Two flying events are being held at the Manston airport site .
The Icarus Human Powered Aircraft Championship runs from 24th June until 2nd July and the 2023 British Open Paramotor Championships takes place from 28th June to 2nd July.
The Icarus Human Powered Aircraft Championship, running concurrently with the paramotor event, will use the Manston airport runway.
The Icarus Cup was donated by the Royal Aeronautical Society, with the first competition held in 2012. Along with the cup, a prize of £1,000 goes to the winning team and £500 to the runner up. To enter the contest, aircraft must be heavier than air yet able to be propelled solely by the physical efforts of the pilot.
A series of tasks are available, and the teams elect to fly as many of these, and as often as they wish, in order to score points. Challenges include distance, speed, and slalom courses along with the Jacobson figure-of-eight, a highly demanding task completed for the first time in the UK at the 2018 contest by Niall Paterson.
The paramotor championships involves pilots taking off from the airfield and flying up to 40 km over several hours to ‘collect’ turn points, before returning to base. Paramotors are the lightest form of powered aviation. The aircraft comprises a paraglider-type wing and a small motor and propeller, worn on the pilot’s back. The competition is primarily a long-distance navigation challenge (much like aerial orienteering).
There will be plenty of action to see at the airfield, particularly in the early evenings, when pilots will be performing ‘precision flying’ challenges. Details of the arrangements for the event will be published in the main competition marquee and on the event website https://ppgcomps.co.uk.
Competition flying will finish by last light on Saturday 1 July. The prize giving ceremony will be held at noon on Sunday 2 July, where the top scoring British pilot the title of British National Paramotor Champion 2023 will be awarded.
