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Who am I ?

My name is Joris Hart, I’m 21 years old and live in Strasbourg (France). I was born in a little village called “Veurne” in Belgium and lived there for 17 years. Flying has always been a passion. I started flying sailplanes when I was 16 years old at the Royal Belgian Air Cadets and from that moment on I was in love with flying and gliding. My dream was to make flying my carreer but unfortunately that didn’t work out. So I decided to study engineering in order to work in the aeronautical industry. When I’m not flying, you are most likely to find me in Belgium teaching sailing. During the summer I work as a sailing instructor .

 

 

How did I start Paragliding?

When I entered the University of Strasbourg(2012), I stopped flying sailplanes because I reached the maximum age to be part of the Royal Belgian Air Cadets. The University of Strasbourg provides a wide range of sports and Paragliding was one of those. So when I saw that, I immediately signed on to the courses and I really loved it. So there I am at 19, doing my first training on a little slope. Not long after that, I did my first flight and bought my first wing (an Ion Light). During the winter I continued flying in order to be ready for my first “paragliding spring” in 2013. In April I went one week to Annecy and did my first XC of 22km. (And that’s when I fell in love with XC flying !!). I continued flying and in October I bought my Mentor 3. The winter came and my girlfriend was so kind to give me heating gloves which I coulds use to be able to fly at temperatures below  -10°C. So I flew the whole winter of 2013.

My year 2014.

The year 2014 was my first year of real XC flying. The season started very early with 2 nice flights. I did one 33 km Triangle in the Black Forest at the end of February and another 36km from Breitenbach in March. After these 2 great flights my Passion for XC flying grew even stronger and I tried to fly almost every weekend. During the month of April I had to do an internship so I went to the Pyrenees in order to do mine at Nervures(a French paragliding manufacterer). The month of April went very quick and during that month I decided what I wanted to do after my studies. I want to become a Paragliding Designer. So now I’m reading and learning a lot about wings, aerodynamics,drafts etc.

Meanwhile, I continued flying and last June I completed a 79km FAI. I was so happy after this great flight and it was awesome to fly in a group. (thanks Etienne and Julien). With this flight I climbed up to the 10th place of the French, Youth leisure XC competition but unfortunately I lost 3 places and finished 13th at the end of August.

During the summer, I dreamed about joining the team. I talked about it with my friends and family and they convinced me to apply. So I applied for the team this Summer. At that time I also heard that Nova was creating a French Sub-team. I exchanged some mails with Till and Sébastien and after waiting a little I received a mail saying that I was member of the French sub team and the Junior team. I really thank you all for accepting me in the team and i’m looking forward to flying with you guys !

If you have any questions for me, don’t hesitate to ask me ! :)

Cheers Joris !

 

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