Why do most people para-glide and not hang glide? I thought hang gliding was more enjoyable...faster etc?

Question

Which one is better? Is gliding also part of it?

Answer 1

As far as where I live, (CT) hang-gliding has been banned in any part of the state as so many people have died doing. i would presume that most people para-glide because it is either safer or hang-gliding is illegal where they are.

Answer 2

As HeadHunter says, it is in the more dangerous side of hang gliding that makes that sport less popular. Paragliding is much safer; you can even fall asleep and you'll land most probably alive. Hang gliders stall fast and are difficult to recover from.

I fly neither but I own and fly much a Kitfox motorised ultralight. From all of the Kitfox (more than 4,500 built worldwide) all of those who ended in a fatal accident are those where the pilot was doing sharp manoeuvre near the ground. Recovery from a spin is virtually impossible if you are only a few hundred feet over the ground.

Incidentally in Norway, where I life, you need a special insurance for flying paragliders, hang gliders, ultralights and GA aircraft. But you don't when flying normal gliders. Because it is considered as safe as ... staying home.

That's why I always fly my ultralight as if it was a glider: always with a possible emergency landing place in sight.