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When is the best time to put your legs down during the landing approach?

D is the safest option. The others are either uncomfortable and unwanted because you can't use weightshift anymore, or unsafe if you are too late and land on your bum risking a back injury.


'Big ears' are a descent technique and serve to increase your descent rate. Additionally, in which situation is pulling 'big ears' a good idea?

Pulling big ears reduces the wing area and therefore increases the wing load. This stabilizes the canopy somewhat. It also increases the flying speed but in most cases this is counteracted by the extra drag the ears create.


It's sunny on launch and you're ready to take off, but the wind has been from the back for quite a while. What do you do?

Gliders suffer the most from direct sunlight. The airtight coating is damaged by the UV-radiation. Don't leave your glider out in the sun unnecessarily.
Additionally, sitting on the reserve parachute may damage it without you noticing, so it might fail if you ever need it. Never sit on your harness.


What is the weight of the fabric used to make paraglider canopies? (g/m2)?

Very light fabric strong enough for paragliders can be as light as 25g/m2. Very strong and heavy fabric weighs 40g/m2 or more.
At around 35g/m2, you can calculate that the weight of the fabric of just the top and bottom sail of a 25m2 canopy is a bit less than two kilos.


A pre-flight check should be executed...

Before you take off, you should check at least these things: pilot, lines, canopy, wind, airspace.


For a paraglider in the mountains, what wind speeds are considered safe to fly?

Wind results in turbulence in the mountains. While soaring on a ridge or at low dunes or flying in flatlands may be safe up to 4 Bft or a bit higher using a smaller mini-wing, in the mountains a wind speed up to 3 Bft (a maximum of 20 km/h) is the maximum for most pilots to fly safely. Strong winds are considered 25 km/h or over.


You just landed. What do you do?

Directly after landing, look around for other gliders that are about to land and clear the landing area as quickly as possible, without disturbing others.


How tight do you need to pull the leg straps of the harness?

The tightness of the leg straps does not influence the flying properties of the paraglider.

When the leg straps are too loose, after take-off you will find yourself hanging low under the seat and it's more difficult to get in the harness.

Too tight will hinder your movements during take-off, depending on the harness design. In some harnesses it will prevent you from getting into the seat fully.


You're on a straight course and you don't need to change direction any time soon. What do you do with the brake handles?

Modern paragliders fly best without any brake applied - at the so-called trim speed.

But by applying a little bit of pressure, you take out the slack in the brake lines. You feel better what the wing is doing and you can react quickly and subtly to keep the wing straight overhead. This is called active flying.

If you have some more experience it doesn't hurt to let go of the brake handles and relax, but only if it's safe to do so.


Which data do you need to calculate the wing load?

The wing load is defined as the weight on the wing per square metre. Therefore you need the total take-off weight and the flat surface of the wing to calculate it. For example, a 25m2 glider flown by a pilot with a TOW of 100kg has a wing load of 4kg/m2.


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