Pál Tákats (HUN): Paragliding Aerobatics Champion

At 16 years old, Pál knew that paragliding was going to be more than just the next new hobby sport for him. Dedicating his time to flying from the day he left school, he and his young and talented Hungarian friends virtually taught themselves how to fly aerobatic manoeuvres. His first competition, just two years later in 2005, meeting the international stars of the sport, gave him tremendous motivation to continue. In 2007 he won the Aerobatics Paragliding World Cup Series, and climbed to the top of the FAI World Pilot Ranking Scheme (WPRS) for PG Aerobatics.

 In the same year, with his long-time flying partner, Gábor Kézi, the pair began to do well in synchro events, taking 2^nd place in the World Cup tour. Meanwhile, Pál came 2^nd in the 2010 solo World Cup tour. Then, in 2011, he not only won, for the second time, the APWC solo contest, but he and Gábor came first in the APWC synchro tour. Through 2011, Pál has remained firmly at the top of the WPRS.

Pál’s enthusiasm for aerobatics has led him to develop new manoeuvres, some of which have been adopted by the World Cup tour, and he has been involved in films to promote the sport which have since been broadcast widely. Not content with being the 4^th pilot to successfully attempt the tricky infinity tumbling manoeuvre, he and his partner in 2010 were the first to demonstrate it on a tandem glider!