SAFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 21 November | December 2019 W hile a SIV course will certainly get the adrenaline pumping, that’s not the aim. SIV is about giving you the knowledge and skills to control your wing when it is misbehaving; to reset it after a bad collapse when the wing is no longer recognisable as a wing; to rapidly descend when the weather gods stop smiling; and when all else fails, to deploy your emergency reserve. SIV makes you a more confident and safer pilot. G’Day, my name is Phil Kirkman, I am your older, by nature more cautious pilot. I worked up the nerve to do my first SIV course in 2015 with Roger Stanford of SkyOut Paragliding at Lake Liddell near Muswellbrook, NSW. You probably would not have noticed me. I was the quiet one on launch contem- plating my next flight. Yes, the course was a little scary and certainly challenging first-time round. But what unsettled me most was the tow over the lake. I hadn’t done any long, high tows, so found myself expending far more nervous energy on tow than on SIV – go figure. Each set of SIV increased my confidence in my wing and my abilities. The bloody thing just wanted to fly and if I did not overreact, then fly it did. I went back the following year and did it all over again. I believe doing at least one SIV early in your flying career is arguably the best investment you can make in developing yourself as a pilot. By way of further background, I now am a volunteer crew member with SkyOut Paragliding. I have completed two SIV courses with Roger and have assisted as Launch Marshall and Advanced First Aider on nine other SIV courses. These courses have involved about 80 pilots, many of who were doing SIV for the first time. This article is based on my experiences and observations as a crew member, accepting that without the experience, I would not be writing it. My aim is simple enough – to give you, the first timer, some insight into what to expect during a SIV course, and outline for you the factors you might consider before deciding to do a SIV course. Simulation d’Incident en Vol (SIV) The French ‘simulation d’incident en vol’ translates roughly as ‘simulated incident in flight’. The broad aim of a SIV course is for you to: ➲ ➲ simulate and respond to a range of incidents you might encounter in flight, including asym- metric and symmetric deflations, parachutal stalls, spins and cravats of the wing; and ➲ ➲ perform deliberate in-flight descent, reset and rescue manoeuvres, such as big ears, B-line stalls, spirals, search for spin, full stalls and reserve deployments. The courses I am involved with take two forms: ➲ ➲ a two-day (weekend) course with three to four pilots and one instructor, and ➲ ➲ a three-day course (with a fourth bad weather day in reserve) with about 10 pilots and two instructors. This student to instructor ratio provides a sound level of instruction and supervision, including one- on-one tuition when needed. Location and preparation In Australia, SIV courses are usually conducted on larger inland lakes or dams. You do your If you have been thinking about it, you have probably found any number of SIV related YouTube clips showing pilots deliberately collapsing their wing and ending up in the water under reserve. What the hell happened? Well, it’s all about entertainment value, after all – no wants to look at hours and hours of boring SIV video clips showing the wing reinflating quicker than you can shout ‘whisky’! Unfortunately, turning SIV into drama can be off-putting for low airtime pilots. by Phil Kirkman Thinking of doing your first simulation d’incident en vol (SIV) course?