SAFA Skysailor Magazine

24 SKY SAILOR March | April 2020 making it very easy to pull the lines in until the glider is in your hands. It is VITAL that you de-power the main and stop it from flying; otherwise one of three things can happen: ➲ ➲ The wing could fly against the reserve, causing it to down-plane/fly to the ground, resulting in much faster a descent rate than under the reserve on its own. Jocky Sanderson and Allan Zoller (Air Turquoise testing house) tested the forces of down-planing and their instruments recorded over 14m/s descent rates! ➲ ➲ The wing begins to fly sideways and rotates around you and the reserve (can occur after riser twists and cravats), significantly in- creasing the G-force and speed of descent. ➲ ➲ The wing begins to fly into the reserve, bashing it, and causing the reserve to collapse and twist into the main, resulting in you falling to the ground with two collapsed wings above your head. If you can’t de-power the main and gather in the lines, go to your brakes and start wrapping the brake line around your hands until the glider stalls and hangs limply above your head. This method will also allow a slower descent as you have more cloth/ fabric above your head providing air resistance. Note: Thismethod results in lines beingwrapped around your hands which can cause significant damage if you land in trees and pressure is then applied to the lines around you. Stage 4: Landing You are now descending under your reserve at a rate of 4.5-5.5m/s (average round parachute). Get into the hang position and brace for impact. Adopt the parachute PLF landing position to reduce the risk of injury on impact. If you will be landing in water, then release the paraglider and lines which are gathered in your arms just before impact to prevent being ‘engulfed’. Unclip from your harness and quickly swim away from all lines and equipment. If you are landing in trees, then release the held paraglider and lines just before impact, ensuring all body parts are free from lines to prevent injury if/ when lines snag on a tree. Brace/attach yourself to branches to prevent falling out of the tree, then call for help. Knowledge, experience and familiarity with your equipment are the keys to safe flying. Get your equipment out and inspect your harness and wing for airworthiness. Pull out your reserve and get familiar with it. Check the lines as you would your wing. Look at the way it connects to your harness. Practise pulling it out and visualise throwing it away from your body. Invest in educational material you can learn from during the winter months. Jocky Sanderson’s new DVD ‘Security in Flight 2’ demonstrates all the paraglider collapse and recovery techniques and also has a second disc which covers everything from EN glider testing to locked-in spirals and water landings. Bruce Goldsmith’s ‘SIV Bible’ is another great source of information with in-depth diagrams and descriptions detailing all aspects of paraglider emergencies and recovery techniques. Of course, nothing beats world-class instruc- tion and first-hand experience gained by attending a SIV course. Since we began running SIV courses in 2012, other instructors have also begun offer- ing this type of training in a variety of locations throughout Australia. This is a real benefit to the paragliding community and allows pilots from all areas and backgrounds the opportunity to learn skills which could save their lives (and are lots of FUN!). When choosing which SIV course to attend, it’s a good idea to contact pilots who have previ- ously completed SIV training and get their feedback and opinion on the course/instructor and how it was run. There can be a big difference in what ma- noeuvres are taught and the way they are taught depending on instructors. SkyOut Paragliding runs small group SIV training all year round and teams up with Jocky Sanderson once a year for larger SIV and XC courses. Check our website course calendar for upcoming dates. Pilot using the brakes method to de-power the glider Round reserve (apex pull down)