On the way to earning your Novice rating, you will work through a list of requirements stipulated by the USHPA, as well as some tasks that are important but not required. Below are descriptions of why each task is done, and how to correctly execute it. Not included in this list are launching and landing techniques, as there is already plenty of discussion of those in other articles.
The following tasks already have their own articles, as they require more detail:
- Progressive Steering/Turns
- Big Ears
- Figure 8 Landing Approaches
- Forward Launches
- Launching, Using the A/C method
The links below jump to task descriptions below:
- Rear Riser Steering
- Weight Shift and Brake Only Turns
- Turns using “weight shift only”, “brakes only” and “combination of both”
- Stabilo Yank
- One Handed Steering
- Speed Bar Usage
Rear Riser Steering (USHPA Required)
If a brake line severs, gets tangled during or following a launch, or somehow is impeded from normal use, you can steer a paraglider with the rear risers. Also, during speed bar usage, if minor steering or pitch control is needed, using the rear risers is better, as it has less influence on increasing the angle of attack compared to using the brakes.
Execution:
While in flight and away from hazards like trees and hillsides, grasp the rear risers just below the brake pulley or near the brake snap. Just like a standard turn, using the brakes, clear the turn by looking around and in the direction of the intended turn. Once clear, do a weight shift and begin pulling the rear riser smoothly to about 3 inches on the side you are turning toward. To turn a bit sharper, you can pull further, but avoid pulling more than 5 inches and also maximize the weight shift. Continue holding the brake down at the point the turn is initiated, and ease out the brake tension and weight shift as you close in on the intended direction. Repeat this in both directions until you have a good feel for how much weight shift and pull of the rear riser is necessary for moderately banked turns.
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If a brake line severs, gets tangled during or following a launch, or somehow is impeded from normal use, you can steer a paraglider with the rear risers. Also, during speed bar usage, if minor steering or pitch control is needed, using the rear risers is better, as it has less influence on increasing the angle of attack compared to using the brakes.
Click to enlarge
Weight Shift and Brake Only Turns
Turning correctly involves both the use of brakes and weight shift. New students often forget to weight shift. I developed this task to build the understanding of limits of turning without both weight shifting and brake pulling involved in turns. Most of the time, students find that weight shifting achieves a better turn than brake only turns.
EXECUTION:
Once safely away from the hill and seated in the harness, execute a turn with just weight shift. This is best achieved by rolling the hips and pelvis by lifting a thigh above the other. For example, for a left turn, lift the right thigh above the left by rolling the hips and lifting the right butt cheek. Students will be advised on the radio for a couple turns like this to feel how the response is. After doing this both ways, we then move to brake only turns. Without adding any weight shift, the student pulls a brake progressively (One one thousand, two one thousand – timing) to their shoulder. At the end of the turn, the student progressively releases the brake back to trim. If there is time still, the student does a few turns with both brake pull and weight shift combined. The normal result is that the student feels how much better the glider turns with both.
One Handed Steering (USHPA Required)
While flying a paraglider, it is generally good to keep in contact with the brakes almost all the time. For example, if a pilot takes off and is not all the way in their harness (their butt is not all the way back into the seating area), one method is to hold the brakes in one hand so that the other can reach down to help the pilot pull the harness further forward under their legs to scoot back into the seating area. Usually, during the seating process, the pilot does not need to steer, but there are other uses where steering with one hand is helpful. These include harness adjustments, talking on a radio, adjusting something on an instrument, putting gloves on, or taking a picture with a camera, etc. While doing tasks such as these, you might be in an active flying situation, needing to turn in a thermal or manage speed or direction in any way.
Execution:
The brakes are placed in either hand on the pilot or rear side of the risers. Do not reach around the risers and put the brakes into your hand in front of the risers. Instead, make sure your hand is just in front of your face (on the near side / rear side of the riser) and pinch the brake loops with your hand. The hand should be level with the pulley system of the glider.
Keep the hand centered and level with the pulleys to continue flying straight. To slow the glider, pull the hand straight down a few inches or a bit more. To steer, you will initiate the action the same as for regular steering. Clear the turn, if clear, then add weight shift in the direction you will be turning. To turn right, you will pull the brakes just a few inches to the left. Moving the brakes to the left will pull on the right side brake and also release the slight tension on the left brake. A useful tool is to imagine steering a car with the bottom of the steering wheel in one hand. To turn left, you move the hand to the right; to turn right, you move the hand to the left.
Pilots new to this task often over-steer by pulling the brake too fast and or too far. The key is to begin with just a couple inches and adjust to the results of how fast the glider is turning after the initial input. If the glider is turning too slowly, add a bit more brake. If the turn is too strong, back off the hand a little. If control issues are at all present, return to normal two-handed steering.
It is possible to switch hands during this task. It can be a bit hard to turn, for example, to the right while grasping the brakes in the right hand. With weight shifting to the right, the pilot will have to reach across their shoulders to the left to initiate the turn. It just takes a bit more effort. Switching to the left hand can be done. For practice, it can be fun to switch back and forth and really lock into being smooth throughout the turns and hand swaps.
Speed Bar Use (USHPA Required)
The speed bar is a primary tool to help your glider fly faster than trim. The Glider can accelerate between 5 and 10 MPH by pushing the speed bar all the way. This can be a tool that can save you from blowback or help you reach an LZ when the wind is strong or increasing. For XC flights and competitions, crossing valleys where lift is less common, pilots use the speed bar to get to the next mountains quicker. This will help a pilot get lift on the ridges or mountains they are heading for faster.
Execution:
There are different styles of speed bars. Some have a leverage system with an engagement loop that leans forward to make it easier to catch with a foot to help get both feet on the speed bar. Some have stiff bars, and others that are lightweight just use a loop of webbing or even just cord. Regardless of which system you use, it is best to lean forward and use your eyes to get your foot on the engagement loop to help you get both feet onto the bar or speed system. After getting the foot on the engagement loop, push it out slightly in front of you. You can now see where the speed bar or webbing for pushing is. Simply bring the other foot to the bar, and then walk the other foot onto it.
Once both feet are on the bar, it will be helpful to walk both feet down so that the bar rests around the ball of the foot. This will give you a bit more range to ensure you can fully engage the speed system. Once this is done, you are now ready to push hard and engage the system fully. Before pushing, make sure your brakes are up most of the way to trim. A light tension is always good to have feedback from the glider, but just enough tension to feel this.
When you press both feet against this system, it may surprise you how hard it is to press. Basically, most of your weight is on the A and B risers of the glider. When you push the speed bar, most of your weight is loaded onto the speed bar system. Push both feet smoothly until the legs are straight, or the system will not let you push further. At this point, it is good to look at the pulleys and confirm they are together, or see how close they are. If the pulleys are not together, make sure the balls of your feet are on the speed bar and push further on this part of the foot (push your toes and the ball of the foot away from you).
At this point, you have completed the engagement part of the task. Now you can smoothly release the push and let the speed bar come back in. When you are most of the way in, walk one foot out of the system and place it in the loop. You can now pull the other foot out of the loop and walk both feet out of the system.
Big Ears (USHPA Required)
Big Ears are a descent technique that collapses the front corners of the wing by pulling the “A” risers down. With some of the wing collapsed, there is some drag created, which raises the angle of attack slightly. Without this drag and the higher angle of attack, the wing would fly faster than normal because of the smaller flying area. The combination still causes the wing to fly slightly slower than the trim speed. The benefit is that the sink rate increases significantly.
