February 1988, Annemasse, France

Whilst researching my book "La folle Histoire du Parapente", I met a parachutist from Annemasse: André Bohn, one of the three pioneers of paragliding in France. On Sunday 27th June 1978, André had launched from Mieussy and glided all the way down to the football pitch in the valley 1000 metres below. When I asked how he came upon he idea of foot-launching a ram-air parachute, André told that he had seen it described in the "Parachute Manual", a technical magazine by Dan Poynter written for professional parachutists. This was a revelation to me, as it was now obvious that contrary to popular belief, paragliding wasn’t invented in Mieussy, France… even though it was there that the concept flourished through the passion and dedication of pioneers like Jean-Claude Bétemps, Gérard Bosson and the "Choucas" club of Mieussy.