Hang Gliding History - The Right Stuff

Circling in a thermal with other gliders demands attention to separation, and all pilots need to adhere to the rules and conventions developed to avoid collision. On this occasion Pete Robinson's right-hand side cable was impacted by another glider's leading edge, breaking one of Pete's downtubes, crosstube, and one leading edge. The wing 'clapped hands' above him and he threw his parachute.

[ roundChu.gif -- NOT a link ] "After a pause there was a second or so of whirling violence," Pete said. "When things calmed down I found myself upright, with the glider at my back like angel's wings. But I could still hear flapping and thought the chute was candling, perhaps caught up in the glider."

The parachute had deployed correctly but its main riser wrapped round his right arm, pinning it to the keel tube. He landed with only cuts and bruises. (The other hang glider, hardly damaged, also landed under parachute without injury to its pilot.)

In the late 1980s paragliding became popular. Lighter, more portable, quicker to rig, and capable of slower flight than a hang glider, the paraglider's advantages outweigh its disadvantages in many situations. Hang gliders were by then becoming increasingly heavy, complex and expensive, as well as harder to land.

During the early 1990s paraglider pilots became, in the Wessex Club, more numerous than hang glider pilots. That situation persists to this day.

Paraglider pilots also carry emergency reserve parachutes.

In Right Stuff For New Hang Glider Pilots, departing from the humorous style of the rest of the book, Californian instructor Erik Fair states: