Becoming Biwingual

Even though my first flight language is hang gliding and my becoming biwingual was to add on paragliding, having been around hang gliding for some 24 years and with a good 800+ hour exposure to paragliding I feel as though I can appreciate the reverse direction which is to add hang gliding onto your paragliding skills. It has been with great pleasure that I have taught quite a few paraglider pilots how to hang glide. Their general level of common sense that came from paragliding has made the transitions generally easy. Only one student has made it a switch, (dropping paragliding) while the rest have continued to enjoy the benefits of having both forms of flight at their disposal.

I don't mean to imply a high level of risk or uncertainty of paragliding, but one of the comments I've heard often from my "para to hang" students is that of an extra level of security they feel in the hang glider. This is in regards to the sometimes sudden mid day thermal activity and the potential of strong winds that might develop. Instead of wondering whether this 15 mph wind might increase to 25 blowing you over the mountain, there is a nice feeling knowing that even in bumpy air and winds of 25 and even 30 mph you are still able to penetrate to the LZ. This benefit however is not without tradeoffs.

The tradeoffs you will need to consider include a generally more complicated set of basic controls, more discliplined approaches and more attention in the actual landing. As well, there is the obvious increase in equipment hassles.

Let's talk about the equipment hassles first. Get a rack for your car! This is a one time effort and can be anything from a ladder tethered to your rooftop to a nice $400 removable affair. Storage is important. The 20'length can make it a hassle if you live in an apartment. The weight is not that great since there are nice wings that weigh in at 50 lbs these days. This makes the total gear weight of about 80 lbs in hang gliding as compared to 35 lbs for paragliding. If you travel by plane a lot to visit flying sites around the country you will likely find that hang gliding is NOT for you. The breakdown length of a hang glider can be to about 13' which is still a hassle especially considering the fact you are probably renting a car that has no rack.

Launching a hang glider is utter joy as compared to launching a paraglider. No complicated ground handling hassles like in paragliding. The balancing act of keeping your wings level and nose at the correct angle of attack isn't trivial but it is much easier than ground handling a paraglider especially if we're talking about mildly gusty conditions.

The inflight basic controls are definitely more involved than in paragliding. I am talking here about controls in smooth air for as you well know, as the air gets increasingly turbulent a paraglider goes from easy, to difficult, to down-right dangerous. So in smooth air, the basic difference now is that you must carefully monitor both airspeed and direction.

Airspeed control is actually not too tough because if you listen to your instructor he will no doubt be drilling into you the importance of trim. Light touch. Your hang glider should be trimmed (with the hang loop position) so that if you don't tense up on the bar, it will fly at a slow (but faster than stall) airspeed.

Turns. You are probably used to refering to TURNING your paraglider. You know it rolls when it turns but you still TURN your paraglider. With a hang glider lets reverse the emphasis. You will now ROLL your hang glider. And when you ROLL it, it will then TURN. I want you to think this way because of the following. Unlike the paraglider that will level off when you let go or equalize your brake positions, the hang glider will STAY banked in a turn when you center your weight. Heading control will be a point of attention for you as in your paraglider but while hang gliding you must really pay attention to the BANK ANGLE. The commmon mistake of new hang pilots when trying to control heading is to look at only heading. They then roll the glider too much and by the time they are on the desired heading they are banked and overshooting the heading causing an entertaining "S" flight path. The trick is to start rolling level well before you are pointed where you want to go. You'll get used to it and after a bit you will find yourself easily changing to and holding your new headings.

With the built-in neutral tendency of the hang glider to stay turning, be aware that a thermal under one wing will put you into a turn that takes time to correct for. This can cause an unwanted change of heading. It should be common sense that there is the need for more ground clearance when hang gliding. No more ridge passes with your wingtip 5' from the hill. Also think about flying in a crowd. If you think you will be floating 50' away from your buddy in rough air think again. Get used to much greater separations. Now a scary thought... how many times have you been REALLY close beside a hang glider when you were in your paraglider in bumpy conditions. If he got upset about you flying close... you now know why.

Flying hang gliders in crowded conditions has some advantages and some disadvantages over paragliding. Even though the less precise directional controls and the sudden directional wanderings from bumpy air will make it tough to get as close as you are used to in your paraglider there IS an ADVANTAGE. You now have the ability to DIVE. Use this to your benefit. Let's say you want to join in with someone circling in a thermal and as you get closer it looks as though they will be on the same side of the circle as you when you get there. In the last 10 seconds that you approach the thermal you can dive. This may provide some vertical separation between you and the pilot already in the thermal and more to the point, you will arrive sooner (with the pilot on the opposite side of the thermal) and you will easily then be able to bleed off the speed you took, climbing back up to his height and be positioned safely 180 degrees opposite the other guy and he won't be forced to change his flight path. Using this technique you may quickly develop a reputation as a pilot that is a pleasure to thermal with.

The landing approach is more discliplined than in paragliding. There is less glideslope control, a flatter glide and wider turns. Instead of being able to get away with a "wiggly" flight path at 15 mph airspeed with the ability to change your L/D between 3:1 and 7:1 (brakes or big ears etc) you are now carving turns at about 25 to 35 mph with glideslopes of usually 7:1 to perhaps 12:1 depending on your wing. If you want to get a bit more technical, and understand polars, one basic difference between para's and hang's is that that paraglider controls glide with airspeeds changes on the slow side of best glide on the polar curve and the hang glider controls glideslope with speed changes on the fast side of best glide. If you don't know about polar curves, look them up, you will find it informative. (Note: In very strong surface winds the hang glider then is able to control glide on the slower side of best glide but only down to about 100' agl when extra speed is then an absolute must.)

At a given bank angle, the size of your circle (diameter) is proportional to the square of the speed which means that a hang glider at 30 mph is making a circle 4 times that of a paraglider doing 15 mph. Most sites have a recommended approach pattern. Pay attention to your instructor and try the recommended pattern before you get creative. Your ability to be creative (having a plan B) is one of the benefits you will bring to hang gliding from paragliding but just be careful about trying tight quick turns near the ground.

Speed is safety. You are likely aware of the relationship of collapses in a paraglider and flying too fast (off brakes and speed bar). It is safest in general in a paraglider to fly fairly slowly, say at 50% brake height. There is little added danger by flying fast in a hang glider. Notice the high speed hang glider approaches at your local site. This is not to throw in an extra amount of thrill but truly to make it safer. Adding 10 mph onto the 20 mph stall speed (flying at 30 mph) is a fairly common speed to fly on approach. You instructor may start you out at 25 mph approach speed and work you up to 30. To fly in excessive speeds like 40 or 50 or more can lead to problems in maintaining roll control as it is easy to set up an oscillation in roll so listen to your instructor. He'll know the best speed to fly for your particular situation.

Another consideration of flying speed is the rare but dangerous tumble. It is possible that a hang glider can flip over either in roll or pitch. This is very rare and not having exact data I will only guess that there are a couple or more non-aerobatic induced tumbles a year in the country. (attempting aerobatics can be really asking for trouble) That means that every thousand years or so of flying you are likely to tumble. This makes the odds of tumbling about the same as getting killed while flying. And the odds of being killed while flying are much less than the odds of dying of old age. Tumbles actually rarely cause a fatality but often require a reserve deployment. Flying very slowly in turbulence and letting the nose pitch up in gusts is asking for a tumble. To gain an extra margin of speed in rough air is smart. Ask your instructor about controlling the 3 A's... Airspeed, Attitude, and Angle of attack. They are different from each other but entwine relative to each other like the strands of a twisted rope.

There are some important points I wish to make here. You have probably seen some rather hard nose-ins (whacks) and also some very pretty landings. Note that it is often the same pilots doing the repeated whacks and the same pilots consistently landing well. This should tell you something. There is a large amount of predictibility here. It isn't a crap shoot. The GOOD LANDERS are doing something. That something includes... airspeed awareness, height judgement and maintaining wings level.

The #1 landing hint is ... practice, practice, practice.

A Bi-Wingual student of mine once told me that if a paraglider is a humming bird then a hang glider is an eagle.