Merlailiemeccueleliclure medi for Begifiner CoM cane m al el okThe Art of Paragliding Learning Paragliding Skills for Beginner to Intermediate Pilots First edition Copyright © 2001 by Dennis Pagen Allrights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All rights are reserved for translation into foreign languages. No liability is assumed with respect to use of the information herein, nor is endorsement of any product implied or intended. First Printing: January 2001 + Printed in the United States of America 1234567891011 121314 Published by Sport Aviation Publications : PO Box 43, Spring Mills, PA 16875 - USA ‘web site: www.lazerlink.com/~pagenbks Evmail: pagenbks@lazerlink.com Books by Dennis Pagen: Understanding the Sky ‘Towing Aloft (by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden) ‘Hang Gliding Training Manual Performance Flying Powered Ultralight Flying Powered Ultralight Training Course ISBN 0-936310-14-6ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ‘A work of this nature cannot be created by the author alone. There are countless individuals instructors, students and pilots—who have helped develop paragliding and the awareness of proper instruction techniques. J am indebted to all. However, a number of individuals deserve special mention for direct input into ideas in this book. They are Larry Huffman, Jocky Sanderson, Lars Linde, Kari Castle, Steve Roti and Dixon White. Dixon (with additional input from instructors at his school Airplay) spent many hours reading, writing about and discussing fine points of flying and teaching. I cannot over-exaggerate my gratitude. Next I must thank our hard-working editors, Dixon and Steve (again) as well as CJ. Sturtevant, They labored hard.and long over a figureless manuscript to catch errors, elisions and gaffs, C.J, with her mar- vyelous eye for grammar, spelling and correct structure keeps me from embarrassing myself in the face of astute readers. The photographs in this book come from many sources and demonstrate the beauty of our fine sport, I appreciate the contributions of all the manufacturers who sent photos as indicated in the credits. [also wish to personally thank Jabe Blumenthal, David Levitt, Dave Masuda, Mike Bberle of North American Paragliding, Bruce Hamler of Golden Eagle Paragliding, Omella Magnaguagno, Airwave, Greg Yarbenet, Brad Kushner and Paul Hamilton of Adventure Productions for the loan of their photograph collections. ‘They have enhanced this book beyong telling. Finally I wish to thank my wife, Claire, who performed all the typesetting and composing. The attrac- tive layout is her achievement and this book's success is as much due to her efforts as mine. DennisPagen Spring Mills, Pennsylvania Ganuary 2001) PHOTO CREDITS Front Cover — Soaring in Washington State - Courtesy of David Levitt Back Cover — Flying with friends ~ Courtesy of David Masuda — Evening flight - Courtesy of David Levitt Courtesy of Airwave: Pages 10, 7890, 128, 205, 216, 217, 230, 235, 306, 324 Courtesy of Jabe Blumenthal: Pages 20, 22, 165, 24, 278, 291 Courtesy of Mike Eberle: 87, 106 Courtesy of Paul Hamilton: x (all photos), 350 (top and bottom) Courtesy of Bruce Hamler: Pages 3, 8, 91, 138 (top), 156, 192,204, 272 Courtesy of Brad Kushner: 82, 103, 112 Courtesy of Omella Magnaguagno: 83, 135, 136, 189, 190, 215, 232, 253, 258, 260, 295, 297, 321, 323, 335, 354 Courtesy of Dave Masuda: Pages 4, 250, 281, 286 Courtesy of David Levitt: Pages 18, 43, 53, 55, 75, 84, 138 (bottom), 143, 243, 245, 248, 287, 288, 290, 299, 300, 311, 320, 325, 329, 331, 334 Courtesy of Greg Yarbenet: Page 7The Art of Paragliding Learning Paragliding Skills for Beginner to Intermediate Pilots First edition Copyright ©2001 by Dennis Pagen All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the Publisher, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All rights are reserved for translation into foreign languages. No liability is assumed with respect to use of the information herein, nor is endorsement of any product implied ot intended. First Printing: January 2001 Printed in the United States of America 1234567891011 1213 14 Published by Sport Aviation Publications : PO Box 43, Spring Mills, PA 16875 - USA web site: www.lazerlink.com/~pagenbks E-mail: pagenbks@lazerlink.com Books by Dennis Pagen: Understanding the Sky ‘Towing Aloft (by Dennis Pagen and Bill Bryden) Hang Gliding Training Manual Performance Flying Powered Ultralight Flying Powered Ultralight Training Course ISBN 0-936310-14-6ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ‘A work of this nature cannot be created by the author alone, There are countless individuals instructors, students and pilots~who have helped develop paragliding and the awareness of proper instruction techniques. Tam indebted to all. However, a number of individuals deserve special mention for direct input into ideas in this book. They are Larry Huffman, Jocky Sanderson, Lars Linde, Kari Castle, Steve Roti and Dixon White. Dixon (with additional input from instructors at his school Airplay) spent many hours reading, writing about and discussing fine points of flying and teaching, I cannot over-exaggerate my gratitude. Next I must thank our hard-working editors, Dixon and Steve (again) as well as C.J. Sturtevant. They labored hard and long over a figureless manuscript to catch errors, elisions and gafis. C.J., with her mar- velous eye for grammar, spelling and correct structure keeps me from embarrassing myself in the face of astute readers. ‘The photographs in this book come from many sourees and demonstrate the beauty of our fine sport. I appreciate the contributions of all the manufacturers who sent photos as indicated in the credits. I also wish to personally thank Jabe Blumenthal, David Levitt, Dave Masuda, Mike Eberle of North American Paragliding, Bruce Hamler of Golden Eagle Paragliding, Omella Magnaguagno, Airwave, Greg Yarbenet, Brad Kushner and Paul Hamilton of Adventure Productions for the loan of their photograph collections. They have enhanced this book beyong telling. Finally I wish to thank my wife, Claire, who performed all the typesetting and composing. The attrac- tive layout is her achievement and this book's success is as much due to her efforts as mine. Dennis Pagen Spring Mills, Pennsylvania (anuary 2001) PHOTO CREDITS Front Cover — Soaring in Washington State — Courtesy of David Levitt Back Cover — Flying with friends — Courtesy of David Masuda — Evening flight — Courtesy of David Levitt Courtesy of Airwave: Pages 10, 7890, 128, 205, 216, 217, 230, 235, 306, 324 Courtesy of Jabe Blumenthal: Pages 20, 22, 165, 24, 278, 291 Courtesy of Mike Eberle: 87, 106 Courtesy of Paul Hamilton: x (all photos), 350 (top and bottom) Courtesy of Bruce Hamler: Pages 3, 8, 91, 138 (top), 156, 192,204, 272 Courtesy of Brad Kushner: 82, 103, 112 Courtesy of Omella Magnaguagno: 83, 135, 136, 189, 190, 215, 232, 253, 258, 260, 295, 297, 321, 323, 335, 354 Courtesy of Dave Masuda: Pages 4, 250, 281, 286 Courtesy of David Levitt: Pages 18, 45, 53, 55, 75, 84, 138 (bottom), 143, 243, 245, 248, 287, 288, 290, 299, 300, 311, 320, 325, 329, 331, 334 Courtesy of Greg Yarbenet: Page 7HAPTER 5— WALKING ON AIR - FIRST FLIGHTS ——————__ 81 Preparing to Be a Pilot Proper Attire ~ Physical Effort ~ Mental Preparation — At the Site — Watching the Wind Into the Air 86 Pre-Launch Check ~ The Launch — Imaging Practice InFl Sitting Down ~ Steady Flight Speed Corrections ~ Speed Control - Landing — Performing a PLF — Finishing the Flight ~ More Handling Tricks - Tun Corrections and Controls — Leaming Tums ‘Tandem Flying as a Student ‘Towing as a Student 102 USHGA Beginner Iesting orotic eer ART II - NOVICE FLIGHT. 107 HAPTER 6 — THE NATURE OF THE SKY - WEATHER FOR PARAGLIDING —______ 107 A Note to the Beginner. 108 Limits ‘The Wind—Breath of the Sky. sees 108 Upslope and Downslope Winds — Residual Heat, Restitution and Evening Soaring - The Sea Breeze ~ Other Circulations Judging Conditions 2 Wind Strength — Wind Direction — Wind and Turbulence Turbulence Types 16 Mechanical Turbulence — Rotors — Thermal Turbulence ~ Shear Turbulence — Wing Tip Vortices — Watching the Wind Lifting Air 11 Slope or Ridge Lift ~ Thermal Lift - Convergence Lift - Wave Lift ‘The Air You Fly In 123 ‘The Density Effect — Pressure Effect ~ Temperature Effect ~ Stability - Thermal Production Clouds 127 Cloud Causes — Cloud Types General Weather. 130 Circulation — Air Masses — Fronts—Cold and Warm — Pressure Systems — Circulation Around Pressure Systems ~ Jet Stream Obtaining Weather Information 135 Risk Management 136 HAPTER 7 - PERFECTING TAKEOFF SKILLS 139 fihent? Perfection ere eee eee 140 ‘Takeoff Review — Solving Launch Problems ~ Aborting a Launch Launch Conditions Variations ts Calm Winds, Tail Winds, High Altitude ~ Crosswind Technique — Turbulent and Switehy Winds — Stronger Winds — High Wind Reverse Inflation ~ Tum Around Emergency Procedure ~ Windy Assisted Launches ~ Light Wind Assistance iLanncl Slope Variations scien I55 Flat Slope Launches ~ Steep Slope Launches — Launches from Flat to Steeper — Launches from Steep to Flatter — Windy Cliff Launches - Rough TerrainCHAPTER 8 - PERFECTING LANDING JUDGEMENT 161 From Final to Flare 161 ‘The Four Phase Final ~ Troubleshooting Landings — Wind Gradient Landing Setups 169 ‘The Figure Eight Setup - Judging Final Height — Preventing Setup and Approach Problems — ‘The Aircraft Pattern ~ Entering the DBF Pattern—Staging Areas — Boxing the Field - Leaning the DBF — Landing Setup Rules Landing Variations z 183 ‘Wind Factors ~ Landing on Slopes ~ Landing in Varied Ground Cover ~ Landing in Traffic — ‘Accuracy Landings ~ Big Ears in Landing — Obstructed Landings — The Last Act CHAPTER 9 - LEARNING NOVICE SKILLS 195 Comfortable Flying 195 Easy Chair Flying ~ Controlling Oscillations — Harness Adjustment Speed Control : 200 Slow Speed ~ Best Glide Speed — Fast Speed—Speed System ~ Speed System Use — Launching ‘With a Speed System ~ Speed Variation Stall and Spin Control 205 Full Stall Deep Stall - Spins Performing Turns 210 ‘Turn Types — Efficient Turns — Weight Shift Turns — Ending a Turn — Rear Riser Tum — Performing 360’s - Diving Turns—Spirals — Spatial Judgement - Clearing Turns - Turn Practice Flying in More Wind 219 Wind Effects ~ Wind Limits — Penetration ~ Venturis - Turns in Wind Flying in Turbulence 227 Active Flying - Wing Folds ~ Controlling a Fold ~ Frontal Folds ~ Turbulence Security Posi Big Ears ~ Flying With Big Ears - Removing Big Ears : Flying Higher ‘i 235 High Flight Preparation ~ The Site — The Conditions ~ Dive Syndrome — Flight Judgement — Judging Glide Point - Judging Obstacle Clearance ~ Planning a Flight ~ Busy Sites ~ Flying at altitude Judgement 244 Risk Management Note on Towing 245 HUSIGA' Novvaces Bett toes roe teeta ate 94g PART IIT - INTERMEDIATE FLIGHT CHAPTER 10- RULES OF FLIGHT..-_»_>SEE Rules to Live By. 249 Launching Rules ~ In-Flight Rules - Landing Rules Emergency Procedures 252 Airsickness — Helmet and Hamess Problems — Control and Canopy Problems — Tree Landing — Power Lines ~ Still Water Landing ~ Surf and Moving Water Landing ~ Getting Blown Back ~ Getting Dragged — Parachute Deployment Courtesy Rules . 264 Right-of-Way Rules . 266 General Traffic Rules — Soaring Rules ~ Flying With Hang Gliders Federal Aviation Rules Applicability — Inspection Requirements ~ Waivers and Certificates — Hazardous Operations — Daylight Operations ~ Right-of-Way Rules ~ Congested Areas — Operation in Controlled Airspace — an‘Chapter 10 continued) Visual Reference With the Surface and Cloud Clearance - NOTAMS. CHAPTER 11 - MORE ABOUT KQUIPMENT Glider Construction, Care and Repair. 279 Canopy Construction — Line Construction and Strength — Canopy Care and Repai and Repair — Replacing Lines Buying Your Own Equipment ‘New or Used ~ What to Look For ~ Inspecting a Glider ~ Test Flying and Transitioning — Control Line Adjustment — Line Care Your New Harness 291 Selecting a Hames ~ Parachute Position Parachutes 293 Parachute Types ~ Parachute Care and Function Instruments 295 The Variometer ~ Altimeters — The Airspeed Indicator Safety Equipment 296 Helmets — Protective Footwear ~ Hook Knife Risk Management ~ 298 CHAPTER 12 ~ HOW OUR WINGS WORK —_______»$__ 30 Performance Factors 301 The Airfoil - Flight Angles ~ Lift and Drag - Drag Types ~ Wing Loading Effects ~ Design Effects Paraglider Stability Re The Control Axes — Pitch Stability ~ Roll Stability - Yaw Stability ‘Turn Effects 314 How a Tum Works ~ Turn Limits CHAPTER 13 ~ SOARING! INTRODUCTION TO INTERMEDIATE SKILLS ——____________ 319 You, the Pilot - 320 ‘Recurrent Training — Decision Making ~ Fear of Flight ~ The Intermediate Syndrome Flying New Sites ———__ 8238, Judging Safety — Flight Procedures - Model Behavior Flying in Traffic 325 ‘Turns in Traffic — Judging Traffic Learning to Soar. ae 326 The Story of Soaring ~ Soaring Qualifications — Soaring Turns — Ridge Soaring Steps — Crabbing on a Ridge ~ Soaring Launches ~ Ridge Soaring Problems ~ Ridge Soaring Rules ~ Ridge Soaring Lore ‘Landing on Top — 339 Safe Top Landings - The Crosswind Top Landing Approach — The Downwind Top Landing Approach ‘Thermal Soaring e 342 ‘Whaat is a Thermal — Thermal Soaring Qualifications — Leaming to Thermal ~ Using a Variometer - Where to Find Thermals ~ Thermal Safety ~ Thunderstorms — Cloud Suck — Escaping Cloud Suck — Thermal Rewards USHGA Intermediate Rating 353 ‘PPENDIXI- USEFUL/ADDRESSS (or ears eee 355 PPENDIX I - ANSWERS TO CHAPTER TESTS 356 HLOSSARY. eau 357 NDEX aa 361PREFACE For tens of thousands of years we humans have looked to the sky and envied the spontaneous flight of hawks and eagles soaring on outstretched wings. We longed for the freedom of the air. We dreamed of unlimited vistas and quiet hallways in the clouds. But such longing and dreams were frustrated until only the last century or so. Human flight is now an everyday reality available to almost anyone of relatively sound mind, body and bank account. With the recent development of paragliding, flight is so convenient, so easy, so affordable that few with the desire to touch the sky are denied. If there ever was a form of flight to appeal to the mass- «sit is this personal aviation realized by a seat and a wing which pops out of a backpack. Paragliding is a young sport and as such is still undergoing development. It is this continued develop- ment that induced us to write this up-to-date and comprehensive manual. When we wrote the first paraglid- ing book in English in 1990 we knew that the rapid refinement of the sport would require a rewrite. Some of the original information is outdated, and new designs and techniques are now in use. Indeed, so much has changed that an entirely new book is warranted, For that reason we have made the effort not only to acquire the most up-to-date information available, but also to attempt to perceive the future-through our contacts with designers, instructors, manufacturers, competition pilots and organizations. This book is the fruit of that effort. Hopefully it will guide you on your lifelong pursuit of aerial adventure. This book is not meant to be a substitute for expert instruction. It is designed for three things: First, it should be used as a classroom manual to guide you with groundschool material. Secondly, it will provide details to aid your practice of manipulating and maneuvering your wing, Finally, it should be used as a ref- erence book to look up fine points of theory and technique as you progress beyond your classroom ses- ions. We hope we have succeeded in producing a manual that you will use over and over in your flying career. It is our wish to become your partner in the sky, providing you with words of encouragement, advice and pure joy as you progress on the wing. Some day you will fly into a certain situation and think “J read about this and the best thing to do is...” If this experience enhances your flying then our mutual efforts will be rewarded. We emphasize effective learning, versatile skills and proper technique in this book, but most of all we emphasize safety, Safety means flying accident-free so the joys of flight are not diminished by abrupt inter- ruptions. Safety comes from advancing your knowledge, honing your skills and perfecting your judge- ment. It is only by flying safely as we broaden our horizons that we develop most effectively over the long term. The goal is unbounded bird-like freedom. In our moder, high-speed existence we sometimes forget how many opportunities we have to pursue our whims. With leisure time, money and the technology to conquer mountains, breathe under the sea, slide down slopes and vault through the sky, we are truly fortunate. Paragliding is the latest variation of wings for recreational flying. It is a fascinating sport. It is an engrossing sport. It is a liberating sport. We welcome you to continue reading and take part in the quest to realize the oldest dream. You will change your outlook, your perspective and your sense of the possible, You will change your self.