Paragliding grows in popularity
Paragliding is an exciting recreational activity. It involves a glider and a person soars through the air without a care in the world. Due to the fact that paragliding is an airborne activity using a manoeuvrable glider, soon people started to turn it into
a competitive sport.
Two distinct formats emerged, a race involving paragliders and an aerobatics style format. With events like the World Air Games taking place, competitive paragliding will become more and more popular as time goes by.
Paragliding is done using a human launched, free flying aircraft that incorporates a seat harness and a parachute. The history of paragliding is very interesting. In 1952, Domina Jalbert invented a new type of parachute that allowed for lateral gliding.
In 1961, parachute technology moved forward and they were used to parasail by a French engineer.
In 1978, three French friends, Jean-Claude Bétemps, André Bohn and Gérard Bosson attached threads to a parachute and found that if launched off a ramp a flight could easily take place. With this first flight, modern day paragliding was born.
Over time, the recreational activity that is paragliding, took on a more serious tone when people decided to turn it into a competitive sport. The two formats mentioned above were launched and a new extreme sport was born. As these two formats grew, numerous
variations developed as a result of people finding new ways to do old things. Racing using a paraglider is an extremely fun and exciting sport.
A course is mapped out similarly to what is used in aeroplane racing and a pilot in a paraglider has to complete the course passing all the checkpoints in the quickest time possible. Now days the use of GPS positioning systems is growing as a way for race
pilots to find their way around a predetermined course.
Now this racing format has evolved slightly to include ‘Comps’. Comps is basically competitive flying in a race format where the pilot has to complete a set number of tasks and fly around a certain number of points on a course.
Then there is the aerobatic version of competitive paragliding. This format was developed to test a skilled glider’s abilities in the air and their talent to control and manipulate their aircrafts. This has to be one of the most exciting displays that can
be done using a free flying aircraft that does not have an engine on board.
It takes an immense amount of skill and talent for a person to do moves and tricks such as infinite tumbles, summersaults, helicopters, dives and wing overs. The pilots have to complete a few tricks and then control and land their gliders in a short period
of time and it is up to their expertise and aptitude that help them achieve this.
Another very interesting type of competition that has emerged lately is called distance paragliding. In this version of the sport, pilots try and glide their aircrafts for the longest time and complete the longest distance possible. This has grown in popularity
recently along with another type of competition, spot landing. This measures the accuracy with which a paraglider can land his or her glider and if they can pinpoint one exact spot and land there. It takes a huge amount of training and dexterity to be able
to do this.
Over time, with increased technological and safety advances, the sport of paragliding has moved on where it is as safe and risk free as its recreational cousin. New technology has also enabled the development of better parachutes which have the ability to
glide for greater distances while being more responsive to a pilot and flying faster.
Increased research and scientific improvements could one day enable parachutes and wings to become even faster and even more responsive to a pilot and allow them to switch directions with the slightest of tugs.
With extreme sports becoming more acceptable and widespread all over the world, the sport of paragliding will lead the fight for widespread acceptance. Paragliding is one of the safest and most non-life threatening of extreme sports and looks all set to
become very popular. Paragliding clubs and flying schools are popping up all over the world and paragliding is all set to become mainstream very soon.
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