SAFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 23 November | December 2019 manoeuvres you have done, and if you wish, throw your reserve. Not everybody wants to get their gear wet, so unless you have to throw in anger during the course, it remains simply an option. During each flight you will do several iterations of each manoeuvre; firstly under radio instruction, and then in your own time with the instructor pro- viding advice as needed. The course is reasonably intense and most pilots are mentally and physically exhausted after a day’s flying. What about risk? I assume you are aware that paragliding is a risk sport? Paragliding, like any other aviation related sport, requires you to master theoretical and practical flying skills which collectively enable you to rationally assess the risks involved in every flight you undertake. A pilot who does not assess risk, ultimately pushes the envelope too far and in doing so, puts themselves, and potentially others, in harm’s way. Is SIV training safe? From my experience, the simple answer is that it is far safer to learn SIV in a controlled envi- ronment under professional instruction, than to learn the hard way during thermic flight, over land and in the absence of professional instruction and the broader support structures that formal training provides. Do I hear you say, ‘I don’t fly inland’? Yes, I see where you are coming from, but let’s face it, serious accidents do occur far more frequently than we would like at our coastal sites. I am not suggesting that SIV knowledge and skills would have prevented these accidents, but I am pretty sure that a few pilots would have saved themselves some grief had they known how to respond when their wing went pear-shaped. To be clear, there is residual risk in every flight we take, and this is true of SIV training. Errors can introduce significant variables during a SIV manoeuvre which in rare cases can lead to a serious accident. Should you do a SIV course? Giving a yes or no answer to this question is difficult because much depends on you and how you feel about the sport. Are you still tentative and nervous about flying? Are you carrying any injuries? Are you more likely to spend what little free time you have at your local coastal flying site when conditions are ideal and where you can benefit from ongoing mentoring from your instructor and safety officers? Or are you the type of pilot who is keen to advance quickly and get into hike & fly, XC or Acro? I have seen any number of tentative and nervous pilots do a SIV course and come out the other side with huge grins on their faces and newfound confi- dence in their abilities as a pilot and their wing. And I have seen gung-ho pilots with hundreds of hours who were just as tentative and nervous doing their first SIV course as novice pilots. So, it really is a decision for you. If you have 10 or 20 hours flying experience since qualifying as a newbie pilot, then certainly consider doing the course.