Paraglider Training at Kario

Kario Training

This winter we are all firmly grounded in New Zealand with summer flying overseas simply a dream on hold... but magically our fantastic coastline lets us play in the air even in winter!

Actually, we can do much more in these winter months than just hanging in the air or following the coastline backward and forwards, we can use this time for gaining and growing some practical skills which will make us safer and more efficient on the coast, flats, and in the mountains.

Coastal training has made a massive difference to my volbivouac adventures and this training kept me safe during Red Bull X-Alps. Deep in the mountains, no take-off is perfect. Good top and slope landing skills save us loads hours of hiking and also keep us safe making our flying adventures far more fun!

I’ve travelled around the world chasing it for years now but still, the best training ground I can imagine is just here at our doorstep. It is called Karioitahi. With kilometers of grassy top and slope landings and take-offs for pilots at any level of experience, it’s ultimately one of the best training grounds in the world.

Fortuitously I am lucky to live close by and fly there all the time in both perfect and challenging conditions for many varied exercises. If you live in another part of the country and usually fly on other sites, you may implement some of these exercises when you fly at your spot. Still, it will

be worth coming to Kario for some good weekend training sessions.

Of course, flying backward and forwards in the laminar wind is pleasant and sometimes it’s all we need to relax after a long week. However, if you want to up your game, here are some essential skills: 1. Managing your wing in strong wind

By strong wind, I mean the wind which you don’t feel comfortable to launch in. It might differ depending on your skill level, wing type, and your weight. These exercises are perfect for days when otherwise are too strong for flying.

Incredibly useful on the coast, flatlands, and absolutely crucial in the mountains, mastering your wing

By Kinga Masztalerz

Above; Kinga, Photo; Chris Wright

Above; Graham Rose on the Kario dunes above the high take-off at sunset Photo; Kinga

Left; Graham’s adventurous spirit made him land on random dunes. Sometimes landing was way easier than relaunching! Photo; Kinga

will make you safe and in time will let you fly when others being are being dragged around or grounded with their wings unpacked.

Basic: On the take-off (or on the beach, low on the dunes if it is very very windy) find a place that is slightly sheltered to prepare your gear without letting it being blown away. Don’t open your wing completely so it cannot fly away, just allow enough to see if the lines aren’t twisted. Put on the harness, attach to the wing (if you haven’t already), and then try to completely open the canopy using only brakes and lines. If you have a cravat or knot, try to open it without approaching your wing. If it is too windy, don’t try to launch,

just keep the wall and feel how it reacts to tiny inputs. Take your time, feel the gusts, and lows through the pressure in the canopy on the ground. Observe the grass, feel the wind, and try to predict if what is coming is a low or a gust. Don’t feel pressure to launch (if it’s really strong), it’s not your goal here. However, it might happen that after some time you’ll start feeling patterns of lows and you might feel confident to try, I’ve taken off like this many times, probing the air for good 20 minutes and then launching smoothly. Always be prepared to kill the wing fast and efficiently with brakes or C lines.

Medium/Advanced (depending on strength of the wind and your glider loading!): Now using one A and other brake line, turn your wing upside down, so the leading edge is facing the ground. Try to ground handle it using brake lines. Toss it back. Launch your wing to the maximum of the power zone and kill it. In strong wind, it will pull you toward it, be ready to run forward. Spend your time putting it up and down but be ready to kill it immediately if it starts dragging you. 2. Other exercises on the ground

When on take-off or after top landing. When it’s too windy for you and/or too crossed, stay on the beach and ground handle your wing on the dunes. Always be aware of hazards especially if you are slowly being nudged back.

Basic: Launch your wing and hold it over your head. Move around, walk left, right, backward and forward, facing the wing and turned like for launching. Go for a walk to a particular point, the stronger the wind, the more subtle your input has to be. Keep your wing steady above your head without moving your feet. Try not to look at the wing.

Medium: Touch one wingtip to the ground, bring it back above your head, now touch another one, try to do it in one smooth movement, without moving your feet. While ground handling, kneel, sit and lay down, then get up. Try not to look at the wing. Use your wing as a sail and slide and let it pull you on the sand on your feet in a controlled manner.

Advanced: Try to perform ground helicopter, easier on smaller dynamic wings, but possible even on XC wings.

While ground handling, climb various obstacles, rocks, driftwood, poles, etc. In strong wind climb small dunes and try to launch from them, we often fly from the small dunes by the packing site,

sometimes only for a couple of seconds, sometimes going backward and forwards! 3. In the air

When you have some height, try to do wingovers without using brakes, only (use) with weight shift. With perfect timing, you can easily go to 90 degrees or even above and it’s safe as you don’t brake the wing and it has plenty of energy so it won’t collapse. Practice a lot to make your timing perfect. Then when you add just a little bit of brake, notice it makes a big impact so progress very slowly. Wingovers are a complex manoeuvre that takes time to learn so you don’t want to rush it. The safest way of exiting wingovers is to bleed the energy out into a sharp 360 turn (like a shallow spiral dive). Always monitor your altitude.

Facing the sea, practice pushing your speed bar smoothly and then releasing it in a way that will minimise the pitch. It will make you more efficient on glides when flying XC. 4. Top Landing

There are two well known and easy places to top land, the school takeoff and at the high take off. There are multitudes of options at Kario, from easy to highly technical and we are constantly discovering new ones!

Practice touch and go, top landing and taking off again without putting your wing on the ground.

There are far too many top and slope landing techniques to describe them all here. This includes approaching from various directions, using ears, wingovers, flapping, utilising advanced pitch control and slope landing variants, I sometimes even top land using no brakes, only C lines.

Some of these techniques are dangerous to try without deep understanding how they work but I mention them here to underline; there is unlimited potential to learn and polish your skills at Kario.

When top landing, always take your time, it’s better to come too high and fly away to try again than to put yourself too low and in the lee!

Karioitahi is a perfect place to learn all the skills which will make us safer anywhere we fly. No matter if you want to go for vol-bivouac, fly personal best at Manila or just maximise your airtime and have more fun on the coast, these skills will take you there!

If you want to learn more, Kinga provides tailor-made training packages at Karioitahi, check them out at www.kingamaszta.com/coaching

Kinga enjoying Kario Photo; Chris Wright

Safety Notes

Wind at Kario is usually very laminar when coming from SW and W. With N factor, it can be still soarable but more turbulent, even more, when the wind is strong. Beware, especially when close to the ground.

Ground handling: If it’s windy, choose a place without any obstacles around, especially downwind from where you practice. Always wear a helmet and gloves when ground handling!!!

If you are being dragged, don’t panic, it’s all soft terrain here, that’s why we love Kario! Focus on the wing, kill it with brakes or C lines. If the wing is upside down, don’t pull brakes, kill it with A’s. If you lose control completely, just grab any line on one side, keep pulling it to deflate the wing.

Tip: Take your time to learn to identify various lines on

your glider, it will help you react in the right way when it gets messy.

When you fly close to the ground, practice top landings, ground handling, etc, it is a really intense training! Stay hydrated and keep in touch with your mental state, if you start feeling tired and are losing focus, call it a day! You will be surprised how much you can learn in the 2 hour session... and how exhausting it is!

Kinga shows canopy control Photos; Chris Wright Chris and Cath Deacon mastering control of the glider Photo; Chris Wright

Skyfloat The slow speed ability of paragliding combined with the safety in turbulence, extra top speed (as much as 75kph+) and the glide performance (10:1) of hang gliding. Skyfloaters are light and responsive without being unstable, with complete control authority. They launch easily; even in no wind and land so slowly that flare timing is barely necessary, you can just run or even walk to stop! The superior control, manoeuvrability and climb ability make it easy to soar above everybody, they have a great glide and a good dive speed to get out of trouble. They are extremely light and can be rigged in 5 minutes or less! They easily last 10 years or more. Fun, Falcon and Perfex skyfloaters use genuine 7075 alloy tube for superior glide performance and strength as well as lightest weight. As well as being the best first glider, their superior performance in sink rate and climb ability makes them suitable for more advanced flying too. They can circle in half the space a conventional performance glider needs, so you can get up in tiny thermals or light lift when others are forced to land! Pilots using skyfloaters for cross country regularly score top positions in major competitions. Tandem skyfloaters are also available. The AirBorne Fun and Wills Wing Falcon are similar with USHGMA certification. 7075 airframes for strength and light weight (19 - 23kg). They can be flown prone (or seated with paraglider harness). They Atos Ultra performance rigid wing gliders with a glide of 20:1, sink rate of just 120 fpm, and super light handling, these aircraft are the ultimate glider. Multiple World Champs winner. Range of sizes. stronger 7075 airframe, better glide & speed range, lighter pitch for towing, but keeps the super low stall speed and www.airborne.com.au control for climbing. Speedbar, aerofoil uprights, VG, PX matrix leading edge & lever tip battens are standard. Higher performance & ease of use for the advancing pilot. 154 & 168 sizes. Motorharness ready with pull out keel end and very low minimum flying speed for light or nil wind launches. Mylar Race option. DHV certified. Accesso ries Training, XC or pneumatic wheels (or with VG hub), Hand fairings, Hook knifes, Parachute swivels, bridles, Instrument brackets, Tow bridle kits, Tow releases etc. ers WORLD RECORD 329 kms/205 miles Distance By Davis Straub flying Falcon from Zapata Texas

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FALCON 4 1st = at 2013 Craigieburn League!!

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Convert your old Fun to a Fun2 with the new Sail Retro kit. Everything supplied. See the review at www.hgpg.co.nz

are the most versatile, enjoyable and popular hang gliders by far in NZ. The Falcon 4 has improved handling and performance with full mylar leading edge inserts and optional short pack to approx 2m. The new enhancements allow pilots to downsize to a lighter, even easier handling size than before. 4 sizes including Tandem. Falcon, Perfex and Lightfex can shortpack down to approx 6ft (2m). Perfex and Lightfex feature no tools shortpacking & assembly. Strong, 7075 frame and battens, Perfex & Lightfex have SHV & DHV certification. The updated Wills Wing Alpha is the ultimate beginner & training glider SKYFLOATERS combine the best features of hang gliding & paragliding; Stress free total control for learner flying and real performance for cross country, recreational, dune soaring or just plain fun flying without hassles

www.a-i-r.de/index.php

DHV Certified.

Sting 3 has a lighter, with super low flying speed and amazing soaring ability.

T3 XC & comp wing with international comp wins already. Improved on the World Record T2C with amazing handling and even better performance. Featuring bearing tips, new carbon raked tips, leading edge and insert options, carbon re-enforced battens and carbon New Model Review at; https://issuu.com/us_hang_gliding_ aerofoil keel. Carbon outer paragliding/docs/pilot2001_issuu/28 leading edges, aero speedbar, sprogs. Custom colours are standard. 144 & 154 sizes. T3 U2 for performance and XC ability without the extra weight, www.willswing.com battens and stiffer handling of New Model topless wings. It has a kingpost but no lufflines, using topless style inner sprogs. Choice of aerofoils and aerofoil basebar. Mylar and window sail options. Best value in its class. 145 SPORT 3 (above) has improved glide and (29kg) ,160 (31kg) sizes, handling, black airframe, raked tips and All USHGMA Certified. mylar sail options. 170,155 &135 sizes. Hang Gli der Harness es The best Italian harnesses from Woody Valley. www.woodyvalley.eu/eng/ Aerodynamic, stylish and tough. Models for racing to recreational. The ultimate race harness TENAX 4 with tilt control options and removable skin. FLEX2 AERO and Flex2 ACRO (right) has the Tenax footcone and upper body construction, with strengthened risers & independent back supports. A faired aerodynamic harness that’s lighter, more flexible, gives easier landings and a more convenient packed size. AeroDesign APRON The most comfortable and practical harness for training and dune flying. AUTOLOCK HG Carabiners No forgetting to Unrestricted vertical/prone transitions, strong screw up the gate. No exposed threads to webbing and cordura fabric for maximum damage hangloops. Stainless or plated strength and durability, parachute container, steel 30-35 kN all with webbing lock ring. stash pocket, storage, plus autolocking Used Gli ders All traded gliders are strip checked, test flown and trimmed so you know they are safe and fly perfectly. Ring or email for current stocks. DROGUE CHUTES www.willswing.com/accessories/drogue-chute/ Turn your race wing’s glide into a skyfloater’s for small landing areas. carabiner, stirrup and instructions included. The PDA and short bridle with swivel gives the Gli der Spares smallest, safest and easiest to use drogue. At low NZ’s largest stock of Wills Wing, Airborne Windsports, Finsterwalder speed it has little effect, but speed up and your and Enterprise Wings spares. Wires and tubes made to specifications. height disappears with little excess speed to burn Round, aerofoil and rubber backed uprights, Quick-pins, etc off. The safest and most versatile drogue system.

Full backup Service Glider & harness repairs, stripdown checks & trim/tuning. Student pilot instruction

Wind meters

Read the true wind speed so you can tell how strong or gusty it really is, indicating turbulence or whether it is safe or soarable. Essential for safe flying. Weather Flow Wind Meter A compact, accurate, affordable wind meter that plugs into your Apple or Android device showing wind gust, lull & average plus direction using the device’s GPS. Share by SMS, email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine etc. Reads in meters/sec, miles/hour, knots, kilometers/hour, & beaufort. Range 1 m/s (3.6kph) to 56 m/s (201.6 kmh).

HALL compact (11.5cm) ‘Small Hall’ is the best priced airspeed meter available. Simple and accurate. Brackets for hang or para. Never needs batteries! Insi der & No Limit Helmets by Aerodynamic helmets with 96% field of vision & strong, light kevlar/aramid reenforced shell weighing just 650gms to save your neck muscles. Shock absorbing EPS liner for maximum brain protection. Breathable inner fabric. Scratch resistant colours including metallics, matt & carbon. Sizes 53 - 62 cm head circumference. EN966 certified for hg & pg. No Limit has faired back and optional polycarbonate visor for wind protection & aerodynamics, gives 100% UV protection and is anti-reflective, anti-fog & antiscratch. http://finsterwalder-charly.de/en.html Range of colours and sizes in stock

DIAMOND cross Hang EMERGENCY PARACHUTES glider models come with UV • Fast, reliable, opening. and abrasion • Reduced weight & pack size due to high protected strength material and Dyneema lines. bridle. Op• • The reduced size and weight is especially useful for tandems and hang gliders. Optional steering PG (can be retro fitted). Extremely low sink rates by horizontal travel of the cruciform canopy in diagotional swivel. Up to half the packed size and weight of conventional HG reserves. nal direction. 125, 160 and • Sizes for 100, 125 and 160kg. Tandems 220kg sizes. 160 and 220kg. • Pendulum-free smooth descent. • 12 month packing cycle due to pack PG Front Chute Container; system design and construction. Mounted where you can • Inner container with stowed lines makes see, reach & deploy deployment easier and minimises risk of fastest with either hand. tangling. Check out videos at; http://finsterwaldercharly.de/en/rescue-systems.html Less drag & the instrument flight deck is where you see it best, also it zips off as a protective carry bag. Revolution Many accidents happen close to the ground, by so a fast, reliable opening is most important. The ‘Revolution’ dual canopy, pulled down apex system opens fast & reliably.

Leading German manufacturer Charly makes the Revolution double canopy PDA reserves. Many NZ pilots have been saved by their reserves; even with deployments below 50ft!! which shows how fast these really do work.

Paraglider models fit built in harness containers or front mount cockpit containers.

Hang glider model fits most harnesses and comes with a UV shielded bridle. An optional swivel can be included.

Reserve models for for Tandem to lightweight Vol Biv. Tested to DHV certification and proven. Fly with confidence knowing you have Over 30,000 rescue systems sold world-wide the best back-up available. When you reallyneed a parachute, you on ly want the best

http://www.brauniger. com/en/home.html OUDIE 4; GPS/alti/vario/nav. Sunlight readable colour touchscreen works with gloves. World maps, airspace & 3D terrain installed & updated as required, wind, thermal assistant, task & triangle optimiser, glide, terrain, IGC tracklogs, micro SDHC, customisable display & audio, 12 hour battery life. In Basic or Full comp / XC versions. OUDIE 5 is same but with integrated Fanet+ & Flarm. It’s in stock now OUDIE 4 BLADE now in stock; all the above built into a slim instrument pod that mounts on the basebar. Mounts for aerofoil basebars available. Airspeed pitot is built in.

Hyper ; pocket size with advanced features makes it ideal for daily flying including hike-and-fly. It will help you navigate simple routes, around complex airspace and also record all details of your flight. Pocket size (107x70x18mm), Lightweight (135gm), Sunlight-readable color LCD touch display, Wifi & Bluetooth connectivity, Airspace, Hike-and-fly mode.

ELEMENT; Element TRACK has 3D GPS track recording, USB downloads. Wind, All you need for comps & XC. Element SPEED has GPS wind direction & speed for soaring & XC. Easy to operate, affordable & practical. Element ALTO; Robust, reliable & simple alti/vario with GPS alti, 250 hour battery life. Switch on and fly!

Choose the right instrument at; www.naviter.com/

www.volirium.com/home1

CONNECT 1/P1 ; GPS/alti/vario/ flight computer. Easy operation, touchscreen works with gloves, SD card, USB, maps, airspace, wifi updates, pitot airspeed and more as new features are released.

SPECIAL

, Limited

XC TRAINER

Vario/alti/flight computer, 16 ch GPS, wind speed & direction, speed to fly, thermal mapping, Google Earth output. Accurate & reliable. www.aircotec.com/

Stock

All switchable metric/imperial. Mounting bracket options.

Most items are in stock for overnight courier delivery NZ wide. Call or email for more information. Dealer, School and group order enquiries welcome Over 25 years of free flying experience and quality service

QUICK OUT carabiner 4000 kp break load, Can be released under load. With safety lock. Valuable for windy landings.