I'm wondering why you didn't immediately put the glider into a hard spiral and land when the rain first started getting heavy instead of continuing to try for the LZ. It looked like there were plenty of landing options below you. Using big ears and steering with brakes instead of being on rear risers and full bar when the glider was sodden was really risky too. It could easily have gone parachutal at any time. Glad you got away with it but it wasn't easy to watch!
Thats pretty simple actually- its because those seemingly friendly green looking fields are actually 10ft tall sugar cane plants that are like razor blades and will destroy your glider, line set and you. I had to push to a safe LZ. I was on speed bar a bit- around 1/2- a balance between needed penetration and added risk- along with big ears to help keep the glider more stable while working the speed bar in swirling gusty conditions. Im not sure what your logic is for going parachutal at any time- I wasn't nearing stall at any point and with the strong wind the glider remained inflated nicely- with the exception of the wing tips when releasing the ears which is normal considering the added weight of water and the limited air flow they get under normal conditions. Full bar would not have been a good idea with the gust factor and the substantially increased potential for a collapse that would have been more difficult to restart with a wet wing and risers which can be really sticky.
Strong wind helps nothing. You're flying in the air. Whether that air flows over ground rapidly or not, does nothing to your airspeed or your glider's flying characteristics. A wet wing does not fly well. It's getting close to stalling. Big ears are probably, ahem, not a very good idea in these conditions. Pushing the speedbar was. Deciding to land much earlier would have been better; Deciding to not take off, the best. That said, I have zilch experience flying in heavy rain. And don't intend to acquire same.
So apparently you feel like a "lesson" is necessary here on flight windows, conditions, when to fly. I think you can spare the lesson. Apparently you only fly in perfect windows and thats awesome. Give yourself a pat on the back! I am sure that you will never have an unexpected event happen to you while flying that you didn't anticipate. Of course if you- perhaps you can just remember all the safety briefings you've probably given people and that will allow you to react appropriately.
Part of becoming a better pilot is being able to take on board constructive criticism, if not for yourself then at least for others who watch this video and can take a learning experience away from it. I know that while flying I've certainly found myself in situations that were less than ideal due to a lack of judgement on my part, so being able to honestly self-critique and accept the sensible advice of others is the best way to avoid the same situation happening again. The fact is that with a sodden glider you were at a high risk of entering a deep stall configuration, which could have had very nasty consequences. The accepted solution in this situation is to increase your airspeed as much as possible to keep the wing as far from the stall point as possible, which involves using as much speedbar as you can. Your comment about not believing that you were near your stall point due to the strong wind is a misunderstanding of the relationship between airspeed and groundspeed. Given the situation that you were in in the video this is a potentially very dangerous mistake to make, and one that other pilots could learn from. The upshot is that you managed to land safely and live to fly another day. Your willingness to put the video on RUclips means that it can serve as a useful learning tool for other pilots, which is great, but only if they're able to take away the correct lessons from it.
I've made my share of mistakes and fortunately so far had a practically equivalent number of lucky outcomes. That doesn't change the truth of aerodynamics.
Haven’t read any other comments so this has probably already been said, you should not use ears with a wet wing, you need as much energy in the wing as possible ie good airflow over the canopy, so you should be on full bar. To get out of the sky quickly you also need to be able to fo full on horizontal spirals, this will get you down quicker and keep max energy in the wing. Do an SIV if you haven’t done one. Glad you survived and are okay.
Thanks. I was in a horizontal spiral- maybe you cant tell from the video. Ive been flying for 16 years and ive done more than a dozen siv courses and am an acro pilot. Have you ever been caught in a thunderstorm, sucked into a cloud, and battled 30mph winds?
Now this is when you know it's time to seek help for your addiction problem! Ha! I am addicted myself but geez!! I'm glad you are ok! I did learn from this video that these wings can take more moisture, (torrential downpour?), than I thought!! Thanks for sharing!!
Everyone makes mistakes as long as you learn from them that’s what matters… thanks for sharing a lot of us are addicted to this sport and would take stupid risks to fly but after watching this video I have learnt a few reasons to avoid this situation thanks a gain..
Many people pointed to the risk of going parachutal with a soaked canopy, and that is indeed a very serious one. But the really hairy problem here was the high probability of getting sucked inside a cumulus nimbus.
you played with your life mate. Such dark clouds mean danger, and at the latest when you heard the first thunder you were supposed to spiral down immediately. Once the glider was wet it was very dangerous to use ears, especially without pressing the gas pedal first.
Correct procedure is big ears first, then speed bar, release speed bar first, then big ears. Yes big ears are sticky when wet. I was just blown into a cloud last week and had to use big ears and speed bar to get out, pinned on a ridge, so no spirals. WHEW! Yes, kiss the ground.
Thanks for the video. Time to get down? Time to stay on the ground and not for launched! Rapid overdevelopment? Any development are in the range of the forecast. There aren't developments that can't be previously analized and calculated with a correct weather forecast analisis. Bad decision to takeoff with a good lucky final. I'm sure that your experience was good to land, but not good enough to stay on the ground. Good flights, you will need lucky if you make this mistakes again.
Rafael Presa - I agree with you that I probably could have better anticipated this and landed sooner. When I launched it was pretty stable- I had been in the air for almost an hour before that video was taken.
If the weather predictions of the day tell that there is a chance for thunderstorms and you see those dark clouds appearing, then you just shouldn’t start, or land immediately when you fly. When you climb in the rain you know that there is more happening in the air than just a shower. So that was also a sign to go down asap!! Flying in rain should be avoided at all time. It changes the propertys of you glider in flight, the stall speed goes up and the cloth gets sticky as you see. but it can also affect the line lengths long term. It’s bad for your glider. You can fly becouse you landed while going backwards, but you really underestimate the danger that the weather can be. You think you have control but in reality you’re just a leaf in the sky!!! The things you learn at your gliding school are no joke, they are vital to stay alive in this sport, so take them very serious! Please think about this, i wish you meny happy flights and i hope one dat you can be a good example for others.
The only good thing about flying in this conditions is that you dont need to take a shower afterwards :) Well I was surprised about the big ears, at some wings they are super stable at some you need to hold the lines all the time.But I have never thought it would be such a trouble with the wet wing to re-open them. I would be affraid to use them withou the speed bar, at least half of it, when the wing is soaked, you gain extra energy, going down faster and makes the heavy wing more stable.
That was probably the scariest flight I have ever seen! You have many horseshoes as ballast right? I nearly launched into that crap last summer, came up real fast, didn't see it behind the mountain, 3 minutes later boom!
Dude!! Whatever said and done, I have to tell you that you have a cool head. May be too cold a head for a situation like that. Thankfully, for you, you didnt get into any serious updraft. (Maybe because those over developed clouds stopped feeding as it wasn't as hot a day) A spiral is a good idea but you run the risk of getting disoriented. A few hard 360 turns would have helped you get down faster but that would get negated should there have been a nice draft up. In my personal experience , a big ear and a full bar is the apt thing to do. As far as the wet ear sticking and not opening up... you can land even with big ears. The important thing for you would have been to get out of lift asap. Not sure why you kept hanging around under those clouds. All is well that ends well. hope next time you are far more careful. Light a candle for the lord !
Tormod Helgesen - this whole comment section could be a social experiment. What is it about some people in the paragliding community where they feel the need to micro-analyze and critique, and are then so sure of themselves that they are right and you are wrong? Its fascinating. I have countless hours of flying under my belt- and I can assure you I was not doing anything more than being hands on with my breaks in 25 mph winds. Yes, seriously- I was there. I actually don't need to do anything with my break lines. You "must" GFY. And what is a "cm"- I am not familiar with this measurement system you are using. I only understand the imperial system.
Tormod Helgesen - I always wondered what the hell that CM stood for- so thanks for that. No, I don't have any friends at all. Its very humbling. I used to, but they all left me because they thought my flying was reckless and I was really mean to them. So now I just spend my time responding to posts on You Tube.
Thanks for posting and glad you got down safe. Looked scary as hell. There's an interesting article in issue 177 of Cross Country with some theory of why wet wings go parachutal or even a deep stall. The advice based on the theory there is half bar to the ground with no big ears. However I'm not second guessing your actions as it's too easy to criticize when on the ground watching a vid, and it is really very positive that you posted this. Fly safe matie.
Qesto è l'esempio di uno che sa volare, non so le condizioni in anticipo e sa di non prendere decisioni in tempo, in fondo è andata bene con una nuvola cumulo non è uno scherzo !! fortunato, non va bene !!!
Really Oracla? My comments were actually extremely poignant. If someone offers an incorrect critique of the situation while claiming that its in the interest of safety, its irresponsible not to set the record straight. If that is true- then making sure the correct information is being presented is important. Lucky to be alive? Every day brother- and if you think its only because i landed safely after this flight then you have a false sense of security about your own mortality. Piss off-
I don't think I did. Interpret what I wrote as you like, but clearly you were expecting a conciliatory response. The only thing sad in this comment section is how righteously judgmental you are.
You should stop flying for good. It´s just a matter of time until you leave. You don´t judge the weather to decide wether to fly or not to fly nor did you use a weather report. This situation normally ends with a fatal accident. Lucky you! Time to go down??? You shouldn´t have started at all in these weather conditions. It´s a suicide attempt actually !!! How daft someone must be!!!
YOU are writing shit here and you know that! You also know that I´m right. I´ve been flying paragliders since 1993 and I´ve decided not to start at the top several times. It´s not worth it to risk your life if the weather is bad. Oh - don´t forget: Think first - then write.
2:00 Time to get down... Really??? The correct time was 0:00!!!
Better minus 10 to get down, even better not to start.
What do you do to get into the stratosphere just once. And where do you go? In a field. Unlucky!
😂
I'm wondering why you didn't immediately put the glider into a hard spiral and land when the rain first started getting heavy instead of continuing to try for the LZ. It looked like there were plenty of landing options below you.
Using big ears and steering with brakes instead of being on rear risers and full bar when the glider was sodden was really risky too. It could easily have gone parachutal at any time.
Glad you got away with it but it wasn't easy to watch!
Thats pretty simple actually- its because those seemingly friendly green looking fields are actually 10ft tall sugar cane plants that are like razor blades and will destroy your glider, line set and you. I had to push to a safe LZ. I was on speed bar a bit- around 1/2- a balance between needed penetration and added risk- along with big ears to help keep the glider more stable while working the speed bar in swirling gusty conditions. Im not sure what your logic is for going parachutal at any time- I wasn't nearing stall at any point and with the strong wind the glider remained inflated nicely- with the exception of the wing tips when releasing the ears which is normal considering the added weight of water and the limited air flow they get under normal conditions. Full bar would not have been a good idea with the gust factor and the substantially increased potential for a collapse that would have been more difficult to restart with a wet wing and risers which can be really sticky.
Strong wind helps nothing. You're flying in the air. Whether that air flows over ground rapidly or not, does nothing to your airspeed or your glider's flying characteristics.
A wet wing does not fly well. It's getting close to stalling. Big ears are probably, ahem, not a very good idea in these conditions. Pushing the speedbar was. Deciding to land much earlier would have been better; Deciding to not take off, the best.
That said, I have zilch experience flying in heavy rain. And don't intend to acquire same.
So apparently you feel like a "lesson" is necessary here on flight windows, conditions, when to fly. I think you can spare the lesson. Apparently you only fly in perfect windows and thats awesome. Give yourself a pat on the back! I am sure that you will never have an unexpected event happen to you while flying that you didn't anticipate. Of course if you- perhaps you can just remember all the safety briefings you've probably given people and that will allow you to react appropriately.
Part of becoming a better pilot is being able to take on board constructive criticism, if not for yourself then at least for others who watch this video and can take a learning experience away from it.
I know that while flying I've certainly found myself in situations that were less than ideal due to a lack of judgement on my part, so being able to honestly self-critique and accept the sensible advice of others is the best way to avoid the same situation happening again.
The fact is that with a sodden glider you were at a high risk of entering a deep stall configuration, which could have had very nasty consequences. The accepted solution in this situation is to increase your airspeed as much as possible to keep the wing as far from the stall point as possible, which involves using as much speedbar as you can.
Your comment about not believing that you were near your stall point due to the strong wind is a misunderstanding of the relationship between airspeed and groundspeed. Given the situation that you were in in the video this is a potentially very dangerous mistake to make, and one that other pilots could learn from.
The upshot is that you managed to land safely and live to fly another day. Your willingness to put the video on RUclips means that it can serve as a useful learning tool for other pilots, which is great, but only if they're able to take away the correct lessons from it.
I've made my share of mistakes and fortunately so far had a practically equivalent number of lucky outcomes. That doesn't change the truth of aerodynamics.
Haven’t read any other comments so this has probably already been said, you should not use ears with a wet wing, you need as much energy in the wing as possible ie good airflow over the canopy, so you should be on full bar. To get out of the sky quickly you also need to be able to fo full on horizontal spirals, this will get you down quicker and keep max energy in the wing. Do an SIV if you haven’t done one. Glad you survived and are okay.
Thanks. I was in a horizontal spiral- maybe you cant tell from the video. Ive been flying for 16 years and ive done more than a dozen siv courses and am an acro pilot. Have you ever been caught in a thunderstorm, sucked into a cloud, and battled 30mph winds?
Now this is when you know it's time to seek help for your addiction problem! Ha! I am addicted myself but geez!! I'm glad you are ok! I did learn from this video that these wings can take more moisture, (torrential downpour?), than I thought!! Thanks for sharing!!
Good Job on the landing and thanks for sharing.. Enjoyed the ride.
Everyone makes mistakes as long as you learn from them that’s what matters… thanks for sharing a lot of us are addicted to this sport and would take stupid risks to fly but after watching this video I have learnt a few reasons to avoid this situation thanks a gain..
Mad skills, bro!!! Nicely done.
Thanks for posting. Scary situation. Glad you made it okay.
So many smart people in the comments. I'm just happy the man is on the ground.
Cool many thanks for sharing helps others learn, glad you landed safe, regards Rob
Many people pointed to the risk of going parachutal with a soaked canopy, and that is indeed a very serious one. But the really hairy problem here was the high probability of getting sucked inside a cumulus nimbus.
David A * cumulonimbus.
Thats not how that works
a good landing considering the weather conditions
Hello, I'm wondering, why you didn't make three sixty in the beginning. You fly with a C wing dont' you?
I think you just used up your luck allotment..
That's a nightmare come true. Need some really strong heart to get out of such situation 👍. Love from India 🇮🇳
Whaw, cool head, cold blood, respect my friend glad you're ok after that
you played with your life mate. Such dark clouds mean danger, and at the latest when you heard the first thunder you were supposed to spiral down immediately. Once the glider was wet it was very dangerous to use ears, especially without pressing the gas pedal first.
The thunder was a sound effect, there was no lightning.
Correct procedure is big ears first, then speed bar, release speed bar first, then big ears. Yes big ears are sticky when wet. I was just blown into a cloud last week and had to use big ears and speed bar to get out, pinned on a ridge, so no spirals. WHEW! Yes, kiss the ground.
@@darrendix5163 use at least half the speed bar first
Thanks for the video.
Time to get down?
Time to stay on the ground and not for launched!
Rapid overdevelopment?
Any development are in the range of the forecast. There aren't developments that can't be previously analized and calculated with a correct weather forecast analisis.
Bad decision to takeoff with a good lucky final.
I'm sure that your experience was good to land, but not good enough to stay on the ground. Good flights, you will need lucky if you make this mistakes again.
Rafael Presa - I agree with you that I probably could have better anticipated this and landed sooner. When I launched it was pretty stable- I had been in the air for almost an hour before that video was taken.
This man is a living legend
Anybody who is flying in such condition without making any attempts for rapid descending is no legend….
Looks scary as fck!! Glad there was a good outcome!
If the weather predictions of the day tell that there is a chance for thunderstorms and you see those dark clouds appearing, then you just shouldn’t start, or land immediately when you fly. When you climb in the rain you know that there is more happening in the air than just a shower. So that was also a sign to go down asap!! Flying in rain should be avoided at all time. It changes the propertys of you glider in flight, the stall speed goes up and the cloth gets sticky as you see. but it can also affect the line lengths long term. It’s bad for your glider. You can fly becouse you landed while going backwards, but you really underestimate the danger that the weather can be. You think you have control but in reality you’re just a leaf in the sky!!! The things you learn at your gliding school are no joke, they are vital to stay alive in this sport, so take them very serious! Please think about this, i wish you meny happy flights and i hope one dat you can be a good example for others.
kiss the ground for sure! well done....
Well done would have been not starting in the first place. This is nothing to be proud of.
The only good thing about flying in this conditions is that you dont need to take a shower afterwards :) Well I was surprised about the big ears, at some wings they are super stable at some you need to hold the lines all the time.But I have never thought it would be such a trouble with the wet wing to re-open them. I would be affraid to use them withou the speed bar, at least half of it, when the wing is soaked, you gain extra energy, going down faster and makes the heavy wing more stable.
interesting to see the situation and resolution. thanks for posting.
These are feathers to the weather, you need ultra calm for these leaves to cope in :-y
Ohne solche Videos wäre die Wartezeit auf das Frühjahr wirklich langweilig
Totally nuts! Hope you are not a tandem pilot...?!
I would be shitting a brick flying hearing thunder like that you really wanted to get back to the LZ
That was probably the scariest flight I have ever seen! You have many horseshoes as ballast right? I nearly launched into that crap last summer, came up real fast, didn't see it behind the mountain, 3 minutes later boom!
WOW, that was fugly, I was feeling the emotions the pilot would have. Rain is such an unknown because it can affect you in so many ways.
That is really awesome
Dude!! Whatever said and done, I have to tell you that you have a cool head. May be too cold a head for a situation like that. Thankfully, for you, you didnt get into any serious updraft. (Maybe because those over developed clouds stopped feeding as it wasn't as hot a day) A spiral is a good idea but you run the risk of getting disoriented. A few hard 360 turns would have helped you get down faster but that would get negated should there have been a nice draft up. In my personal experience , a big ear and a full bar is the apt thing to do. As far as the wet ear sticking and not opening up... you can land even with big ears. The important thing for you would have been to get out of lift asap. Not sure why you kept hanging around under those clouds.
All is well that ends well. hope next time you are far more careful. Light a candle for the lord !
Sometimes the spiral doesn't help.
Yes, I would like to know just who trained this pratt to read the weather conditions.
A giant umbrella :D
Thanks for sharing it.
What is the protocol when you land in some stranger's field? Are Columbians generally OK with that and friendly?
Did you intantionally stay up there for too long?
3:40 "Drifting backwards". Let up the brakes ffs!
Delta 2 brake position. I'm only feeling brake not pulling any amount of brake.
Seriously? You must remove the slack in your brake lines then cause the left one was down 20-30cm which on my Delta was less than min sink speed.
Tormod Helgesen - this whole comment section could be a social experiment. What is it about some people in the paragliding community where they feel the need to micro-analyze and critique, and are then so sure of themselves that they are right and you are wrong? Its fascinating. I have countless hours of flying under my belt- and I can assure you I was not doing anything more than being hands on with my breaks in 25 mph winds. Yes, seriously- I was there. I actually don't need to do anything with my break lines. You "must" GFY. And what is a "cm"- I am not familiar with this measurement system you are using. I only understand the imperial system.
Tormod Helgesen - I always wondered what the hell that CM stood for- so thanks for that. No, I don't have any friends at all. Its very humbling. I used to, but they all left me because they thought my flying was reckless and I was really mean to them. So now I just spend my time responding to posts on You Tube.
Thanks for posting and glad you got down safe. Looked scary as hell.
There's an interesting article in issue 177 of Cross Country with some theory of why wet wings go parachutal or even a deep stall. The advice based on the theory there is half bar to the ground with no big ears. However I'm not second guessing your actions as it's too easy to criticize when on the ground watching a vid, and it is really very positive that you posted this. Fly safe matie.
Nightmare omG
Love from Nepal
Well done!
Jeeesus. Scary
OI! vc tem mesmo muita sorte :-)
ainda bem.
Nice one ....
Qesto è l'esempio di uno che sa volare, non so le condizioni in anticipo e sa di non prendere decisioni in tempo, in fondo è andata bene con una nuvola cumulo non è uno scherzo !! fortunato, non va bene !!!
The name is COLOMBIA
WITH O
NOT U
🇨🇴
I hope I never get in this situation ever when I pass🤞🏻
More than lucky you were! And pulling brakes to hard!
240 DPI come on give us a break barbie doll camera crap.
It's Colombia not Columbia...
Fools like this won't be flying too long. Should have never launched in that kind of weather.
Ahhhhh NO!!!!!
대박 비올때 패러를 ㅠㅠ
Que bueno saliste ileso
Where is the Thunder ?? Its just a rain shower....
Turn up your volume...
Gruss aus Austria ..... CBM - MUNICH
Lucky to be alive after this flight. Lucky to be alive after 10 years (?) of paragliding with such an attitude as seen in the comments. Sad really.
Really Oracla? My comments were actually extremely poignant. If someone offers an incorrect critique of the situation while claiming that its in the interest of safety, its irresponsible not to set the record straight. If that is true- then making sure the correct information is being presented is important. Lucky to be alive? Every day brother- and if you think its only because i landed safely after this flight then you have a false sense of security about your own mortality. Piss off-
Homebrew Kitchen, you just prooved my point :D
I don't think I did. Interpret what I wrote as you like, but clearly you were expecting a conciliatory response. The only thing sad in this comment section is how righteously judgmental you are.
ou vc e bom ou muita sorte em parabem
Eu acho que ambos
You should stop flying for good. It´s just a matter of time until you leave. You don´t judge the weather to decide wether to fly or not to fly nor did you use a weather report. This situation normally ends with a fatal accident. Lucky you! Time to go down??? You shouldn´t have started at all in these weather conditions. It´s a suicide attempt actually !!! How daft someone must be!!!
YOU are writing shit here and you know that! You also know that I´m right. I´ve been flying paragliders since 1993 and I´ve decided not to start at the top several times. It´s not worth it to risk your life if the weather is bad. Oh - don´t forget: Think first - then write.
Hahaha you're a fucking idiot
All wrong in this handling... Maybe you should stay on the ground ;-) The full stall was near, very next to you, allt he time !
Its COLOMBIA!🇨🇴
wow wow wow wow
Wrong! You should write: IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT
COLOMBIA....with an O.
Is Colombia , not Columbia
wtf
It is Colombia not Columbia