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Home \ Safety
Here is the
Canadian Policy Manual
which describes in detail how paragliding and hang-gliding is supposed to be
carried out, strong emphasis on commonsense and safe practices as a part of
your everyday flying. There is also a
Safety Officer's Manual
which is interesting, all on the
Canadian Safety Network page.
Also,
International Safety and Membership Trends
Big thanks to Fred T.Wilson for all his help.
Please see also the USHPA's recommendations on pilot ratings and emphasis on limiting operating parameters of each pilot rating level.
The FAI's attempt at a system for pilot training to be followed internationally.
Here's a report I wrote on my scariest flight ever
Here's an attempt at a probability calculator for how accident-prone you are based on a short questionnaire.
Miscellaneous 'wisdom':
Take-off are optional, landings are mandatory.
I used to believe in the remark that, "Flying is safe, it's crashing that's dodgy". I now think that flying is inherently dangerous, but we can reduce the probability and seriousness of accidents to a level similar to those of, say, mountain biking or trail walking. So much attention gets paid to glider performance, but at what cost? So many pilots here are flying high-performance or even competition gliders that are 3 or even 5 years old. What is the sense when the new 2's and even 1-2's can match their speed and glide? Bear with me a moment and have a look at this chart. This is what the DHV has to say about the certification that appears on almost every glider out there. Do you really know what the certification means?, are you being honest with yourself about your experience or ability?
The progress in paraglider-technology has shifted the relationship between glider classes and requirements of pilot skills. Therefore DHV and OeAeC have changed the official wording of the paraglider class descriptions.
The performance of todays class 1 and 1-2 gliders is pretty close to the performance of the more demanding gliders. As their good-natured flight charcteristics give a high level of active and passive safety, they are recommended to anybody who doesn't fly regularly or whose motivation to fly is pure fun rather than ambition.
On the other hand class 2 gliders, who were formerly used in training, due to their higher speed-potential today require an actively flying and well-reacting pilot. Experienced pilots of course like their handling characteristics and their high rate of active safety, which is combined with a level of performance equalling that of high performance competition wings a couple of years ago.
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Classification |
Addition |
Description |
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1 |
Paragliders with simple and very forgiving flying characteristics. | |
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1-2 |
Paragliders with good-natured flying characteristics. | |
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2 |
Paragliders with demanding flying characteristics and potentially dynamic reactions to turbulence and pilot errors. Recommended for regularly flying pilots. | |
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2-3 |
Paragliders with very demanding flying characteristics and potentially violent reactions to turbulence and pilot errors. Recommended for experienced and regularly flying pilots. | |
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3 |
Paragliders with very demanding flying characteristics and potentially very violent reactions to turbulence and pilot errors, little scope for pilot errors. For expert pilots. |
The generally accepted rule is: DHV1-2, 30 hours per year, in thermic conditions. DHV2, 50 hours per year, ditto, DHV2-3, 100 hours per year, ditto. DHV3, you are a professional comp or test pilot, fly every day.
The issue with the new crop of high-performance gliders is not that they are hard to fly, they are not. The problem is that they are very stable and solid, until they collapse, when they need to be handled immediately and correctly, otherwise they fall out of the sky like any 2-3 or 3 ever made. Remember that many of the hotter 1-2's and 2's are as safe as they are because they are designed to collapse and recover easily, before anything really major happens.
Another major concern is with pilots who are flying gliders much too large for them. Gliders are designed to operate within a range of wing loadings and are not certified if flown outside of that. You may get away with flying a glider very light on a mild day, most of the time anyway. But, flying a large glider heavily ballasted is a bad idea. If you have your ballast in the bottom of your harness, you will find it very difficult to weight-shift and this stops you from flying actively. In any case, the gain in minimum sink rate by flying light is so slight it is really not worth the loss of stability.
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