“I’m standing in a field with a 180cc single-cylinder, two-stroke engine strapped to my back. A large fabric wing lies dormant on the ground in front of me. I look over my shoulder, shout “clear prop” and press the green start button. The engine roars into life.

I need to take off soon. There’s only so much standing around you can do with 42kg of engine and fuel on your back. Controlling the 24m2 wing like a large kite, I make one last check of the canopy, turn sharply into the wind and start running. In a few steps I’m airborne. I slide back into my seat, check my lines and wing again, record the time and start climbing.

This is the ultimate sense of freedom. This is paramotoring.”

Read more in the Times Higher Education, where Paul Chapman, another academic, pushes himself with the adrenalin sport of paragliding.