How does the paraglider fly?
Do we 'jump' with the paraglider or we 'fly' it?
How comes that paraglider climbs up?
How does the pilot control the paraglider?
Is it possible to fly the paraglider during the winter?
What is the duration of the flight with paraglider?
How far may one fly with the paraglider?
Are there differences among the paragliders?
What is the difference between solo and tandem equipment?
How does the paraglider fly?
On its leading edge the paraglider has openings for the air. Those openings enable the air to fill in the paraglider during the take off. Other edges of the paraglider have no openings, so the incoming air pressurizes the glider and gives it it's predisegned aerofoil form.
Due to its aerofoil form the glider works as the wing of an airplane – while traveling through the surrounding air it produces lift, that takes the paraglider together with the pilot in the air. It is important to notice that the forward movement in horizontal direction is necessary with a speed higher than minimum take off speed for paraglider to fly.
Do we 'jump' with the paraglider or do we 'fly' it?
As a paragliding pilots we do not "jump with the paraglider", we "fly the paraglider". Even though the difference in words does not seem relevant, it points to the main difference between the paragliding and other seemingly very familiar aerial activities.
Parachuters and BASE jumpers 'jump' – the emphasis in those activities is on free fall and movement of the person during the free fall phase, before the parachute is even open. The parachute is used only as a means of safe coming back to the hard ground.
As paragliding pilots we 'fly' – the emphasis is on the flying phase, with the paraglider above us, acting as a wing/ aerofoil. That is why the paragliding has in reality much more in common with activities as hang gliding or sailplane flying.
The similarity with parachuting is ever decreasing and remains only during the phase of takeoff, when we sometimes seemingly 'jump' off the mountain slope. The reason for this misconception lies in first origins of paragliding, when similarity among devices used for the parachuting and paragliding was much bigger.
How comes that paraglider climbs up?
In relation to the surrounding air masses, the paraglider is always descending, mostly with the speed of 1 to 2 meters per second. If the surrounding air masses are moving upwards with the rate which is faster than the rate of descend of the glider, the paraglider gains on height and climbs above the terrain.
There are two basic reasons, why air masse lift:
- thermal and
- wind.
Thermals are result of air masses with different temperatures which causes warmer and less dense air to lift as long as it is surrounded by the colder air.
Wind causes the lift so, that it 'hits' the slope and than 'ricochets' upwards, the same way as the jet of water ricochets after hitting the obstacle.
As paraglider pilots we are mostly looking for such lifting air with upwards speed exceeding downwards speed of our glider that enable us to climb, gain height and make distance flights.
How does the pilot control the paraglider?
Pilot and passenger are hanging on the lines placed in four to five rows and fanlike fixed across the span of the glider.
The rearmost row of the lines is fixed on the trailing edge at the end of the glider and is not used to support the weight of the pilot and passenger. The lines of the rearmost row gather together to one line on each left and right side of the glider that hang freely and are held by pilot. By pulling on those lines the pilot bends the trailing edge of the glider and changes the angle of attack of the glider at the same time.
Those pulls on control lines together with changing weightshift in the harness enable to pilot to influence the direction, speed and rate of the descent/ ascent of the glider and even to perform attractive (and sometimes very demanding) aerobatic maneuvers during the flight.
Is it possible to fly the paraglider during the winter?
In Slovenia, as well as in Alpine and Mediterranean part of the Europe the paragliders might be flown all year around. The main limitation factors to flying paraglider are precipitation, too strong winds and bad visibility, but conditions appropriate for flying a paraglider occur regularly during winter as well.
Of course, conditions differ depending on season. During spring and summer thermal conditions prevail which enable higher altitudes and long distance flights. At the same time the air masses are more turbulent and flights are more dynamic, except during the early morning and afternoon time.
With arrival of autumn the air calms down, thermals are weaker, distances flown shorten, flights are smother.
During winter thermals are exception and very weak if present at all. In wintertime the main joy are winter ascents, followed by deep snow takeoffs from mountain peaks and virgin slopes and tender, smooth glides along mountain walls covered with snow down to the valley afterwards.
What is the duration of the flight with a paraglider?
Duration of the paragliding flight depends mainly upon height difference between the takeoff and landing field and the presence of lifting air masses, be it due to the thermals, or due to the wind.
In appropriate conditions when paraglider pilot decides to chase a record distance flight, the flight may take whole day. If we are speaking about flight from low positioned takeoff on the day when lifting air masses are scarce or even not present (which is often the case during the wintertime) or if the pilot is performing height consuming aerobatic routine, the flight may take as little as only a few minutes.
Most of the solo flights in solid conditions take in average between one and couple of hours, tandem flights take in average between fifteen and forty five minutes.
How far may one fly with a paraglider?
Even it may sound not easy to believe, the nowadays paragliders are very serious aircrafts that in good conditions enable a good pilot to fly distances in excess of hundred or two hundred kilometers. The record distance flown is at the moment well in excess of three hundred kilometers, flights in excess of hundred kilometers are already considered as a sort of achievement.
Most of the flights of recreational pilots are between twenty and hundred kilometers one way (pilots will almost always try to come back to starting position). In Slovenia, flights from Krvavec (close to Kranj and Ljubljana) to Kranjska gora (close to border with Austria), or from Sorica (close to Škofja Loka) to Tolmin (in the Soča valley) and further to Italy, or from the Lake of Bohinj to Triglav are not rare.
Commercial tandem flights are normally performed locally, due to the considerations related to the safety and logistics. In spite of that during the periods of good flying conditions it might be possible to arrange for the attempt of not too demanding cross country flight.
Are there differences among paragliders?
Nowadays paraglider is sophisticated and by purpose narrowly focused flying device. So we may have:
- gliders intended for local flights with very high passive safety being the main characteristic,
- gliders for the cross country flights that combine good flying performance with still rather high level of passive safety,
- competition gliders with emphasis on the speed,
- mountain gliders that have to be light enough to carry, simple enough to fly safely in demanding conditions and have solid flying performance to enhance the safety margin when flying deep in the mountains,
- aerobatic gliders, intended for the performance of aerobatic maneuvers and routines and
- a special group of paragliders - tandem paragliders, intended for two persons flights.
Besides differing regarding the purpose of use, gliders differ as well regarding the size, which depends upon the purpose of use and the takeoff weight – the total weight of pilot and all the necessary equipment.
What is the difference between solo and tandem equipment?
The main difference between the equipment for solo and tandem flying is in the paraglider itself. The tandem paraglider is bigger and less agile in maneuvering. In spite of that, due to the higher weight of the pilot and passenger in relation to the size of the glider (higher 'wing loading') tandem paragliders fly faster and more stable in straight line. Due to the higher overall weight the reserve parachute for tandem is bigger as well. There are special harnesses for tandem pilots intended to enable more comfortable in flight position to the pilot and higher degree of control of tandem glider.
The rest of the equipment (helmet, instruments,...) is basically the same, even though there are for example some instruments, which are more suitable for the tandem flights than others with same intended purpose.