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Cir8/97

Malta, 4/9/97.

On joining the MPA, we all have pledged to abide by its rules. Now, the "Rules and Regulations for Paragliding operation", Chapter 3), Item i), states that "The practice of this sport must be conducted in a safe and courteous manner...".

Everybody wants of course to have a nice time up in the air, even when the ridge is to be shared with other pilots, without going home with any bad experience or being upset with someone, let alone an air crash with dramatic consequences. In order to make our flying more enjoyable and safer, some comments have been prepared, out of observations made on our flying sites during crowded days.

They are not rules, but rather suggestions and tips for a better flying together and to prevent comments like: "I dare not fly when Pilot X is on the sky..."!

That is the first thing one should ask to himself, before even considering to join the Pilots up in the sky. In weak conditions and short ridges, there will be cases where only one Pilot can be safely flying, at any one time. No fixed rules can be given, but if you see that the Pilot is having his hard time to keep afloat, scraping the ridge in search of lift or soaring just above it, then it is obvious that you cannot join him!

So, it is a courtesy to ask the Pilot in the air how the conditions are and if it's ok to join him. At the same time, it is also a courtesy from the flying Pilot to set a time and then to land in order to give a chance to someone else who wants to fly!

The "comfortable" distance between two Paragliders greatly depends on the skill of the Pilots and on the smoothness of the air. Generally, a distance of at least two wingspan should be maintained at all times, both in front and at the sides of your canopy. A height separation of at least two line lengths is to be kept vertically. Getting closer than that is to be considered unsafe, liable of filing an "airmiss" report, unless otherwise agreed beforehand by both Pilots.

It is to be noted that in the case of very smooth conditions and experienced Pilots, one wingspan separation may be acceptable, while in turbulent air, a separation of two wingspans is clearly not enough! Always leave room for mistakes and for the unforeseen, like a wind gust, a canopy tuck, a sudden sink...

In order to keep soaring on a ridge, you have to make passes back and forth along it. There are various patterns, depending on the type of ridge and on the lift conditions, which can help preventing air collisions. Get familiar with them!

Sectors - It might be convenient to divide the ridge in sectors, assigning one to each flyer, so that no interference will occur. Every one will keep soaring inside his sector, to the peace of mind of everybody!

Tandem - If conditions along the ridge are not uniform, flying sectors may not be fair to everybody. It may be better to fly one after another, up to the end of the lift area, then both Pilots turn back, go to the other end and back again, without ever crossing each other. Of course, they have to know where the end of the soaring area is and where to turn back before forcing the other Pilot out of the lift area.

Circuit - When conditions allow, this is the best technique. All Pilots make a pass close to the ridge and then they make the return pass away from it, with everybody turning always in the same direction. The only precaution being the avoidance of wing tip turbulence, as described in chapter e). If far away from the ridge the lift is as good or even better, the risk of wake turbulence is minimal.

Flying at a different height is another way of having the necessary separation. That works well with Paragliders having different performances. The Pilot who is higher up has a better view of the one below and he has the main responsibility to keep the distance. Remember that the Paraglider below could suddenly gain height due to a gust or a thermal, or the one on top could encounter some sink, so one has always to be on the look out. An ideal case would be when one Pilot is lower and closer to the ridge, while the other one is higher and further away from it.

The wake turbulence can give you a pretty strong shake and it will spoil the fun of your soaring. You may encounter a sudden bump, with a possible asymmetric tuck which has to be controlled, ending up with a forward surge of the sail which need to be stopped with the brakes. The wake turbulence, due to the wing tip vortices, extends for quite a distance behind a Paraglider. So, flying behind and slightly above another Paraglider in still air is to be avoided by all means! Things are a little more complicated when soaring in the slope wind.

Due to the slope wind for instance, flying the Tandem pattern does not pose a wake turbulence risk, as the wind blows the turbulence away from the following canopy.

The risk is on the Circuit pattern, where the turbulence created by the outer Paraglider, the one passing away from the ridge, can be blown onto the inner one.

That is not always the case though. If the outer Paraglider is crossing the inner one at the same height or higher up, the inner canopy will not be hit by the wake turbulence. The reason being that the slope wind is climbing up!

So, in the end, the risk is only when the outer Paraglider is crossing slightly below the level of the inner one. Keep this in mind when flying Circuit! There is not much the inner Pilot can do, close as he is to the ridge. So, the responsibility to avoid putting the inner Pilot in trouble lies with the outer Pilot, who has the option either to turn back, or to gain some height, or to steer further away from the ridge.

A Paraglider can give a pretty good shake to another one, when crossing it three wingspans upwind! A distance of more than six wingspans can generally be considered to be safe enough.

f) SOME EXTRA COURTESY!

There are cases where some extra courtesy is needed. Sometimes, a Pilot may end up in a difficult situation and it has to be helped out. The next time it may be you needing the same courtesy... Here are some examples:

a) Pilot A has gone to the next slope, trying to make some good soaring there and making room for you at the same time. Things however did not work out and he has lost height. He is now coming back pretty low and he desperately needs to gain some height, or his flight will be over soon.

It is a courtesy from you to make room by leaving the best area of lift, so that he can make his way up again!

b) You are flying Tandem with Pilot B, who is in front of you. You both are reaching the end of the lift area. If however you ride up to the very end of the lift, then Pilot B, being in front, will end up outside the lift area. When you finally make the turn and make it back, the other Pilot will have made his turn outside the lift and he will be going down...

So, again it is a courtesy from you to turn a little earlier, allowing Pilot B to make his turn inside the lift area!

c) You have made some good height, having found a place with a nice lift. Pilot C though, is still struggling to stay afloat and, having seen the good conditions, he is coming towards you to gain some height.

Since you have gone up already, it is a courtesy from you to move away, maybe in search of even better lift, giving Pilot C enough room to make it up as well!

d) Pilot D is about to take off, while you are already soaring above him. He, on top of all the worries of making a good inflation and keeping the canopy under control, is also to wait until the air space in front of the take off is free.

It is however a courtesy from you to keep away from the take off area, so as to remove one of the worries from the mind of Pilot D!

e) You have just landed in the best spot available and you are now entertaining some passers-by, who are flooding you with questions about your wonderful sport.

It is a courtesy from you though, to collect the chute immediately upon landing and to move to another area for packing and for the entertainment of your fans!

Furthermore, to the international standard, if you have landed and you have not moved your canopy at all, it is a signal to other Pilots in the air that you had a crash and you are in need of help...

Have better flights, from now on!

D. Pizzuto/E. Casolari