Burgess Hill man, 72, wins national hang gliding competition

Johnny Carr first took to the skies above Steyning in 1974.

Almost 50 years later, the daredevil is still competing and has just claimed the top spot at the Great British Aerotow Revival 2022.

Johnny, from Burgess Hill, won the aerotow event held at Deenethorpe Airfield in Northamptonshire last week.

Johnny Carr at the Great British Aerotow Revival 2022. Credit: Kathryn Cole

Aerotowing is a method of launching where a glider is towed aloft by an ultralight aircraft.

Gliders can be equipped with an extended keel and wheel, or be supported by a cart that will roll behind the tug plane until lift off.

Johnny, a former British hang gliding champion, said despite his previous wins, this event was a special one.

“It's the first time such a competition has been organised on such a scale,” he said. “All the top hang glider pilots attended the competition and I’ve won the competition.

“I’m probably the oldest person to win a competition in hang gliding.”

Johnny Carr claimed top spot at the Great British Aerotow Revival 2022. Credit: Kathryn Cole

Johnny says he got into the sport after watching a feature on it on News at 10 in 1974.

Soon after, he had his first flight over Steyning, which ended in a crash landing.

But he wasn’t deterred and went on to win a silver medal at both the 1979 and 1999 World Championships and then his first international gold medal in Spain in 1984.

He was crowned British hang gliding champion is 1981, 2000 and 2002.

Discussing his most recent victory, he said: “The significance about this win is that I am 72 years old and I have been told I am the oldest person to win an FAI Cat 2 competition.

“If I come in the top ten in the National Championships in France this August, I would have been in the top ten at least once in every decade for the last six decades.”

Johnny Carr, 72, claimed top spot at the Great British Aerotow Revival 2022. Credit: Kathryn Cole