find all the photos and put them in order, with the course time deciding any ties. Good atmosphere, team spirit and a lovely ride for the cyclists, with some groups taking the opportunity to chat with local residents to help them locate certain photos.

All the pilots went home with precise objectives and areas for improvement to work on, happy with this time of learning and sharing.
© Text: Sandra MOREELS