Paragliding

Paragliding is an adventure sport practiced as a recreational as well as a competitive sport. Paragliders use a special parachute, known as a paragliding wing, to catch air currents and soar over the countryside. They are towed into the air by winches or run down mountains or hillsides to take off. In cross-country competitions, the winner is the one who completes the course in the fastest time or the one who flew furthest if no one completes the course. The sport can be traced back to 1952 when Domina C. Jalbert advanced gliding parachutes with multi-cells and controls. A French engineer, Pierre Lemoigne presented improved parachute designs in 1961 that led to the Para-Commander. The first official FAI World Championships of the sport took place in 1989 in Kossen, Austria.
The goal in the cross-country competitions is to fly round a predetermined course with a start, 4-6 turn points and a finish line. In aerobatic competitions, the goal is to perform some manoeuvres either individually or in pairs. In Bivouac flying competitions, the objective is to follow a particular route and flow or hike over several days.

General History

In 1952 Canadian Domina Jalbert licensed a parachute with multi-cells and controls for parallel glide.

 

In 1954, Walter Neumark anticipated (in an article in Flight magazine) a time when a lightweight glider pilot would be "ready to glide himself by running over the edge of a mountain or down an incline ... "

 

In 1961, the French specialist Pierre Lemongine created improved parachute design that prompted the Para-Commander. The Para-Commander had patterns at the back and sides that empowered it to be towed into the air and controlled, prompting parasailing/parascending.

 

Domina Jalbert developed the Parafoil, which had separated cells in an aerofoil shape; an open leading edge and a closed trailing edge, swelled by passage through the air – the ram air design. 

 

From the 1980s, gear has kept on improving, and the quantity of paragliding pilots and built up gliding sites has kept on expanding. The first (informal) Paragliding World Championship was held in Verbier, Switzerland, in 1987; however, the first formally authorised FAI World Paragliding Championship was held in Kössen, Austria, in 1989.