A cravatte is a nasty kind of collapse, where the fabric of the wingtip becomes trapped in the lines. This can cause a significant turn towards the cravatted side, which if left unchecked will become a rather radical spiral dive. Let's look at how they are caused, how to prevent them, and what to do when you've got one.
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Being able to land softly, every time, is a great skill to have. It’s essential for cross country flying, when you don’t know what you’re going to be landing on. I’ve landed on everything from rocky mountain-sides and vineyards to carparks and golf courses. The setup remains the same regardless of the obstacles you encounter: it’s essential that you land pointed into wind, with enough speed to get a swoop out of your flare. By timing your touchdown correctly, it becomes more a matter of stepping onto something rather than swinging into it.
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Improving your ground handling skills is very important for paraglider pilots, both for your safety on the launch site, and for building your confidence before you fly. But where should you practice it, and what should you be trying to do? We offer some tips and a structured set of exercises to get you started on mastering your wing control.
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Launching in strong wind is difficult to learn, because if you get it wrong you’re quickly overpowered. Here’s a technique that reduces the force generated by the paraglider, allowing you to stay in control.
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The Cobra Launch is an alternative launch technique for moderate to strong wind. It works by pulling the wing up from a crosswind position relative to the pilot, so the pull force is reduced. In this article we analyse the setup and control required for a successful Cobra Launch.
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Flying in strong winds can be really risky, so I thought I’d share with you just a normal procedure that I use when flying in strong wind. You really want to practice this in more mellow conditions and slowly build up your skill level to get into the strong stuff. Probably 90% of accidents are caused by trying to fly in conditions that are too strong.
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Sometimes, things can get out of control. This is often due to pilot input, which is an avoidable mistake. Sometimes you've just forgotten what to do. So in this article we cover the most common scenarios to prepare you for your next flight with some skills you can use when things get wild.
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Team pilot Ruth Churchill Dower recounts a high altitude incident in the Himalaya. A sudden updraught led to a stall and cascade. Despite having two reserve parachutes, Ruth lost 1000ft trying to fix the wing and landed in a tailslide on a precipitous ridgetop perch, luckily mostly unscathed. It makes a cracking story, and there's a good deal to learn about managing mayhem and your personal reserve deployment throwing height.
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Acro paragliding looks exciting, but how do you learn to do it? What is a freestyle wing? And where are the best sites to try out the acro moves? Greg Hamerton discusses getting into acro on the Niviuk F-Gravity 2 and shares some hair-raising videos ...
Read moreWhat does 'active flying' mean? At its simplest, it means to react quickly to the movements of the wing, to calm it down. We discuss how to master this vital skill.
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