Monday 29 June 2015

A Paragliding Playlist

Early Saturday morning, expecting record breaking heat. The forecasts are confused, some indicating strong winds, others much more mild conditions.

Assume worst case, be out early to maximize odds of getting in the air before the arrival of the valley wind tempest.

0745 hrs - car packed up, sitting in the drivers seat and fishing through some old burned CDs from a decade plus ago. The faded out sharpie on one is barely legible, so I pop it in and take a four wheeled acoustic time machine.

16B feat. Morel - Driving to Heaven

Not hard to tell there is an upcoming holiday. The roads are busier than normal with folk heading off to Harrison Lake to camp. Traffic is manageable and I am fortunate not to get blocked by a freight train travelling inland, the tracks of which cross my path twice.

Arrival at FlyBC, the lot is empty. Everyone is either in Pemberton or Chelan.

No early students this weekend either. Odd. With the rapid onset of summer, the valley has become rather stable and prone to blowing out shortly after noon. This daily blow out is forcing student flights to occur in a very small morning window. I would have thought they would be eager to get out and flying.

What are out in increasing abundance are the skeeters. The car provides refuge until Jim appears and starts to mill about. Following Jim into the barn, multiple boxes of Sup'Air and Ozone product pop into view.

Jim starts unpacking and sorting this verifiable Christmas day for any pilot. As boxes are emptied and sorted, I have a chance to pick Jim's brain on the business and instructional aspects of the paragliding industry. Unexpected educational opportunity.

In the midst of this, I query regarding the Carrera Plus line set to see if it has arrived.

No dice. *sigh*

Jim points out that if it wasn't for the change in the riser geometry, we could have the line set fabricated rather than wait on Gin. Frustration grows after what has been a six week wait and I begin to ask in earnest about switching back to Ozone - maybe grabbing a lightweight B to use for hike and fly (along with the start of spring) and then wait for the release of the Delta 3.*

The boxes sorted, Jim returns to the house.  I lounge about until a pickup pulls in with a rather lost looking couple. Even money they are tandems.

Yep. Tandems.

Thirty minutes pass and the Atlas is loaded up with kit. A student finally pulls into the parking lot, but his body language hints he is not particularly eager to fly today. I can fully relate from my student days - I was the penultimate problem student and it is a testament to the patience of Dion at iParaglide that I made it through. I hope this student eventually finds his eureka moment as I fortunately did.

Sans student, the Atlas crawls relentlessly up the mountain. Driving to Heaven.

KMFDM - Superhero

At the top of the mountain, there is no escaping the growing heat. The two TMs (tandem masters), their charges, and I gingerly hike down the incline into the main parking area. Voices creep over the last climb to the launch area,

"Iwannagohome!"

"In a few minutes."

A family greets us as we crest the last climb. A trio of children are pacing about making it clear that staring at a haze filled valley floor does not constitute a valid use of their summer vacation.

A small collection of kit belonging to a new addition to our local flying community sits off to the left. I greet the gent (and manage to immediately forget his name for the first of three times that day) and answer his stream of queries about LZs, areas of lift, and obstacles.

It takes little time for the TMs to gear up the passengers, lay the wings out, and get set for launch. Dennis is off first and quickly finds himself in a flush cycle. Jim follows Dennis after the passing of the interloping cirrus. The hoots and hollers of Jims passenger shatters the stillness of the valley as I begin the machinations of aircraft assembly.

A faint engine noise off in the distance, a 4x4 making its way towards launch.

I wonder for a moment and return to getting ready.

Wing laid out and clipped in. I glance up to see a growing collection of neophytes appear, followed by a smaller number of tandem masters. A voice pipes up, "We have to stop meeting like this, you're leaving when I show up."

Definite deja vu. Martina is driving for Kevin and Andrei.

The cycles are now weakening and demonstrating a noticeable cross wind component due to the northern valley outflow.

A short puff of direct in wind prompts Kevin to announce, "Looks good". I suspect that is his hint to get the show on the road, they have paying customers and I am blocking up launch.

The trick to nailing a perfect launch is twofold - good kiting skills and a proper cycle. Kiting skills I know I have, the cycles - well there is not much one can do with 90 degree cross unless the goal is to kamikaze a stand of trees.

As the TMs start to unpack, I am hyper vigilant for the lack of wind on the left side of my neck (being back on to launch for a reverse pull up).

Finally a good one. A quick pull up, check, turn and three steps. Airborne. For the crowd of neophytes, a Superhero launch.

BT - Believer

The afternoon, Bridal Falls.

Gary, the gent whose name I still forget (by now I have learned he is a former skydiver, current speed flier, learned PGing in California, and lives in North Vancouver), and I camp out in the only shade to be found on launch. Eventually the valley wind will be blocked by the influx of thermic cycles, enabling us to launch. But for now we wait. I lose track of time, having fallen sleep until a pair of gents and a lady add to our number.

Several birds of prey circle overhead clearly marking climbs up along the ridge. Still no cycles.

The radio squaks to life, the accent sounds eastern European.Where there is one, there is often a hoard. Free for all ridge rules can be expected.

No time is wasted. We have a thirty minute opportunity to get ready and launch before the (potential) hoard arrives.

Gary and the two late additions are quickly away. The lady is going to drive the truck down. This leaves the gent whose name I can't remember and myself.

The cycles die.

NOOOOoooooo!

An impromptu fire pit in the upper corner of the lower launch lane leaves me with minimal room for a reverse pull up, even with a good cycle. This lack of wind means moving to the upper lane or flipping for a forward.

Forward it is ... with 15 feet of runway. I won't claim it was a pretty launch, but I managed to get away without taking any trees with me.

In the pod, I quickly turn left to face west and advance on Alan's Ridge. This spine is the stepping off point to benching up onto the plateau leading to the main ridge line connecting Cheam and Elk. Getting to Alan's Ridge requires the traversal of a bowl that is a mixing pot of thermals churned by the valley wind.  One of the members of our crew from a few years ago used to refer to this area as the washing machine, having discovered some potential additions to the SIV training regimen. Gary has already climbed up and is working towards the main ridge line.

The mixing bowl.

The decision to fly sans vario today means I will need to focus on feel to find lift and follow up with visual confirmation against terrain as degree of success. The Carrera thermal autopilot does its job flawlessly, the nose hunting towards nearby thermals and driving in. The churn makes for very disorganized climbs with the risers going slack at one point and necessitating a sharp jab of brakes. The wing threatens to frontal but settles back into place.

A presentation by Russell Ogden of Ozone comes to mind, one in which he comments on keeping a close eye on the wing in turbulent conditions to catch collapses as early as possible. I am normally one to go by feel when flying, using visual to keep an eye out for changes in conditions, climbs, traffic, and terrain.

But airspace is relatively unobstructed today and there is a decent lift band well out front of launch along the ridge. Maybe a good day to be made a Believer.

Empty airspace in front of launch. Great time to experiment.


IIO - Rapture (John Creamer & Stephane K Remix)


In front of launch, an airborne metronome flying like clockwork. East to west, west to east.

The lads heading for the LZ.
The air is clear of distractions, two of my counterparts already setting up to land and Gary well up on the plateau. The only thing I need to keep an eye out for is the tandem laid out (the 'hoard' turned out to be a false alarm - simply a father and son duo looking to get a flight in together).

Pushing to the outer edge of the lift band, I double check no one is around and crane my head back as best I can with the tail of the Impress 3 pushing my helmet to one side.

And watch.

The wing above is in continuous motion, reacting to the medium within which it exists. Small nudges forward and back of either one (yaw) or both (pitch) wing tips. I go hands up and leave the wing unhindered, still watching. The movements become more pronounced.

Wing based hypnosis.
Reigning the wing back in with a little brake, I impose my will on these small movements. When the right tip moves forward, I try to limit it with a small application of right brake. Same with the left. It feels strange to be applying brake inputs based on visual stimuli rather than brake/riser pressure especially when the wing and lines are dampening the output.

Odgen mentioned he uses this sort of technique in rather rough air more for collapse management, but I can also foresee value when working an inversion and trying to get a sense of where a thermal might be pushing through some distance off. The wing may start reacting with small otherwise un-felt nose twitches to the surrounding air being drawn in.

A lot more experimentation is needed, staring in Rapture, before I have this technique nailed down.

Sasha - Wavy Gravy

The sun edges towards the horizon.

Downshift.

Still in an experimental mood, I glide out over the highway. The soft, light lift from the concrete river makes for a sort of smooth Wavy Gravy-esque ride, a far cry from the toss and turn we have been finding mid day at Woodside. At a loss to explain why I don't come over here very often, I make a mental note to try to end every morning at Woodside with an end of day trip to Bridal.

I don't have quite the height to try again for the new gas station to the north of Hwy 1. My last trip with this source rendered a really nice thermal back up to launch height. Next time for sure, I promise myself.

Cross back over the golf course to hear the distinct thwack of a tee off.

Press on to the LZ.

Light winds and lifty. Figure-8 the tree line.

Line up with the wind sock for final and allllmost kick the cones demarcating the landing target.


Another great flying day comes to a close.






* A subsequent whine fest on my part on PG forum has drawn the attention of the Gin Canada distributor, so hopefully it will get resolved soon.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Happy Sky Birthday* to me!

June 26, 1999.
Mile High Parachuting.
Jump 1.

A rather warm sunny Saturday in Arnprior, Ontario.

Nervous energy moves throughout a group of lads of varying origins, ages, and occupations.  They have congregated at this small airport with one goal in mind - to jump solo out of an airplane for the first time.

The skittish herd was greated by a trio of instructors ('Turtle', Eldon, and Cyr) and ushered into a classroom to learn a pair of mantas needed to complete a IAD (Instructor Assisted Deployment) jump. The first being the dynamic exit - "Have you got my pilot chute, left foot, left hand, right root, wingtip. Arch-thousand. Two-thousand. Three-thousand. Four-thousand. Check-thousand." The second being a cutaway and reserve deployment - "Look. Reach. Pull. Look. Reach. Pull.".

Throughout the morning of lessons we were prompted to repeat these mantras, louder and louder. Drilling home these distilled steps. Nail these, let gravity do its thing, and everything will be ok.

Following the classroom was the hands on training: chucking ourselves from the mockup of the Cessna C-182 onto a thick mat, learning the art of PLF, and the (soon to be dreaded) hanging harness...

We were walked through the process of identifying if a canopy could be landed, and if not, how to perform the physical actions that paired with the reserve deployment mantra. While hanging in a retired old skydiving harness, a picture of a canopy in some form of (non-)malfunction would be placed over  our head.  If judged to be a malfunction, we would be coached through the process of cutting away and deploying the reserve. Even if the canopy was land-able and we cut away, we were praised for making ultimately the right decision (if in doubt, cutaway).

After the first handful of passes, Cyr (a former Canadian Airborne Regiment NCM) took over. The tranquility of this sleepy country airport was shattered with a cacophony of yelling and shaking.

The first to fall victim went complete deer in headlights, plummeting to his virtual death.

Calm.

Repeat the cutaway process in a slow and controlled manner.

Success.

Set volume back to 10.

Success.

The seeds of stress inoculation are taking root.

My turn comes and goes like the others. One of mine was a good canopy chop due to line twists. When in doubt ...

Spring, 2002.
Skydive Chicago.
Jump 115.

Stoked after a successful dive out, chase and dock on a 4 way formation, I deploy typically high at 3500 feet.

Line twists during the opening. No big deal.

Then a turn and dive. I'm on my back and the wind noise cranks right back up. Big deal.

Back to that day with Cyr, instinct kicks in and I'm under a reserve.

Too this day, I credit the reserve pack job of the SDC rigger and the training at the hands of Cyr with saving my life. MileHigh drilled home the need to completely banish indecision and aggressively execute the needed corrective action in a stressful training environment. They had this in place before we ever set foot in the plane.

Today.
Vancouver.
A few hundred jumps more.

So what does this have to do with a paragliding blog?

I ask, how many paragliding schools (or national associations for that matter) require reserve training before high mountain flights?

I suspect you will quickly discover the same as I -> nada. Excuses abound.

Incidents occur - even during student training. Not having the foreknowledge to properly execute a reserve deployment greatly reduces the ability to respond.

Reserve training needs to be done in a recent, relevant, and realistic manner. At the very least that means a hanging harness with induced stress. Before feet leave the mountain.

It might save your life and enable you to share many of your own PG Sky Birthdays to come.

* Sky Birthday - a skydiving term for the day of your first solo jump. The day you were born a skydiver.






Saturday 20 June 2015

Paragliding Economics 101A: Shopping Around (First Paraglider Purchase).

Looking at lessons, trying to sort out the true costs.

No rental option, local used market is dried up (there is an ebb and flow to used wing availability - very dependant on time of year).

Guess a new wing it is.

If you are part of the rare 1% who has reigned in impulse and taken a step back to consider the true costs - you're likely wondering how to best save some coin on equipment purchase. 

The majority of the worlds wings are fabricated in a small number of factories that cater to multiple brands (a secret manufacturers don't make very public) and are made from a very small collection of fabrics. The result -> production costs are relatively similar.

In addition - R&D, administration, and marketing typically scale. Larger manufacturers pour more into marketing (sponsoring competition teams and factory pilots), have in house designers, and employ test pilots. Smaller shops outsource the entire design process and limit marketing to very specific regions/segments. 

What does this all mean?  

Commoditization.

A wing in EN class X should cost Y no matter the brand. A price above this is either result of inefficiency or the padding of margin somewhere between you and the manufacturer. The former will die due to decreasing market share, the latter will perish with an informed customer.

What can you do?

Become informed. Window shop around. This can be a touchy subject as it will eat into a schools margin. A *pre-authorized* purchase outside the school is sometimes offered as an unspoken option for an 'uncorking fee'  - typically around $500. It will not hurt to ask up front before paying for lessons, if I want to buy a different brand than what you carry, what is the additional cost? If nothing else, it could pressure the school dealer to price match if they wish to maintain market share.

How much could you save?

Pricing options for low end EN-B (a common first wing here) plus harness and reserve in the Vancouver market:

Equipment Dealer A Dealer B Dealer C
Wing $3900 $3500 $4000
Harness (with back protection) $900 $650 $1100
Medium Reserve $660 $700* $1000

* I had to query the reserve price, as none was published.

The right combination of the above can net over $1200 in savings.The catch is the need to negotiate. A smart dealer will realize a customer who feels they are getting a good deal will become a repeat customer.

In the end the right questions cost you nothing and can save you alot.








Weather Synopsis: Bleah

A weekend in Whistler.

Dreams of venturing back to our local paragliding Mecca, Pemberton.

Weather forecast:

Pemberton, not likely.

Well, perhaps Woodside.

Glance at the FlyBC launch webcam:


Crossed arms and a windsock going up.

Woodside, not likely.

As the adage goes, what do you call 2 days of poor weather preceded by 5 days of perfect?

The weekend.

Bleah.

Sunday 7 June 2015

Back in the saddle: Part 2 (with the Skywalk RangeAir)

The wind sock goes from limp to a south, to a southwest, back to limp. The wing 'breathes' with the rise (the nose rising, A's tensioning ) and fall of the cycles (nose rolling over, A's going slack).

A cycle presents itself - going from a south to straight in southwest. Pull up and the high AR (aspect ratio) of the wing makes itself felt. Half the wing orients south, the other half more west.

Herding wingtips.

Having experienced this a few times while kiting the Delta2, I ease off the right side brake and let the lagging side 'snap' back into alignment. Kite for a second to let the wing settle, turn, and kite another second to be sure everything is good to go (an instructor from Germany mentioned letting the wing settle a second after it reaches the apex).

The cycle ebbs as I start the run. Airborne, touchdown, airborne, touchdown, airborne and away.

Long runways and weak days go hand in hand.

Two tries and I'm in the pod of the Skywalk RangeAir. The RangeAir is an extra light airbag XC harness. I have been a huge fan of airbag based back protection after watching a low airtime pilot spin a wing at tree top height, have it surge, pendulum him underneath then drop him hard. Running over, I fully expected to find a corpse. Instead the pilot was standing up and brushing himself off. The airbag harness absorbed the brunt of the fall.

The catch to an airbag system is that it needs to be inflated (by ram air) for it to work. Maybe not particularly well suited to those who are likely to suffer a drop launching such as a student who lacks the kiting skill to manage a wing or a comp pilot who doesn't have the luxury of being picky about the cycle they launch in. But for those in the middle, it is a viable option if weight and pack volume are limited - hike and fly pilots along with the globetrotting crowd come to mind.

As for the effectiveness of airbags - give this spreadsheet a gander. The lower the G force value listed (in column H), the lower the impact force passed onto the pilot. 'Schaumstoff' is foam based back protection (as opposed to airbag).

Back to the RangeAir, comments sent back to the dealer include:

A few observations - the weight and pack volume phenomenal. I can fit the harness + reserve in the Gin concertina bag with the Carrera. The reduction allowed me to drop to a 90L pack (from a 130L) with the possibility of dropping to a 70L. The loss in overall weight has me on the cusp of downsizing to a small wing.

Setup is a bit fiddly. I found the best way to accommodate is leave everything attached and loosen the shoulder straps for step in/out. Extra attention to the speedbag closing lines is needed in this case during donning - they like to pop loose.

The speedbag is very easy to get into post launch - I don't need my foot leash like I do with the Impress 3.

The chest strap appears to be non adjustable. I found out how much wider I normally run the Impress 3 in comparison when I near line twisted myself up leaning in aggressively on entry to a tight core.

I am leaning towards saying the Range Air provides more feedback vs. the Impress 3 but need more airtime to be sure.

Two additional features of note - the reserve is front mounted, which satisfies the growing comp requirement that the reserve be reachable by either hand. The front mount also eliminates the possibility that pilot weight in a hammock harness (as opposed to those with a seat board) will interfere with reserve extraction. There is also the matter of an underseat reserve potentially placing a non compressible perch between the pilot and the ground. The first thing that will hit may well be that  un-deployed reserve, prevent the remainder of the body from absorbing any impact - driving the entire impact force up into the spine. Something to think about - is the underseat reserve under your spine or your upper legs?

The second is the flight deck/front mount reserve container that is held in place by attaching to the chest strap. This helps eliminate the possibility of launching without having the leg straps done up. I had crossed paths with a fellow Impress3 owner who had launched with the flight deck secured but not the leg straps. The small snap shackle held them in long enough to get into the harness, but the shackle design would not have held them long if they could not hook their feet into the speed bag (based on comments from a harness designer back in 2012).

RangeAir

Flight Deck/Front Mount Reserve Container

Reserve Container Flipped. Leg straps tread through.

Two step speed system.

Speed bag closing loops

Opening for hydration bladder.
Velcro and securing tab for Spot or micro vario.

Back to the flight.

The trusty spine.

After a few beats back and forth, there isn't much out here yet. I try my goto trigger, the spine to the north. There is some lift, but not much. Time to push out.

The vario shows a south wind @ 8kph (2 m/s). Climbs are also 2 m/s. Add that to a 1 m/s sink.

Quick mental math time: 2 m/s horizontal vs. 3 m/s vertical. Move upwind, but not much today.

And I find it, 5 seconds of climb along a southerly course. A turn right and I fall out the side. Get it around quick then begin to widen the turn. More chirps from the vario. Tighten it up and we have a core.

Bring it around. Bring it around.


399 m.
400 m.
401 m.
401 m.
400 m.

An inversion establishing or did I just lose the core altogether?

Widening the turn again, looking for a way to keep climbing.

The Carrera starts 'sniffing'/edging right. I align the wing with it and feel myself being sucked in.

Another climb, this one breaks through and gets me to 460m, but has me pretty far north. Zero chance of making Riverside, still a chance of making the Ranch. Time to push out, keeping some margin for error on a day the winds are forecast to climb quite a bit. Not a lot to be found, again bouncing off an invisible ceiling around 400 m.

Not much from the farm buildings today.

Eventually, gravity claims both the wing and I as we set down at the Ranch.


The afternoon is punctuated with a bit of kiting in the growing valley winds. Attempts at A+C'ng the Carrera is met with frustration as the wing repeatedly tries to horseshoe. Hopefully the C+ addresses this, as this is my go to technique for stronger mid afternoon conditions.

No point in fretting about it until I have the new line set installed.

Otherwise a good day to be back in the saddle.



Back in the saddle: Part 1

A year and a half of doctors, specialists, insurance intermediaries, and drug coordinators to finally be able to have this view:


Health was slowly but surely worsening, bringing flying to a halt at the end of last season (the season in itself became more or less a write off after France). A brief respite was offered last Fall with one drug but with side effects it was not destined to become a long term solution.

But then hope. A drug regimen that could bring back a quality of life not known since mid 2013. There are risks (some potentially fatal), but what is the point to quantity of life if there is no quality. So here I am, plugged into an IV and getting pumped full of chemicals with one plan in mind - getting back into the air.

Cut to the following morning. FlyBC is the immediate target, the launch on Mt.Woodside is the ultimate goal. Upon arrival, things are little slow starting - the crew are awaiting students and tandems alike. It doesn't take for Jim and I to cross paths. Jim passes on that the Carrera+ line set kit should be in within a week. Aside from a few quirks - the initial brake travel deflects the centre trailing edge while leaving the tips unaffected (making it difficult to sense collapses without going well into the brakes) along the extremely short amount of play between the B+C risers (making A+C launches in strong conditions tricky) - I'd be singing praises to the moon about this wing with the feedback, handling and performance it has for a B. That said, rumblings from the interwebz hint that the kit might have swung the pendulum too far the other way - taming the tiger to the point of making it a house cat. For a few hundred dollars, I'm willing to take the chance.

Lounging in the barn, eyeing the launch webcam.

Looks like Degas is already up top and launching a pair of self landing students. The early days of being under instruction and having to be up at 5AM. Don't worry chaps - it gets easier (both with respect to flying and not having to be up before sunrise).

Then a 'Here!'

A dark mass hurtles my way.

A t-shirt. A new load of FlyBC branded wear just arrived. 'Shut up and Fly' remarks the back. Be in the moment, not a detached bystander I take it to mean. Very fitting in our social media age where posting about the event tends to trump the experience. Yes, I see the irony.

People filter in, the van fills, and we're off.

At launch, nary a wind this morning.

Oh well.

Tandems first, students second, then moi. I'm not being polite, just pragmatic. Students make good thermal markers - send enough of them out, they are sure to find something.

A few good launches, a few amazing launches (funny how you can spot the gifted ones fairly early) and Jim heads off to start collecting everyone at the LZ.

I hear a truck making its way up the road. This early in the day, odds are another school.

I like to think of schools as coming from one of two trains of thought - the German or the French.

The German school will lay the unattached wing out in the centre of launch and check every individual line from karabiner to attachment. Then they will clip in, perform their 15th preflight check, and wait. And wait. And wait. The elusive perfect cycle is out there.

The French on the other hand will preflight the harness and wing before packing it away. Then pull everything out, still attached, don the kit at the back of launch, preflight it again, and carry their rosetted wing out. The mass is tossed mid launch. The wind is used to work the wing into shape. The wing is then pulled over head, kited, and checked. If everything looks ok, they are gone.

Why do I mention this -> If a French school pilot gets in front of you - its no big deal, they will be in the air in a minute or less. If a German school pilot gets in front, break out a novel because its gonna be a while. The German school pilots are more commonly known in these parts as launch potatoes (I admit I am a reforming launch potato).

I fear this school might be of the German mindset and quickly get kit ready. The trucks pull into the parking lot. A FJ? I recognize it as belonging to Martina. Sigh of relief. No launch potatoes.

An entourage follows Martina up. Friends/family of a neighbour of hers who is going tandem.

No pressure. You only have your mentor and entourage watching.

A lesson in why kiting is an important part of launching soon follows.