Raffaele Benetti

Do you have a nickname that you go by?

Trauma is my historical nickname (I have many “traumatic” past experiences)

Where do you live?  

Italy, Tuscany, near Lucca 

What do you do for work?

I own a paramotor company, Flight Products di Benetti Raffaele and manufacture RB Paramotors. I’m Ozone Power Distributor and a consultant for Minari Engine. 

What year, and how old were you when you started flying?

I started flying in 1996, when I was 17 years old

Did a family member introduce you to paragliding?

No one in my family has any flying experience, but when I was just a child, every weekend my father took me to a small airport near our house. His was simply visiting a local bar to have a coffee with friends, but there I found my place, dreaming to be an airplane pilot and few years later to become a skydiver

What other passions do you have, or activities do you enjoy?

I was a skilled skater, snowborder, windsurfer and kite surfer for many years. I did some hang gliding and free climbing in the past.  But now I spend all my free time to do what I love the most which is paragliding, paramotoring and skydiving. 

Why is flying important to you, and what does flying mean to you?

In the air I feel like in my natural environment, on the ground sometimes I feel like a fish outside the ocean.  Flying for me feels so natural like drinking fresh water.

Flying  accomplishments:

• I was member of the Italian paramotor national team for many years winning many different competitions
• In 2009 I set the FAI paramotor foot launch speed record (Flying a 11 square meters wing)
• In 2010 I took part on the first paramotor expedition in Mongolia, filming a documentary
• I took part in many different paramotor competitions and events all around the globe
• I become APPI Master instructor, forming new paramotor instructors in different countries

Do you have any goals, dreams or plans for the next 1-2 years that you want to share?

My goal is to introduce new innovations in the paramotor world and help to improve the safety in this sport