Frequently Asked Questions

The Niviuk Fly Wide Open is organised by Fly Wide Open Ltd. This is a not-for-profit organisation bringing together a specialist team that have years of experience in helping to deliver competitions and pilot progression services. Many are very experienced high-level pilots in their own right. All understand the ethos of Fly Wide Open and its aim to help less experienced pilots learn from a competition environment while having as much fun as possible.

Our top priority is always pilot safety.  We choose a venue with more mild conditions where launch winds are rarely too strong and there are many safe landing options.  In addition to safe and easy tasks, our state-of-the-art tracking systems help to ensure a rapid response to any incidents that might occur.  We aim to have a dedicated mountain trained medical team stationed on launch and then on standby throughout the flying day. We also choose venues where heli-evac is possible. Despite all precautions it remains the responsibility of every pilot to fly with appropriate care and respect for each other. This is emphasized during the safety briefings with support provided for any pilot who struggles with flying as a group.

You must fly an En certified wing, and you must fly it within the certified weight range and using a certified harness.  En-D wings are not permitted in Fly Wide Open competitions and this event is definitely not suitable for pilots wishing to top up their CIVL ranking points.  In previous events a little over 60% of the participants flew En-B rated gliders and a little over 30% flew En-C gliders.  In keeping with the philosophy of the event, you should fly a wing with which you feel comfortable.

We encourage pilots to become familiar with how to use their instruments before the event.  However, in reality, many (maybe even most!) pilots will learn a lot about navigating a competition task during the event. Our first session of the event is typically dedicated to the subject. One of our sponsors, Passion Paragliding, have a terrific section on how to use your instruments on this web page: Using your gps for xc and competition-flying

There are always in-depth briefings prior to each task. An experienced team pilot will usually discuss the different challenges of the task and describe how they expect that they would tackle it according to the conditions of the day.

At the end of many of the flying days, we will host a task debrief which is usually presented by an experienced Team Pilot who will have flown with other pilots.  Our aim is to brief in enough detail that no one takes off without having a complete understanding of the task they are about to fly, and at the end of the day, they have the opportunity to learn and understand how they could have done it better; or to tell everyone else how they managed to win the day!

There will also be a range of more general interest paragliding talks and discussions during the week.  In previous editions we have had great sessions on subjects as diverse as task scoring, glider design, glider control, flying psychology and in-air photography to name a few.

Yes! Definitely!

The Niviuk Fly Wide Open is a fun-filled, educational event and it depends on all participants playing their part. Ensure that your travel arrangements allow for a long, and very late, night on the last day of the event. Anyone sneaking away early will definitely not be welcome back!

Yes, non-flying partners and friends are very welcome to come along and get involved. Those who wish to fly with us shoudl register for the event. There is always opportunity to buy access to meals or events that are included for participant pilots.

The organisers award the prizes in any manner they choose throughout the event.  In principle there are no prizes for winning any flying tasks or for the event as a whole, but prizes will be given out on a discretionary basis. In previous editions prizes have included a brand new XC harness, a paragliding holiday or a week of SIV. There is also opportunity to progress your skills and knowledge through membership of Greg Hamerton’s ‘Fly With Greg’ series.  These prizes are generally awarded at the end of the event, on the final evening of the last day, at the FWO Prize Draw.  Names are selected randomly and drawn “out of a hat”.  Any pilot not attending at the Prize Draw in person at the end of the event is not be eligible to win a prize.

CIVL stands for “Commission Internationale de Vol Libre (Hang Gliding and Paragliding Commission). It is an Air Sport Commission (ASC) of the Fédération Internationale Aéronautique (FAI).  Unless you have previously competed in an FAI sanctioned paragliding competition you won’t have a CIVL number but will automatically be issued one after your first competition.  If you have previously competed in an FAI paragliding competition you can find your CIVL ID here.

The term IPPI stands for International Pilot Proficiency Information.  It is issued by your National Association and reflects the standard you are trained to.  Do not confuse this with a Sporting Licence. All attending pilots must hold a Sporting License and should bring it with them. These are provided by your National governing body for free-flight sports.

This is the license you need to be able to compete in an FAI-sanctioned competition and it helps ensure that the event attracts full FAI recognition. The licence is issued by your National Association and usually all pilots are eligible to hold it.
Whilst an IPPI card is not required, a sporting licence IS required for this event.
Please be sure to contact your National Association in order to acquire your sporting licence in plenty of time.  You may be required to produce your FAI Sporting Licence at registration.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recommend any specific insurers, but please make sure to purchase an insurance policy that covers amateur competition flying in the relevant country.  While medical insurance is to cover risk to you personally, you will need to certify that you have suitable insurance at registration.  All participating pilots must have a valid medical health care insurance with adequate cover for in-country hospital expenses. You should bring with you some proof, in English, of third party liability insurance (Euro 750k minimum); and proof, in English, of teh arrangements you have in place for hospital fees, medical evacuation and repatriation.  A statement from your insurance company, in English, may need to be shown at registration, proving that you have met the insurance requirements and the organisers will certainly need a 7-day, 24 hour, emergency contact telephone number in case of accident.

Previous Fly Wide Open events have proved hugely popular and are frequently over-subscribed.  We can only accept around 120 pilots and usually turn away a similar number of applicants.  We try to select pilots as fairly as possible bearing in mind the philosophy of this event.

If you have never been XC flying, we would suggest you join a guided trip and get some XC flights under your belt before you consider applying for the Niviuk Fly Wide Open.  Conversely, if you’re a World Cup pilot or National team member, you’re definitely overqualified!

Our selection process gives no advantage to pilots applying on the first day of application.  We will consider all pilots on their merit – not on how quickly or otherwise they apply.

Pilots are sent a link to an online questionnaire at registration. The detail provided, relating to experience and objectives, lead to pilots being selected or their application being declined.

If you’ve been to a Fly Wide Open event before, you definitely still have a chance (even if you’ve entered more than once!) We enjoy sharing the skies with some more experienced pilost who may mentor others and help set the right ‘tone’ for fun and participation.

Where possible, we like to prioritise those pilots who haven’t competed in a Fly Wide Open event before.  But, if you have other previous competition experience, don’t assume that this will necessarily count against you.

Finally, the organisation team personally know a lot of the applicants to this event.  Please don’t ask us for favours.  We cannot sneak friends into this event.  Whilst we want to help, we are also committed to being as fair as we possibly can.

The organisation have previously secured a booking code to use when booking directly with either the Hotel Montana Palace or the Panorama Spa Hotel. If available, we will share one with succesful pilots once their place has been confimred. You will need to telephone the hotels directly when making your reservation to take advantage of any discounted rates.
All rooms are available on a first-come-first-served basis. The organisation has not pre-booked any accommodation for the pilots.

Although a simple lunch pack is supplied to pilots on each flying day you will need to buy your own evening meals and drinks, and pay for your own accommodation. You may also want to buy something when waiting for retreive vehicles.

Although most of the hotels, restaurants and bars accept contactless payments, having around 20 euros-worth of local currency with you, may be sensible. This is around 1,200 Macedonian Denar. There are a couple of cash machines in the town centre which are fairly reliable although there can be a short queue at certain times of day.

We plan to arrange some fixed departure time transfers from Skopje airport to Krusevo and also from Krusevo back to Skopje airport after the event.

Transport will not be personalised to match participant’s individual flight arrival times. Instead, we plan to arrange for one bus to leave Skopje airport late in the afternoon of the Friday prior to the event and, again, around mid afternoon, then later in the afternoon on the Saturday at the start of the event, arriving in time to attend registration. This may mean waiting at the airport if you miss an earlier vehicle.

We have planned return transport for participants on the morning of the Sunday after the final day of the event, the Grand Prize Draw and party. This includes an early (perhaps 4am!) departure time for those with early flights.

More information, with the option to book a place on these transits, will be publsihed on the store page of this website so that places on these transfer buses can be reserved.

If these arrangements and timings prove unhelpful, then taxis and buses from the airport to Prelip and Krusevo and from Krusevo back to Skopje are available. The fee is not usually significantly more expensive than the event airport transport, especially is a taxi is shared. The listing of your fellow participants is available via the Airtribune event pages and we will publish a WhatsApp pilot communications group in the weeks prior to the event.