GoLeap Field School · 01 / 06 · Bir–Billing · Kamshet
A wing made of air, flown by feel.
A paraglider has no rigid parts. Air rushing into the cells along the front inflates it into a wing, and you hang about seven metres below on lines. It is always gliding down through the air. Pilots stay up for hours by finding air that rises faster than they sink: thermals off sunny slopes, or wind pushed up a ridge.
- 8–9 : 1
- Glide ratio of a school wing in still air
- 36–38
- km/h airspeed, hands up
- ~1,000 m
- Billing launch above the Bir landing
01 · Paragliding
Glide lab
Slow down with the brakes, speed up with the speed bar, and watch what it costs you in sink. Add a headwind and see why pilots push the bar into wind.
37km/hAirspeed
1.3m/sSink
8.2 : 1Glide over ground
8.2kmReach from 1,000 m
The dashed yellow line is your glide path from about 1,000 m, the drop from Billing to Bir.