HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 17 March | April 2018 M y best flying buddy, Gary, and I had booked a paragliding holiday to Annecy in the French Alps, and here I was, about seven kilometres from launch with the most fantastic view I had ever seen. If you’ve ever been to Annecy, you probably know that one of the classic flights is called ‘the small lake tour’ – which is probably about a 20 to 25km flight. Taking off from Forclaz, you need one or two thermals to reach ‘Les Dents’ (The Teeth) and there you need to be sure to have sufficient height before gliding across the truly stunning Lake Annecy. It’s normal to arrive pretty low on the other side where you can soar up Roc des Boeufs (Oxen Rock) in the valley breeze, eventually getting enough height to complete a small XC triangle. In terms of our flight plan, the only thing that Gary and I knew was that we shouldn’t cross the lake too low. That seemed logical enough. What we hadn’t considered until then was exactly how high we needed to be. I didn’t want to mess around close to these rocks more than absolutely necessary. The last half hour was pretty nerve-shredding. I was being bumped around all over the place and was looking forward to getting away from these big scary rock faces and glide across the lake. Apparently the air would be nice and smooth on the crossing… Then it happened. Smack! Bang! I think that was the wing collapsing and it must have reinflated immediately. I didn’t dare look, but with quivering hands and a rather croaky dry voice I asked our guide on the radio if he thought I was high enough yet? “Blah, blah…, yes,” came the reply. ‘Yes’ was all I needed. Give me the smooth air! I immediately turned away from the mountain and started gliding across the lake. And it was smooth. Phew, I started to breathe again. While trying to forget about the collapsing wing for now, I was soaking up one of the most spectacular views I’d ever seen. It’s funny how we’ll always remember our first cross-country, and our first collapse. That was almost 20 years ago. At that time, I never imagined I’d be paragliding as a job. Now, I guide hundreds of clients XC every year and teach SIV for several weeks a year. I certainly never imagined I’d fly PWCs or get a Tandem World record. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s quite clear that back then I exposed myself to much more danger than I could possibly understand. Flying close to terrain in turbulent conditions (and all thermals are turbulent to a greater or lesser extent) requires us to have good wing control skills. Without wing control skills we are just ‘lucky’ or ‘unlucky’. From my own experiences, but also from watching hundreds and hundreds of students, I cannot understate how important wing control skills are. I ama huge believer in SIV courses. Unfortunately, some of these courses focus much more on what to do when things go wrong and sometimes skip over what in my opinion is much more important: How to stop things from going wrong in the first place! In normal flight, there are only two ways we can control our wing: 1. We can either use our controls (brakes), or 2. we can use our harness. The goal of wing control is to minimise the chances of getting a collapse. Collapses can dissipate energy, so they’re not necessarily bad, but pilots who are good at wing control will suffer very few collapses, fly more efficiently and most importantly, fly more safely. Three essential wing control skills – the three Ps I believe there are three essential wing control skills we need to master to be able to fly safely in thermic conditions. I call them the three Ps. To more experienced pilots the first two might be well known, the third is often new. Here they are: P1: Pitch This first skill is the most important: By stopping the wing from diving too far, we can avoid most collapses. It’s important, however, to understand all three phases of pitch. In this article we don’t have time to go into every detail, but here’s a quick summary. In Phase 1, as the wing pitches back, we need to give the glider speed by putting our hands up (usually to the pulleys). This allows us more ‘damping power’ in Phase 2. Phase 2 is where we need to catch the dive; then, as we swing under the wing in Phase 3, we need to release the brakes again. Here are the most common mistakes I see in each phase and how to rectify them. ➲➲ In Phase 1, if the wing pitches back a long way (perhaps on entering a particularly strong thermal), some pilots have a tendency to lean David Snowden demonstrates pitch control Photos: Kieran Campbell / kierancampbell.co.uk