Paragliding

Easy now kids. We all make mistakes. This has been a great thread with buckets of stoke overflowing. A pleasure to read every bit of it.

Oh i think everyone here knows exactly what im like theyve been listening to me rant **** here for so many years that its an identifiable feature like the guy with a big nose i could call myself what ever username i like everyone will know who i am within the first 10 minutes of reading some nonsense wall of text with zero punctuation ironically when i am banned its because ive had to ask to have myself banned to the point if you google how to delete your account right now youll find a little screen will pop up and say sorry but we cant remove your account or posts you should think about what you write because itll be on here forever so if you lean into that like you shouldnt you kinda end up with this seabreezes very own boy who will autistaclly twatter on about fabric deniers etc etc it is what it is and it probably doesnt do anyone any good having theyre name tied to conversations about cloud seeding 5g cancer causeing .... whats macros latest fixation i havent checked anyways i dont think we can talk about water sports on here for ... jesus.... i think i joined in 2003? All i would talk about was flying kites indoors anyways point is all of this should be taken with a bit of a grain of salt plus rumour has it i am the manager here (im not tbut thats a joke thats been going for a little while at least in my head) also were mates so bit awkward

I was going to post an apology video in nothing but a pair of kiteboots and roll around and jump about like an emu but i decided to get the best legal aid i could find so ive reached out to the best god damn prop comic in the world CASEY ROCKET and havent heard back from him yet but i think everythings going to be allright

Anyways godfrey sorry bit of a silly mood lately ummm didny mean to defame you or ya busoness? but if you press the little red flag next to the post thats the problem can report it and itll get cleaned up by the mods i havent read angthing ive written here in 20 years and i wouldnt remember writeing it anywyas anyways just gonna assume im banned from manilla now thats gotto be a first without haveing actually been there to get banned quite a shame as its been my home away from home for last decade but hay your court your rules i feel like im probably just going to keep fixateing on this legal drama stuff and digging myself a bigger hole but im not really capable of not doing that thats why i usually just ask laurie to suspend or ban my account not sure if hes away at the moment tho anyways matey its been fun hope this unsolicited message doesny cause ya any more issues ay i dont really know how to solicit tho

I cant believe this! Noe beat Pal Takats in a task!!! Thats INSANE!!






To put that into perspective thats like a first timer to the pkra beating hadlow or the lion back in the day sure its just for one heat but still pretty wild

Biiiiig confidence boost cant wait for him to make some knotfuture paragliding videos we have enough lads in the air now

Speaking of which did my course with keahi not sure if anyone seen his recent MONSTER of a drop in on that huge wave but i would hassle him a little after a few years asking him why he isnt flying much anymore etc etc and essentially the response was because of self preservation!

Let me find a photo of that recent BOMB so you can see where the self preservation margins are at!

www.livetrack24.com/tasks/4926

Well that certaintly dampened my spirits a bit....
I couldnt fathom how pal coulda been knocked out so early figured it was an airspace disqualification but yea.... unfortunately not. Its not easy looseing ya mates.

I think its important to try to understand some of the words pal said that i have been trying to get across.

It can happen to anyone, anytime, even the best pilots.

Anyways hopefully young shane and toledo stay safe up there ay

This is pretty god damn amazing hes been throwing some awesome plays shame yas cant read the group chat

Getting down to the wire i dont even want to look at the weather just incase i jinx it

www.livetrack24.com/tasks/4926/2d

I am late to this thread but have found it all very interesting and relevant as I think about these hobbies and safety factors lots so thanks for the discussion. Personally I have kited for ages, done some gliding (sailplane) years ago, have raced foil kites for a couple of years and got PG2 paraglider license two years ago. I was hoping that the many hours on foil kites would help with paragliding and making it more safe as I have some feel for "active flying"/keeping your wing open when bad things happen. But I have found some of the limitations mentioned in this thread, its hard to get air-time living in Perth and even with a big fat easy beginner/intermediate paraglider there is still a big chance of collapse which you can limit by flying very sensibly which means limiting air-time and fun. Also beginner gliders are fat and don't have good penetration limiting wind range and fun factor and making it a slow process to get experience and improve feel which is part of flying safely, so its hard to progress based here, even when I've already got loads of hours with paraglider style kites and ground handling. I haven't written paragliding off but I'm starting to think hang gliding might be a better option for me if all the factors line up. But also I am still keen to try a mullet/mustache but need more airtime before safely doing that. Those para-kites are much more like the race-kites I am familiar with so I should have a head start there. A kite-racer overseas has been even using race kites (ozone R1's) and converting them as an alternative and they look great www.instagram.com/evankruger8?igsh=MTNiYzNiMzkwZA%3D%3D

So even though I've got a few paragliders and some airtime now and some skills I still don't fly often enough. I've had a good look at hang gliding due to a few factors including being able to fly in stronger conditions, no collapses of the soft wing and I suspect being more fun and the type of flying i want to do. Someone else has done all the safety comparison analysis based on death rates etc, its still dangerous, but some stats are twisted and the stats do show hang gliding as being safer but not lots. My personal view is that in reality hang gliding can be practiced in a relatively safe way regularly and with a fun way of flying. As such I have started by hang gliding license and will be finished in August. There is still lots of driving involved and costs are moderate compared to other sports I do which are expensive (like kitefoil racing, cars/motorbikes, downhill racing, backcountry snow etc.). At this stage I'm happy to get the skills and license and buy a glider when I am ready as I'm sure I'll be hang gliding in future, especially as I get more time as kids get older etc.

Another factor is thinking about the future of these sports, just as foildrive is changing the game I'm sure the electric motor/battery advances are going to change free-flying and I'm keen to be invovled especially where these can add safety and options/fun. The other thing to consider is doing a few of these things, but obviously hard to juggle the gear, skills and time, but good fun if you can manage to do a few of them, makes for an interesting trip to the alps.