Anyone try paragliding?

Yes. And if you had ever been in a paraglider yourself in a thermal
you would know that you often experience partial deflations. It is not
visible from the ground looking up, but it does happen and often.

Of course, some are trained enough to deal with partial
deflations..and some chutes are more resistant to them than others.

My statement stands though: If you thermal in a paraglider you *will*
experience deflations.

Antonio

Antoñio wrote:

Yes. And if you had ever been in a paraglider yourself in a thermal
you would know that you often experience partial deflations.
....
My statement stands though: If you thermal in a paraglider you *will*
experience deflations.

Of course, I agree on this. But a partial deflation is not the same
thing as a collapsing canopee. A partial deflation is not inherently
dangerous. (More precisely: It is dangerous, if you're not adequately
trained, as are all aviation activities.)

Stefan

Stefan wrote:
Anto=F1io wrote:

Yes. And if you had ever been in a paraglider yourself in a
thermal
you would know that you often experience partial deflations.
...
My statement stands though: If you thermal in a paraglider you
*will*
experience deflations.

Of course, I agree on this. But a partial deflation is not the same
thing as a collapsing canopee. A partial deflation is not inherently
dangerous. (More precisely: It is dangerous, if you're not adequately

trained, as are all aviation activities.)

Stefan

You say it is and it is not dangerous in the same paragraph. You don't
seem to realize that a full collapse begins with a wing tip deflation.
A deflation can go unrecognized even by an expert until it's too late.


You also failed to reply to my comment about ever having been in a
paraglider. Have you ever actually flown a paraglider?

I once flew a paraglider off of a 6000 ft mountain at about 10am when
the thermals were not yet developed. I launched, and had been flying
about 30 seconds when I noticed the relative wind pick up *beneath* me.
I looked down because I though it was kind of odd.

What I didn't realize was that I was falling and picking up speed. I
looked up just in time to see my paraglider reopen on its own. I was
very lucky it held together.

Later, my friends who had been watching my launch described my chute as
"a wadded ball of aluminum foil".

So don't tell me that paragliders don't collapse! =20

Antonio