This time of year, it's difficult to keep up with the global fatalities occurring under paragliding canopies. Currently, Richard Willms of Wyoming was the 390th person to die on a powered paraglider by my very incomplete but verifiable count. That includes prop strikes while testing and a few bystanders who were in the way. Freeflight paragliding fatalities have reached an unacceptable and astounding 2,150 deaths since the first in 1986, including some rescuers and a few bystanders. Those who make direct comparisons to other forms of aviation tend to ignore the inherent characteristics of paragliders that make them deficient in terms of being real aircraft.
1) The operator is easily completely decoupled from control input through zero or negative G, twist, turbulence, collapse and cravat. The cravat [a suspension line crossed over a wingtip] often results in an unrecoverable nose-down spiral dive, a leading killer of paragliderists.
2) The paraglider operates within its own Dead Man's Curve where the reserve parachute will likely not deploy below 100 meters during take off, during landing and while ridge soaring.
3) The mass is concentrated essentially with the operator rather than the airfoil, resulting in zero kinetic energy outside the vertical vector for recovery.
4) Pitch and roll are severely limited and delayed.
5) In freeflight mountain launches the canopy is 20 feet above the backwards-facing operator and vulnerable to thermal activity. I have over 3000 miles of cross-country flying on hang gliders. I will not fly a paraglider because I cannot be confident that it will remain an aircraft from take off to landing. That is a reasonable concern for most of us. I consider those who choose to fly them among the greatest denialists in the history of aviation.
"Paragliding" seems to be attracting people because they call themselves pilots.
so called "Pilots" of a wing that stalls and collapses all the time, is not flying, it's the other ing word, "crashing", and the word aircraft does not apply.
Being able to "carve" a good turn is king, whether it's a hang glider or a surfboard or a skateboard or a pair of skis, something a parachute cannot do that has to "stall" a wing to turn.
You are a "Master" craftsman of words and pictures and use music as your base. This video is most profound, and using the word, "REAL AIRCRAFT", goes right to the heart of Piloting.
To fly your aircraft all the way to a crash landing, saves lives. It is something that a paraglider pilot can't do. "Push the stick forward, while you're looking at the ground".
Posted to Kathrynsreport Aug 31 2022 http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2022/05/fatal-accident-occurred-may-13-2022-in.html?sc=1661967914527#c3216285610652030592
This time of year, it's difficult to keep up with the global fatalities occurring under paragliding canopies. Currently, Richard Willms of Wyoming was the 390th person to die on a powered paraglider by my very incomplete but verifiable count. That includes prop strikes while testing and a few bystanders who were in the way. Freeflight paragliding fatalities have reached an unacceptable and astounding 2,150 deaths since the first in 1986, including some rescuers and a few bystanders. Those who make direct comparisons to other forms of aviation tend to ignore the inherent characteristics of paragliders that make them deficient in terms of being real aircraft.
1) The operator is easily completely decoupled from control input through zero or negative G, twist, turbulence, collapse and cravat. The cravat [a suspension line crossed over a wingtip] often results in an unrecoverable nose-down spiral dive, a leading killer of paragliderists.
2) The paraglider operates within its own Dead Man's Curve where the reserve parachute will likely not deploy below 100 meters during take off, during landing and while ridge soaring.
3) The mass is concentrated essentially with the operator rather than the airfoil, resulting in zero kinetic energy outside the vertical vector for recovery.
4) Pitch and roll are severely limited and delayed.
5) In freeflight mountain launches the canopy is 20 feet above the backwards-facing operator and vulnerable to thermal activity. I have over 3000 miles of cross-country flying on hang gliders. I will not fly a paraglider because I cannot be confident that it will remain an aircraft from take off to landing. That is a reasonable concern for most of us. I consider those who choose to fly them among the greatest denialists in the history of aviation.
"Paragliding" seems to be attracting people because they call themselves pilots.
so called "Pilots" of a wing that stalls and collapses all the time, is not flying, it's the other ing word, "crashing", and the word aircraft does not apply.
Being able to "carve" a good turn is king, whether it's a hang glider or a surfboard or a skateboard or a pair of skis, something a parachute cannot do that has to "stall" a wing to turn.
A great format to get a point across. Could Hang Gliding get a couple of guy's like these?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK4ZHv7xkvM
You are a "Master" craftsman of words and pictures and use music as your base. This video is most profound, and using the word, "REAL AIRCRAFT", goes right to the heart of Piloting.
To fly your aircraft all the way to a crash landing, saves lives. It is something that a paraglider pilot can't do. "Push the stick forward, while you're looking at the ground".
C:+o)