'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.
Which pre-launch check is the most important?
Even though all newer harnesses have a safety feature to prevent you from falling out of the harness if you forget your leg straps, this is very uncomfortable and on an older harness it may be a fatal mistake. Checking lines and canopy is of course very important as well.
See the section on Launching in the Basic techniques chapter.
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.
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.
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'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.
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.
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.
A pre-flight check should be executed...
Before you take off, you should check at least these things: pilot, lines, canopy, wind, airspace.
What happens when you fly too slowly?
Below the minimum speed or stall speed, the wing stops flying and will descend straight down like a parachute. This is a very unstable situation and often leads to a spin or stall.
See the chapters on Aerodynamics (stalls) and Advanced flying.
Your result is shown above.
Did you like our quiz?
Share your result with your friends using the buttons below.