Incredible pictures show paraglider over East Midlands Airport during "very rare" opportunity
A paramotorist took a unique opportunity when East Midlands airport closed, which meant he could fly above the runways and capture some breath-taking shots.
Jordan Salt, 32, flies thousands of feet in the air with nothing but a large motor strapped to his back. It is similar to paragliding, but includes a big fan that pushes you forward.
The reason this flight was so rare is because paramotorists have to stick to Class G airspace - which is considered uncontrolled and is used below 3,500ft. Flying around airports is usually prohibited. However, “not a lot of people” know that when an airport closes, as East Midlands did, the airspace turns into Class G.
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"I rang up air traffic control for East Midlands just to make sure they were okay with me doing it,” Jordan said. He explained that they flew in on the same flight path as a plane would when coming into the airport. “It’s unreal being up in the air in a paramotor rather than a plane,” he said.
East Midlands is currently undergoing a series of planned closures, which began in December. In January, two days of work have already taken place (on 8th and 15th), and the airport will close on the next two Wednesdays from 10am-6pm as well as February 5th and 12th to carry out work on the runway, taxiways and "aprons" where aircraft stand.
Paramotorists start off on the ground before taking off. “We start in a field, you start running as fast as you can to get the wind above your head. You have the throttle and you squeeze it, turn the motor on full blast and it blasts you in the air,” Jordan, who is from Belper, in Derbyshire, said.
He added that the airport flight was particularly special due to its proximity to nearby Donington Park. “I’m quite into motorsport and we managed to fly over Silverstone last year, so not only did I want to fly over East Midlands airport but I wanted to fly over Donington.” Jordan said that you cannot usually fly over it, because it is in the airport’s airspace.
“We normally cruise at an average of two or three thousand feet,” he said, which means they have to wrap up warm as it can get very cold in the sky. On a full tank, he can be flying for about two and a half hours.
Jordan, who posts his adventures on his TikTok page , got into paramotoring after trying skydiving. “I thought ‘I love being up in the sky’ but with skydiving it’s done and over from like five minutes after you jump, so I thought ‘what can I do to stay up there longer?’ I saw paramotoring and thought ‘that’s the one’”.
Anyone can get the equipment for paramotoring “but obviously it’s a dangerous sport so I always tell people to make sure they go to a proper training school,” Jordan said.
If flying thousands of feet in the air wasn’t already enough, Jordan also does tricks. “When we’re doing flips upside down, things can happen like your wing could fold up and you could drop out of the sky a little bit, it can get scary sometimes. However, he admits “it gives you a rush, though”.
A spokesperson for East Midlands Airport confirmed that Jordan's flight was legal but said the circumstances in which paramotorists can fly over the transport hub are "very rare". They added: "“It’s important to stress that full closures that involve our airspace changing to being uncontrolled by our ATC (Class G) are very rare occasions.
"Wednesday this week was one of those times and so pilots flying in accordance with national rules could technically fly in the airspace. We would always encourage pilots to remain clear of the airspace and speak to ATC to avoid inadvertent infringement of controlled airspace.”