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Interesting. I had a friend come back from a flying trip to China a few weeks ago and he said much the same thing - not common and too hard logistically. It's
by astrec 15y ago
Interesting. I had a friend come back from a flying trip to China a few weeks ago and he said much the same thing - not common and too hard logistically.
It's not the sport for everyone, that's for sure. I love it, and am never quite so happily as when the vario is screaming, although I'll admit it's 98% bliss and 2% pure terror.
It's worth mentioning that a CuNim will happily break a 747 too - that's why all aircraft give them a wide berth.
In Manilla it was a case of competitive pilots taking disproportionate risks. Based on the photos I've seen of that day, I think a lesser pilot such as myself would never even have launched.
- mikeash 15y agoWonder if we met with the same fellow. Andrew Du, I think his name was. And you're right that a more substantial aircraft is no guarantee of survival, but a glider with a Vne of 140+kts and hefty airbrakes is going to have a much better time escaping from cloud suck than a paraglider. There are days where it's foolish to launch, of course, but days which look good can still surprise you, so I like having the extra capabilities. With bigger gliders you get much the same thrill with the vario screaming and such, but somewhat more safety. (Still plenty of risk, of course, but a few obvious failure modes are at least reduced.)