Paragliding

Officials

Jury

Responsible for ensuring that the competition runs in a fair, safe and satisfying manner in accordance with the rules and regulations.

Stewards

Responsible for facilitating the smooth running, fairness and safety of the competition but has no formal authority to make decisions. 

Aerobatic Judges

A panel consisting of 5 to 8 judges including the chief judge is responsible for judging the aerobatic competitions and scoring the pilots.

Paragliding Accuracy Judges

A team of four to five judges determine each pilot’s performance by observing the performances and recording a score.

Events

Cross-Country Flying

In this event, pilots fly round a fixed course with a start and a finish line with some turn points (usually 4-6). The winner is the fastest pilot round the course or the one who flew furthest when no one completes the course. The pilot has to carry a GPS receiver which records their flight track to judge whether they correctly followed the course and to determine timings.

Aerobatic Competitions

In this competitions, pilots in pairs or individually perform some manoeuvres in the air. This is the most spectacular event for spectators to watch from the ground.

Bivouac Flying

In this event, a certain route has to be followed by the pilots to flow or hike over several days.

Techniques

Launching

In this phase of paragliding, the wing is placed in the airstream either by being pulled or running or an existing wind. After this, the wing moves up over the pilot, the pilot is then lifted from the ground and after the safety duration, sits down into the harness. The three launching techniques are: forward launch, Reverse launch and Towed launch.

Landing

Before landing paragliders lose their height by creating a figure of 8 while flying over the landing area until the correct height is achieved after which they "stall" the glider in order to land. Landing of the paraglider involves lining up for an approach into the wind and exactly before touching the ground, flaring the wing to minimize the vertical and horizontal speed.

Control

Controls are held in each of the hands of the pilot and are connected to the left & right sides of the wing. The controls are called brakes which provide the primary and most general means of control in a paraglider.

Participants

Male and female paraglider pilots compete as individuals or in teams in various paragliding events.

Playing Area

The sport of paragliding does not have a specific playing area. It includes a target/landing area on the ground on which the pilots land. The landing area in paragliding accuracy competitions is an electronic target pad which is a pressure sensitive device and measures 30 cm in diameter. Around the target pad, circles of 0.5 m, 5 m and 10 m are marked.

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.