17 October 2016
A dislocated kneecap is threatening the success of an amazing 7,000 kilometre paramotor flight from the depths of the Russian tundra to the UK, via the Gulf of Finland. Sacha Dench is flying the paramotor, taking the same route as Bewick Swans making their winter migration.
Sacha, an experienced paramotor and paraglider pilot, injured the knee during a take-off run from a field near St Petersburg.
“My screams of pain were obviously heard quite some way away because, in true Russian style, an elderly couple suddenly appeared from the forest nearby and filled my pockets with cranberries that they’d picked, apparently they are good for health and healing,” said Sacha.
However, an MRI scan later confirmed a dislocated kneecap. Doctors prescribed six weeks rest. The support team behind the Flight of the Swans came up with an answer – a paratrike, a paramotor on wheels. It means Sacha can take off and land without putting pressure on her knee.
The paramotor trike that Sacha is training to fly.
Meanwhile the swans have been getting on with their migration. A media team from supporting charity Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) filmed them arriving at the Gulf of Finland. The aim of the Flight of Swans is to highlight and perhaps discover the reason why so many of the Bewick swans fail to complete the migration. Numbers are down by a third over the past 15 years.
Rob Keene, a member of the successful British microlight team in the recent World Air Games, is flying a P&M QuikR flexwing in a support role.
