Must View/Read for PGer’s or anyone thinking of going PG

[pvanoevelen]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am really saddened by the undertone in some of the messages....
Respect both our communities, respect our love for flying

If flying paragliders is more dangerous than hang gliders so be it, I do not care about the statistics, just about staying safe and flying safe, making it more safe and enjoy the sport, enjoy the communal spirit and I hope that continues to include many hg pilots...
I am saddened though by the accidents and in particular if they seem avoidable, so I like to learn from others experiences both good and bad.

RESPECT to those that had incidents and got hurt and still posted videos of their incidents, opening themselves up for criticism and unfortunately some unwarranted and harsh words.
I am glad that most recovered fully, saddened that some did not and had to stop flying.

Thanks to those pilots that embrace both communities, that are honest and respectful in their criticism!

Peter

[Matthew]

From an article on Active Flying by Jeff Greenbaum

Managing Turbulence

Paragliders become more stable with a bit of brake pulled (Brakes at shoulder height works for most gliders). So, when the air becomes a little rough, it is prudent to fly with the brakes pulled down slightly. If it is so windy that flying with some brakes will cut into your glide, I think you may have chosen the wrong day to fly a paraglider. You will have to make your own best decision if you ever get into this situation. The decision will be a balance of penetration and wing collapse management.

When flying in turbulence, the above rules of active flying remain in effect. When you enter a gust, let your hands up to trim until the wing levels off in the lift. You will still need to dampen surges. But between these situations, rather than flying at trim, fly with some brakes pulled.

Paragliders are more stable in Big Ears. Many pilots like to do their landing approach with Big Ears when the LZ is turbulent. Big ears increase the wing loading for the portion of wing that is flying. This combined with the increased descent rate, increases the internal pressure of the paraglider. The trade off is that one can only seat steer with Big Ears activated.

If you are going to use Big Ears in any turbulence, you should be well practiced at entry into, exit from and steering while in Big Ears. With practice, one can land right out of Big Ears. If you are going to learn to do this, practice in smooth air and hone the technique, perhaps have an instructor or someone experienced demonstrate this and explain the techniques to you. I cannot say that all wings are equal in this regard, so consult with your local instructor and make sure your wing can do this safely.

So, there are many aspects to active flying. In fact, it is a process that starts at the launch and does not end until you have safely landed on every flight. Active flying will only help so much if you choose to fly on the wrong day, there is no solution to that.

[Dave Proctor]

First off, Drew--glad to hear you are back.
As far as hitting turbulence on landing. Your approach can help to avoid thermals. Rather than going to the downwind end of the field to bleed of altitude, bleed off your altitude at the upwind end. This way, you get a feel for what is about to track down the field. If you are in lift, milk it for a little altitude, or just maintain altitude long enough to allow the thermal to drift far enough down the field that you can land behind it.

DaveP

[mcelrah]

This is a sort of a non-answer to Mark's question about statistics: ("lies, damned lies and...") the accident stats collected by USHPA are only as good as the voluntarily provided accident/incident reports. Fatalities seem to run about 2 a year for each discipline (HG and PG) with almost exactly equal *member* populations (don't know whether there is any daylight between non-membership HG/PG). I don't recall a comparative breakdown of landing phase accidents. Anecdotally, there ARE a lot of spinal fractures in PG...

I would not attempt to defend PG by saying it's NOT more dangerous than HG. Most motorcyclists would agree that it is a more dangerous form of transportation than a car. Perhaps a more apt comparison would be a unicycle and a fast road bike hitting a pothole. The unicycle definitely has a bigger problem staying upright, but the bicyclist is going faster and arrives at the accident head first...

- Hugh

[Roger]

Hugh, the comparison was spot on. Made me laugh too. Unicycle..lol