Team Flying with Timo Leonetti

Timo Leonetti is the first paragliding pilot to have flown more than 500 km on more than one continent. He is currently ranked #1 in this year’s XContest, after winning 2022, and coming in second place in 2021. Timo is 20 years old and has been flying for 12 years.

I got a chance to fly with Timo Leonetti and Sebastian Benz, perhaps the world’s best cross-country paragliding pilots. It didn’t take long before Timo radioed over, “Rico, flying higher and behind like that brings no benefit to the group.” He was right! I got a chance to ask him a few questions; here’s what came out:

• When you’re higher than the others, push speed bar and go our front.

• When you’re the lowest and you lose the thermal, it’s ok to push ahead. Decision making authority resides with the lowest pilot.

• If you’re behind, don’t start coring a thermal unless it’s a really good one - in which case, get on the radio and call your team mates back to that thermal.

• When you’re leading the team on glide, don’t start coring the weak bubbles you’ll hit before the main thermal. In the unlikely case you don’t find a decent thermal out front and have to loop back, your buddies will be there to mark the best climb.

• Always push bar on glide, at least a bit. Comp wings like the Enzo 3 have best glide on slight bar. Also, when on bar the glider pitches less in turbulence, improving your effective glide.

The points above are a few rules for long distance team flying in flatlands.