In WA-->a man by the name of Jiri will be the one to see, or speak to Christina on here, as her folks run the only Hang gliding place in WA---out in Wyalkatchem...wayyy out there..half way to Kalgoorlie.

From my opinion gas, i reckon it looks like great fun, but having a sturdy frame when im 2000ft and above would be better than a parachute im trying to thermal in. Not making a stab at PGers here, Adam Koch does it, but in WA, Hang gliding is the way to go, a restricted licence course will set you back $2K approx, and a brand new Glider will cost around $4K for beginners.

www.hangglide.com.au for info.

Thanks for that echo, nice one. Reserves work well eh?
I could put up a link to a lot worse than that, but bad taste as I don't think the outcome was good.
The point remains (yeah, really) it's amazing fun, but you need to do a full course, and choose the right day. This guy got worked because he knew the day was beyond him .. he was right! I admit, it's a little on the edge sometimes. Nice 5 kn breeze in Perth today I hear?

why are paragliders and hangliders so frikken nerdy? its like a star trek convention every time they go out.

Hey lads, that looks like fun but I rate this a bit higher



Enjoy!

Good winds,

as a kick on from that video... about 3/4 of the way through, look for the black and red canopy, at what looks like almost the point of splat he gets air... and the ending bloopers, well worth the look.

quote:

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Originally posted by Kitehard

Hey lads, that looks like fun but I rate this a bit higher

Enjoy!

Good winds,

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but if you really wanna pee yourself, laughing, like i did... ... check the expression on the guys dial as they leave the plane priceless!

The problem faced by Paragliders as seen in the first vid is simply a lack of structural intergity of the aerofoil.

watch the first vid again, but listen to the beeps...the faster they get the higher he goes and they slow when hes gradually ascending.

so just before his epic fail, he hits the edge of a thermal

(columns of heated air, sent up by reflected UV energy. as the sun heats the ground some of it is reflected upwards and causes rising air pockets. since brown is a dark colour it absorbs the heat much faster than the surrounding ground and creates BIG air pockets, which the Paragliders soar through countless times to gain altitude)

so hes going through a thermal as you can hear and he said it has sharp edges, then as he turned, he happened to turn right at the edge of the thermal causing a lack of air flowing over the wing (stall) and collapsed the canopy, this lead to the canopy reinflating (RAM air) underneath him pulling him into a death spiral thats very hard to recover from.

He was pretty much kitelooping constantly after his crash, whilst trying to regain control...as he approached the ground he chucked his reserve as he had plenty of time (from 9000ft) and reserves work best the faster you go.

This is exactly what they will train you to do, and most PGers do it regularly.

in queenstown 1 year ago a dude was comming in over the main part of the town and went in to death spirals or what ever and it looked like his gear got thrown out unintentionally but it was the reserve. he landed in front of the main pier in the lake (cold)
(if ya know the area, he just missed the Americas cup boat)

Let's put this in perspective.
Today I took a lift up to 10,000feet (Schilthorn) and happily went back down again. OK, not totally happy.
seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=6295
Simply too much wind. You can be flying, kiting or whatever in the best places in the world. You still have to obey the simple rules. Know the limits.
They say in paragliding, "takeoffs are optional, landings are compulsory".
Anyway, the point is, go kite your brains out. Enjoy. BUT, when you get a chance to do it properly, if this flying doesn't knock your socks off, check your pulse, you may already be dead. I started kiting 8 years ago. Still love it. But think about what others do with kites ......
you may be surprised