Paragliding Phases
Being able to enjoy and absorb all the energy from the element, without even seeing it. Then, there is this spirit of the “line”: crossing a landscape, a region, sometimes places you know, but mostly unknown territory you discover. Martin Morlet
Searching, climbing, gliding, surfing
One classification of paragliding phases has been defined objectively by XCAnalytics which I use here – with different names (lift = climbing; prospecting = searching; floating = surfing):
Gliding: Vario is worse than the sink rate of the glider. We are trying to cover distance between climbs.
Surfing: Vario is negative on average but is better than the sink rate of the glider. This is efficient gliding / following good lift lines / absorbing energy.
Climbing: Positive vario and altitude gain. In XC, when we are climbing in thermals, but could be sea thermals, wave or ridge lift.
Searching: This is when we are looking for a climb / exploring after a glide.
And to this set we can add Bruce Goldsmith’s two major mistakes:
Getting stuck: This is a highly time-consuming position where we are fighting to simply get out of the location we are in or avoid (if possible) bombing out.
Bombing out: Often related to the above, this is where we cannot recover from a minimum threshold of low altitude and we are forced to land prematurely (given the conditions for our abilities).
Bruce argues that the errors are ranked from bad to worse in terms of their time costs. He ranks getting stuck as the worst error where tens of minutes can be lost.
“So when gliding towards an unknown area where lift isn’t assured, then minimize the risk and avoid going in front, and certainly not alone.” Bruce Goldsmith
For competition pilots, surfing good lines is critical.
we do not observe that the biggest differences [between good and very good pilots] are made in the climbs or looking for them. On the contrary, gliding well is absolutely critical. This is where we observe that the gaps widen. Martin Morlet
We can see this in the XCAnalytics data below for flatland flying : the better (longer) the flight, the less time searching and in lift (due in part to efficient, tight climbs) and the more time floating and gliding.
The ratios for xc beginner : pro are:
Searching: 5.2 : 1
Climbing: 1.3 : 1
Surfing: 1 : 1.3/1.5
Gliding: 1 : 1.4
Wow – the pros really aren’t spending time searching for thermals. This indicates that with expertise, there are enough cues to know for the most part where the next climb will be.
This would be a good pie chart to aim for, using the XCAnalytics app.
Here are the pros from the Red Bull X-Alps in the mountains for comparisons to the flatlands.
Strategies to improve our flying efficiency
What I’m trying to work on right now.
Planning
First off, planning – mainly based on the weather.
How do you plan your flights? That’s a very good question. I’d say planning is almost 80% of the job. It’s tough work because there are so many parameters to take into account. First of all, the weather. Martin Morlet
MetOffice, Windy, RASP, TopMeteo and local live wind readings – as well as having a good look out the window.
Gliding
We should be decisive for our glides as to where we are aiming at (based on clouds, other pilots/birds, etc)
Sinking glides should be on bar with rear riser control.
Glides should be aligned with a clear idea of wind direction, and changing wind direction over time/altitude.
Surfing
I assume that parallel glide lines vary in how lifty they are; some lines will be more floaty than others. This is about absorbing the energy in the air -finding lines that feel like they are more buoyant.
Being able to surf better may involve searching left or right for better glide lines if we are on a sinky line.
The sense of what is the range of surfing or sinking in glide lines will evolve as we spend more time in the air.
If we are flying in ‘low base’ Cornwall and have to surf in clouds to make any headway in our flying careers, we need to be on bar if we are climbing too fast! Make sure we’ve locked onto a clear bearing on our flight instrument. Don’t rely on our intuition about direction in the white room!
Searching
All the clues around us should help here – birds, other gliders, clouds, thermal angles based on drift, turbulent air, ground features.
Having a search method for sweeping the area around some lift may be useful (e.g. widening efficient circles).
We should be absorbing the energy in the air as much as possible, going with the way the air pulls us towards areas of lift.
While searching near thermals if we are sinking, we should be on bar.
Do more exploratory searching when conditions are more buoyant or there is good ridge lift. Be more conservative to hold onto little gains in altitude and don’t make mistakes and stay within the safety of the ridge if conditions are meager.
Climbing
The way we turn into a thermal should be based on wing pressure/torque.
Before we figure out the type of thermal, if our lift is accelerating stay straight – only turn when it evens out / drops.
In strong thermal cores or bullets, turn tighter!
How we thermal should be based on conditions (or changing conditions) for the day (organised, disorganized, bullets, diffuse lift, wind strength, drift, thermal strength, altitude, etc).
Make use of our thermal centering instruments!
Getting Stuck
Don’t take risks to end up downwind, or out front, or chasing birds at altitude, unless we are sure of reversing our decision without much cost. Don’t make these types of getting stuck/bombing out mistakes if at all possible.
But if we are just not able to climb out after an hour of effort and conditions are not getting better, then doing something more risky may be our best option – since nothing else is working! (e.g. climbing out low, or flying to a downwind part of a ridge/hill that’s difficult to get back from).
About the Author
Mark Ashton Smith What’s national standard for paragliding in Cornwall - among the best you can find in the country? (1) the coastline 🧗🏼♀️ - the most beautiful in the country. We can enjoy it, explore it, and get good at coastal soaring 🏆 (2) the views 👀from up high - all coastlines of the peninsula that everyone comes to visit all in one panorama - absolutely stunning 🏆 (3) technical tor & small hill, inverted, broken-up, and low base flying 💥- really sharpens XC skills - none of this lobbing into house thermals and climbing to 6-7 grand off the bat. If you lose concentration you’re on the ground. If you can learn to fly XC well in gnarly Cornwall you can fly well anywhere in the UK. 🏆(4) the convergence 🌥🌥🌥 - it’s the best in the UK and if we can fly it, it opens up 150km plus flights and even learning to soar sea breezes gets us in league with that lot around Brighton. 🏆 (5) We got instant access to lots of ace coastal sites/beaches to train at within a short drive which gives us more air time, ground handling skills, and wagga skills (call out to Dunc)🏆,and (6) our sites aren’t busy!! You’ll be lucky to find more than 2 people flying at Carn Brea on a perfect day. In Bodmin moor you’ll be with your mate and that’s it. No crowds. 🏆👌Happy to be in one of the best flying areas in the country - just important not to get pulled into the league numbers games which suits other areas but not ours. Gavin McClurg made the same point. Distance is great but there’s loads of other ways to have top flights. Focus on what’s the very best in your home turf! 🏴☠️
