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Despite a good flare, you have a lot of speed just before touching down, because you landed with the wind in your back. What do you do?

You land on your feet and try to run it out during landing. You pull in your legs and land on your bum - the foam protector or airbag in your harness will absorb the blow. You stretch out your legs and land on your back. This ensures the airbag gives maximum protection. On touch down you drop forward and catch the fall with your arms.

A is the safest option if you're not familiar with a PLF (parachute landing fall) which needs practise. Your legs are much stronger than your back or arms.

Although on a flat grassy surface, you could get away with answer B, it can be very dangerous when stones, holes or other objects are hidden in the grass.

Using the protection in your harness as a landing option is not safe - would you park your car against a wall at full speed because the airbags will catch the blow?

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

As soon as you can see the landing field. After you have burned off excessive height and start your landing circuit. At the last moment during the landing flare. When you are on the final leg of the landing circuit.

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.

What are the minimum requirements for a safe take-off?

The possibility to safely abort the launch. A light wind from the front. Clear of cables in a 500m radius. A, B en C are correct.

A straight headwind is not necessary, you can take off in a slight crosswind. The runway should be clear of cables and other obstacles, but a 500m radius is not necessary. It is however essential to be able to abort your launch, for example when you notice a knot in the lines.

Which pre-launch check is the most important?

Checking the lines and canopy are laid out cleanly. Checking your flight instruments. Checking your leg straps are fastened. Checking if there is sufficient thermal activity.

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.

During daily inspections you notice a tear of about 2.5cm or one inch in the canopy of your paraglider. What do you do?
1. You fix the tear with ripstop tape on both sides of the fabric.
2. You take the glider to a dealer or manufacturer to have it professionally repaired.

1 is correct. 2 is correct. Neither 1 nor 2 are correct. 1. is a temporary solution, go for 2. as soon as possible.

You can fix a tear smaller than about 5cm (2 inches) yourself. Larger repairs should be done by a professional.
See the chapter on Equipment.

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

Only nil winds from 0 to 1 Bft. Only light winds from 2 to 3 Bft. Only with wind from 0 up to 3 Bft. Only with wind speeds over 3 Bft.

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?

Let go, because holding them all the time is unnecessary and tiring. Hold them at all times, because the wing will shoot in all directions if you let go. Hold the handles lightly and relax your arms. This ensures a bit of pressure on the brake lines. Hold the handles and pull them down quite a bit. The wing will fly slower and more stable that way.

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.

A pre-flight check should be executed...

...before take-off. ...after every flight. ...every six months or as often as the manufacturer recommends. ...only by your instructor.

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

You just landed. What do you do?

You bundle up the glider in a 'field pack' and take the shortest way to the designated packing area. You bundle up the glider in a 'field pack' and take the shortest way to the edge of the field and from there to the designated packing area. You report to the instructor. When he or she says it's ok, you bundle up the glider in a 'field pack' and walk to the designated packing area. You pack up your vulnarable glider on the spot and then you report to the instructor.

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.

What happens when you fly too slowly?

The wing collapses. The glider will enter a deep stall. Nothing, you can fly as slow as you want.

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.

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