Talk:Paragliding

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[edit] Added info

Added Safety, History, Learning to fly, info regarding paraglider wing inflation. The links on this page could do with amending, I've left them as they are for the moment.

Variometer should be linked. [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm|(talk)]] 11:51, Nov 5, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Known as parapente in...

I assume it's known as Parapente in all of the Latin-American countries. After all, it is known as parapente both in Spain and Portugal. And at least in Mexico it is, too. Perhaps it would be reasonable to research about this a little, and finally add Latin America to the list of places where paragliding is known as parapente. --Afz902k 06:07, 28 August 2007 (UTC)

In France its also known as Parapente. Inherited from France also the Benelux countries use the term parapente, however along with their own translation of paragliding as well. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland this term (parapente) is not used however. 84.107.206.62 19:52, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Paragliding is not known as parapente anywhere IN ENGLISH! Parapente is the French, Portuguese and Spanish word for paragliding. Manormadman (talk) 12:04, 17 February 2008 (UTC)Manormadman.

[edit] How about some VidBits?

Gee, it sure would be cool to see a vidbit or two of this. Got one? To share?

[edit] Comparison should be moved

The Paraglider / Hanglider comparison should either have its own page, or else be lower down the order. People need to know what a Paraglider is before they are told about differences to another light aviation sport.

[edit] Comparison

I guess I'm undertaking a cleanup of this page. I've tidied up the external links, added bits to the Gliders section, and now converted the Comparison section to tabular form & moved it down the page, as suggested above. I may be tempted to review other sections as I find time. CDV 15:07, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

Note that the article available on ScoutBaseUK (//www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs120705.pdf) is somewhat unreliable: it says Lemoigne was American, mis-spells Walter Neumark's name (as 'Newmark'), and suggests Neumark created the Para-Commander. I think this article may have led a previous contributor astray! CDV 00:17, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sports/competitive flying

I found the Disciplines section, which I’ve replaced with the Sports/competitive flying section, was lifted from www.kitexcite.com (along with some other sections already re-written), providing extra justification for replacing it. I don’t know a great deal about comps, so perhaps someone else will be able to improve this bit. cdv 22:49, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Done?

I think I’ve finished with revising this article for now. I’ve had to exercise severe restraint not to write more than I have, but I think it’s now pretty comprehensive without (hopefully!) being so long as to bore the pants off people. I’ve learnt more writing it, hopefully others will learn more reading it. Does my love of paragliding show? cdv 23:43, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Parapente

Removed the aka 'parapente' as I could find no English-language use of the term. cdv 21:07, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Comparison with hang gliders

Under comparison with hang gliders, under "Speed range" it says

 poor wind penetration and no pitch control

Doesn't a paraglider's speed system count as pitch control? This greatly lowers the angle of attack and increases speed and penetration. Granted, the range is far from a HangGlider, but a Paraglider would be very limited without this feature.

No its doesn't count as pitch control —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.108.145.10 (talk) 13:54, 18 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ewa Wisnierska

Is Ewa Wisnierska's flight officially recognised as a World Record? If not, it should probably be removed or moved to a different section - although I will leave that upto those looking after this page. --Sesh 07:58, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I dont think it is or will be recognized as a record, however it is one of the best publicised incidents of this sport and will probably stay in the memory of the public for quite a while. 84.107.206.62 19:52, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

I agree. For a world record, one must previously file an 'attempt form' to the FAI and an FAI inspector must be present during the attempt. Ewa Wisnierska's flight was not an altitude attempt, but an accident. In addition she was unconscious, so her skill was not a factor on ther accidental height gain. Glad she is alive though. BatteryIncluded 16:08, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Radios

Radios used are PTT (push-to-talk) transceivers, normally operating in or around the FM VHF 2-metre band (144–148 MHz)

Do paragliders really use 2m ham radios on a regular basis? Wouldn't aircraft band (118 MHz to 135 MHz AM) radios make more sense? Or UHF FRS radios, which don't require any license at all, and can be legally used by pretty much anybody (and not just to talk to aircraft, like the aircraft band is meant for.) dougmc 16:58, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

Which country or countires are you referring to? And the point is not what would make more sense, but what actually happens. Certainly, I have seen 2m radios widely used -- and used them myself -- for paragliding in Britain, France, Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Italy and India. AC

There are lots of different types used in different countries. As always some standards are recognized in one country and forbidden in another. Especially Europe/USA simply cannot ever agree on thze same. In Europe alone I know three standards for non-license radios: LPD, PMR466, FreeNet. 2m band is practically not used there because it would require a license there. 84.107.206.62 19:52, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

You say "2m band is practically not used there because it would require a license there" -- but 2m radios ARE widely used in France, Spain, Austria, Britain and Italy, at least -- I've used them myself in those countries to talk to many other pilots! And I had no licence. Manormadman (talk) 12:07, 17 February 2008 (UTC)Manormadman

[edit] external link deleted

i have deleted the external link

HangGliderHistory Timeline, includes paragliders as a class of hang gliders

and when i clicked on it the the url redirected to an advertising site! Topmark 23:48, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Speed range

I changed the average speed range from 20-60 km/h to 21-45 km/h, which seems much more indicative of the normal wing. I also added the equivalent range in mph.

For consistency, all the metric data should also probably be presented in the English system to make the data more meaningful to more people.

[edit] Speedbar animated picture

I must have stared at this animation for about 5 minutes trying to figure out exactly what it is showing. Someone that understands this, please add an explanation of what this is showing. I read the nearby text and still couldn't make it out. Slavlin (talk) 01:05, 19 March 2008 (UTC)


[edit] In Fast Decents

I remove this line :

"The horizontal speed only increases very little, the flight path speed increases significantly." First because it lacks sources, and second because to my opinion it is false.

When Ears are done, the wing tends to increase the drag thus reducing the gliding ratio and reducing the speed on path. Waiting for confirmation 82.239.28.42 (talk) 17:03, 20 May 2008 (UTC) http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Sletuffe