Keeping your Balance

Some like it difficult, others look for extremes. Eliot Nochez combines both with his adventures. The acro pilot prefers projects which others consider impossible. "Bob je quitte le navire" (Bob, I’m leaving the ship) was exactly such a project. Together with pro slackliner Thibault Cheval and Julien Millot of the Flying Frenchies he actually achieved it.

“We are probably just being very childish”, says Eliot, and laughs. That’s what you might call it, if anyone has the idea to stretch a highline between two paragliders. “One day I was thinking about whether it would be possible to connect two paragliders with such a line”, explains Eliot. “I was probably influenced by the ‘Flying Frenchies’. “The French basejumper had stretched a highline between two hot air balloons in 2014.

“As soon as I got the idea I contacted Thibault Cheval”, remembers Eliot. The professional slackliner had had the same idea and definitely wanted to try it. “At first the whole thing seemed completely mad. We thought it would be impossible, but the idea would not go away. “After long consideration we both came to the same conclusion: “It’s doable.”

The biggest challenge with this new-fangled attempt was to make it completely safe. At that time Julien Millot was still involved with the Flying Frenchies. He would be flying the second paraglider. They began with intensive training. The most important and largest problem was that both paragliders had to be flying at the same height at the same speed in the same direction. To manage this Eliot and Julien flew five times a day for almost a week. Then followed an eight day filming session.

Each attempt was extremely expensive. First we had to walk to the takeoff, then prepare the wings and cameras and finally take off – that’s the whole team, including the two cameramen and photographers. The actual attempt on the highline lasted mostly a few seconds, Thibault had to be very quick. As soon as the pilots dropped the highline, it was down to land, pack everything and walk up to the takeoff again – for the next flight. “It all took an incredibly long time and was very tiring,” recounted Eliot. “But for me this was exactly the reason why the project was so terrific.”

The most difficult thing was to keep the line tensioned without deforming the paragliders too much. Although they must fly at the same speed, and basically in the same direction, the two wings also have to try to fly apart, by the right amount, to hold the line under tension. To find this balance required the greatest delicacy of paraglider handling. In addition, they had to be flying rather slowly. So Eliot and Julien needed most of the time to practice their coordination. Once they’d got the hang of it, Thibault could begin his balancing on the highline.

Looking back, Eliot refers to this greatest performance as not to have been too nervous - and, of course, not get hurt. “We wanted to do something that no one had ever done before, and so broaden the possibilities of the sport”, he says.

That is what the three achieved – no question. In the film “Bob je quitte le navire” Eliot, Julien and Thibault tell of their adventure.