Episode 166- Going Big and dealing with Setback with Serena Ronchi

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Swiss pilot Serena Ronchi started flying in 2018. By chasing it maybe harder than anyone I’ve ever heard of, this past season Serena won the female XContest and flew OVER 10,000 kilometers in a single season! She quit her job as a teacher and went on an 8 month sabbatical to fly and spent over 3 months in the Sertão of Brazil. Serena takes us back to her time in Brazil learning about flying in a lot of wind, towing, figuring out the flats and having it all come together. Serena takes us through her journey to become a pilot, the addiction that set in, her dreams and hopes with flying and then the accident that brought it all to a sudden halt and the extraordinary and difficult road she’s undertaken to recover. When your dreams collide with reality the mind can be friend or foe, and attitude is everything. Come along for this wild and at times heartbreaking and yet inspiring ride.

Support the Podcast

A buck an episode, that's all we ask

If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a subscriber to ensure our high-quality content continues. You can also help contribute to a healthier, greener planet through our partnership with Our Forest. See our donation and subscription options here.

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Topics we discuss on the show:

  • Flying the Sertao. For 3 months!
  • Flying in the wind, dealing with the stress
  • The Swiss League
  • The XContest win
  • SIV and Acro training
  • Figuring out the flats and overcoming stress
  • Assessing the risks
  • Goals post-accident
  • The accident- how it went down
  • Learning to walk
  • Flying again
  • Looking back at the accident- what caused it, what can we learn?
  • What Serena will change going forward
  • Getting confident again?
  • Advice to others who have had accidents- advice for the victim, advice for our community

Mentioned in this show:

Russ Ogden, Cross Country Magazine, Chrigel Maurer, XContest, Swiss League, AirDesign, Dominique Rohner

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:20 — 49.8MB)

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XCTracer Tone Settings

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I get a LOT of emails from listeners asking for my XCTracer tone settings (to make your XCTracer more of an averager like a Flymaster or Flytec). Saving me some time here so I can just send people a link.

Just replace the last paragraph of your config file with this:


beepOnlyWhenFlying=yes
setVolume=2
dampingFactor=2.50
ClimbToneOnThreshold=0.10
ClimbToneOffThreshold=0.10
SinkToneOnThreshold=-4.00
SinkToneOffThreshold=-4.00
tone=-10.00,200,200,100
tone=-2.02,294,200,100
tone=-1.99,294,700,82
tone=-1.01,320,400,10
tone=-0.98,320,651,29
tone=0.00,374,300,5
tone=0.00,432,500,15
tone=0.40,505,399,35
tone=1.01,579,335,50
tone=1.99,652,275,50
tone=8.00,1517,241,66
tone=10.00,1800,150,70

Replace the last paragraph in your config file with this. You can play around with dampening factor- reduce to make it more immediate, increase to make it more ‘averaged’ and sink tone (I turn mine completely off!), but this is awfully close to a Flymaster/Flytec averager.

Bonus- Safety and Progression

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I'm doing a 5 part YouTube series of deep dives on certain chapters of my new book "Advanced Paragliding" with Ari Delashmutt ("Ari in the Air"). This third one is on Safety and Progression. Hope you enjoy!

This content is only available to Members of the Cloudbase Mayhem. If you have subscribed to our newsletter or have supported us in the past through PayPal, Patreon or another way you should have an account all set up with us and you can login below (username is typically your email). If you aren't a member, all we've ever asked for is a buck a show so please if you can join now! Can't afford a buck a show? We want all our content to be available to the flying community regardless of your financial position, so just send us an email and we'll sort you out.

Bonus- Gliding!

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I'm doing a 5 part YouTube series of deep dives on certain chapters of my new book "Advanced Paragliding" with Ari Delashmutt ("Ari in the Air"). This second one is on the dark art of Gliding. Hope you enjoy!

This content is only available to Members of the Cloudbase Mayhem. If you have subscribed to our newsletter or have supported us in the past through PayPal, Patreon or another way you should have an account all set up with us and you can login below (username is typically your email). If you aren't a member, all we've ever asked for is a buck a show so please if you can join now! Can't afford a buck a show? We want all our content to be available to the flying community regardless of your financial position, so just send us an email and we'll sort you out.

Episode 165- Ryan Leech and navigating the Risk / Reward Spectrum

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Location: North Vancouver, BC Athlete: Ryan Leech

Ryan Leech has been a professional mountain biker for 25 years. Although he would never call himself this, in his sport he is a legend. He’s performed stunts in thousands of shows, including Cirque Du Soleil, IMBA World Summit, and Crankworx and has appeared in dozens of films. Ryan has been teaching mountain biking for over 24 years and is an avid explorer of human potential and is a certified Integral Master Coach. In this episode we explore the four types of Flow, the risk of entering flow through risk, developing the mind to increase performance, how a professional athlete has to ride the often very narrow line between risk and reward, making inexpensive mistakes, getting intimate with risk, maintaining a professional athletic career, accurately identifying risk (not inflating it and not ignoring real risk), being at peace with the dangers, and a lot more.

Ryan has an incredible website and online instructional presence. Learn more about his teaching and follow Ryan here:

website: https://learn.ryanleech.com

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ryanleechconnection

instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanleechconnection/

Support the Podcast

A buck an episode, that's all we ask

If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a subscriber to ensure our high-quality content continues. You can also help contribute to a healthier, greener planet through our partnership with Our Forest. See our donation and subscription options here.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to us on all the most popular podcast platforms:

Topics we discuss on the show:

  • Taking risk to get noticed/ sponsored
  • Successfully riding the line between success and failure
  • The four types of Flow: Forced Flow (it’s a gamble), Chance Flow (random), Vicarious Flow (transportational), Choice Flow (the gold standard)
  • Getting in and out of Flow and the developmental process of Flow
  • The risks of “Kodak courage”
  • The dangers of following a formula
  • Developing the ability to read risk
  • DO NOT DO THINGS for the accolades or sponsors, do things for the love of the sport
  • Developing a map for improvement and progression
  • Developing a deeper connection to nature
  • Red Bull Rampage
  • “The mind writes checks that the body can’t cover”
  • Why do we take risk?
  • Sacrificing well-being in the pursuit of progressing a sport
  • How risk changes when you have kids

Mentioned in this show:

AirNomads, Steve Kotler, Will Gadd

Ryan Leech

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:09:22 — 79.5MB)

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Episode 164- Veso Ovcharov and the Power of Desire

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Red Bull pilot Veso Ovcharov hails from Sofia, Bulgaria. His background is in acro but he’s about as all-purpose as you can get in the realm of free flight. He’s passionate about wing suit base jumping; he just competed in the UAE Hike and Fly Championships in Dubai; he won the overall XContest this year chasing huge distance in Brazil and around the world; he competed in this year’s World Championships in Argentina and still holds the world record for Infiniti tumbling. We talk in detail about his amazing year, the art of chasing huge distance, the craziness and accidents that happened in Dubai, Chrigel’s continued amazingness, his incredibly forward-thinking 3RS acro harness, comp flying, how we really can follow our dreams and a ton more. Veso’s humble stoke for free flight is really infectious and the way he articulates the beauty and wonder of our sport is poetic. Enjoy!

Follow Veso on Instagram and check out his incredible website, FlytheEarth.com.

Support the Podcast

A buck an episode, that's all we ask

If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a subscriber to ensure our high-quality content continues. You can also help contribute to a healthier, greener planet through our partnership with Our Forest. See our donation and subscription options here.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to us on all the most popular podcast platforms:

Topics we discuss on the show:

  • The UAE hike and fly championships
  • Winning XContest and making the switch into XC
  • Flying the Sertao of Brazil
  • Breaking a world record and chasing big distance
  • The therapy of jumping off cliffs
  • Being a Red Bull athlete and the shift from Acro to XC
  • Hike and Fly
  • The 3RS harness- two reserves + a base rig cutaway
  • Competition flying and making/avoiding mistakes- take it easy on the aggression
  • Keep it simple
  • Don’t compare, just do your best and stay disciplined. Don’t get emotional
  • Lessons from the World’s
  • Flying in REALLY strong conditions in La Rioja
  • A scary incident on an Enzo and takeaways

Mentioned in this show:

UAE Hike and Fly championships, Pal Takats, Micky Sigel, Seb Ospina, Chrigel Maurer, Eduardo Garza, Steve Bramfitt, Aaron Durogati, Logan Walters, Tanguy Renoud-Goud, Larry Tudor, Donizete Lemos, Will Gadd, Sebastian Kayrouz, Ben Abruzzo, Laurie Genovesie, Dilan Benedeti, Russ Ogden

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:08:52 — 78.8MB)

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Episode 163- Johanna Hamne and Flying in the Land of 1,000 Lakes

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World Cup Competition pilot (in XC AND Acro) Johanna Hamne had a very big year. She had a daughter, and when she was 8 months pregnant she broke the Nordic FAI record. That’s not a mistype. She was 8 MONTHS pregnant when she flew the biggest triangle in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, or Iceland! You will love this story. But that’s just the start. Johanna is a regular on the World Cup circuit and brings an always-smiling face to our sport. We delve into how risk tolerance changes (or doesn’t) after you have a baby, competing after you’ve had a child, balancing flying with your partner (who also flies), how to process mistakes, flying flatlands and flying in a lot of wind, finding climbs around lakes, training and competing in Acro, jumping out of helicopters, getting currency, balancing life and flying, and a lot more. Johanna articulates about our invisible world incredibly well and we really had fun with this conversation. I hope you do too!

Johanna talks about Aviamaps in the show. Here is the address: https://aviamaps.com/en

Follow Johanna on Instagram

Support the Podcast

A buck an episode, that's all we ask

If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a subscriber to ensure our high-quality content continues. You can also help contribute to a healthier, greener planet through our partnership with Our Forest. See our donation and subscription options here.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to us on all the most popular podcast platforms:

Topics we discuss on the show:

  • Flying in the land of 1,000 lakes
  • https://aviamaps.com/en
  • Flying in strong wind
  • Finland flying and huge distances
  • Finding the right launch on the right day
  • Airspace and using an airband radio
  • Risk and having a baby
  • Have a plan
  • Does doing wild stuff with a baby on board change the baby’s approach to risk?
  • Injuries and learning
  • Flying slow and staying motivated
  • Learning how to be disciplined when that’s not your MO
  • Creating goals and advice to budding XC pilots
  • How much SIV? And on which glider?
  • The importance of Backfly
  • Where to find climbs around lakes
  • Forecasting to fly a big day

Mentioned in this show:

Jouni Makkonen, Red Bull X-Alps, Dilan Benedeti, Skysight

1, 2, 3….Jump!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:01 — 76.8MB)

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Episode 162- Clemens Ceipek and Flying Gliders, Seeking Understanding, and playing Chess in the Air

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Clemens Ceipek is an Austrian Sailplane pilot who lives in Boulder, Colorado. He’s the president of one of the premiere gliding clubs in the world and runs an absolutely terrific website dedicated to spreading knowledge and improving pilot ability called “Chess in the Air” that is filled with fantastic in-depth articles that cover the full gamut of flying. Why do some pilots improve very slowly and others get good really fast? Clemens says it’s in the approach. We cover the value of using the Condor flying simulator, studying theory, understanding forecasting as well as many of the topics Clemens tackles on his website: assessing risk, complacency, reducing attrition in new pilots, creating sufficient margin, goal setting, flying in rotor, using the correct bank angle, thermal entry, identifying triggers and convergence, flying SPECTACULAR lines, the most common mistakes that end badly, and a ton more. This was a really, really fun talk with a super passionate sailplane pilot who approaches the chase seriously. This one will make you ponder the possibilities. Enjoy!

Clemens has an EXCELLENT YouTube channel that is really worth following: https://youtube.com/c/ChessInTheAir

Support the Podcast

A buck an episode, that's all we ask

If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a subscriber to ensure our high-quality content continues. You can also help contribute to a healthier, greener planet through our partnership with Our Forest. See our donation and subscription options here.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to us on all the most popular podcast platforms:

Topics we discuss on the show:

  • Getting into it
  • Accidents- 90% can be eliminated
  • It’s all in the study and planning
  • The Condor simulator
  • Flying lines and not turning
  • Wave
  • Setting goals
  • Competition
  • How to see the sky
  • Flying fast
  • Flying SPECTACULAR lines
  • Perlan
  • The Sierra Nevada
  • The ultimate crossing

Mentioned in this show:

Gary Osoba, Soaring the Sky, Chuck Fulton, Chrigel Maurer, Eduardo Garza, Stewart Midwinter, Klaus Ohlman

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:31:57 — 84.2MB)

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Bonus Content- Thermalling!

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I'm doing a 5 part YouTube series of deep dives on certain chapters of my new book "Advanced Paragliding" with Ari Delashmutt. This first one is on Thermalling. Hope you enjoy!

This content is only available to Members of the Cloudbase Mayhem. If you have subscribed to our newsletter or have supported us in the past through PayPal, Patreon or another way you should have an account all set up with us and you can login below (username is typically your email). If you aren't a member, all we've ever asked for is a buck a show so please if you can join now! Can't afford a buck a show? We want all our content to be available to the flying community regardless of your financial position, so just send us an email and we'll sort you out.

Episode 161- Peter Zaccagnino and Adventure, Aviation, and taking risk

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Peter Zaccagnino is an aviation Hall of Fame pilot; 4 X Air Racing Gold Champion; has flown over 23,000 hours in more than 270 aircraft, flight tested more than 685 and even built three of his own. Peter’s company, High Performance Aircraft Group manages several corporate jets, provides his clients with custom-tailored, high-intensity world tours, and performs flight test services for several manufacturers, including the U.S. and foreign militaries. He’s also the film producer of multiple Discovery Channel productions and starred in a lead role in the “Dangerous Flights” series.

His book “Relevant” is a “Behind The Curtain” Thriller inspired by true events that reveal eye-opening top-secret encounters and the greatest lessons in leadership. His latest book, “the New Cold War” was just published and is receiving rave reviews.

Pete’s philanthropy includes the Wounded Warriors, the National Ability Center, various orphanages in Central and South America, and Christian Service projects for children in remote locations worldwide.

Support the Podcast

A buck an episode, that's all we ask

If you like what you hear, please consider becoming a subscriber to ensure our high-quality content continues. You can also help contribute to a healthier, greener planet through our partnership with Our Forest. See our donation and subscription options here.

Listen to the Podcast

Listen to us on all the most popular podcast platforms:

Topics we discussed on the show:

  • How Peter got into the whole world of aviation and how it all became his passion and life
  • Becoming a test pilot and managing risk
  • The importance of asking why
  • Racing airplanes and winning gold
  • Aviation Hall of Fame
  • A private flight around the world
  • Time to ditch, and making it work
  • Being held at Gunpoint with Rifles and AK-47’s in Pakistan and dealing with “unique” situations
  • Just solve the problem
  • Weather and aviation
  • Travelled to every Country in the World except one
  • Preventing orphans from getting kidnapped in Guatemala
  • Working with kids and veterans
  • Best and worst places Peter has travelled
  • Got detained and bribed by Nigerian authorities
  • The “Dangerous Flights” series and the Dead Man’s Curve
  • Avoiding bad outcomes- creating (and following) a playbook for success
  • Peter’s books and the future
  • The power of quantum computing and how it could change the world (for the better, and possibly for the worse)
  • Tapping your creativity

Park City Aviators website link

Relevant: A Military Thriller Inspired by True Events link

The New Cold War link

Peter takes the win

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:25:46 — 78.6MB)

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