IT HAPPENS!!!!!

We all check our equipments before we take off, I did the same on that day. It’s been a really long time that I have learnt to take off but that day was really unlucky for me. It had been a long time but I was not able to take off. All people around were getting hyper watching me fall so many times but I never cared. My lines were all getting jumbled but they were again getting cleared on their own.
At last, I took off from the ridge but there was a huge gust which picked me up with a great speed. My glider was pushed to the other side of the valley, all pilots from the ground were screaming “BRAKES UP” I lucky heard that and did the same when I looked up to my glider I saw a knot on my left brake line. I was yet being pushed back to the other side of the valley. I decided to turn and land in the other valley side but as I turned and faced the other valley; there were huge gusts which collapsed the sides of my glider, I was parallel to my glider. It was acting really weird and was doing wing overs on its own. It reduced my height and got me to the ground with a great speed. I was banged on the ground and the glider dragged me for a long distance but at last I was safe, there were many of them who came running but I stood still and started checking if anything was broken in my body. But I was totally in one piece. Ya! But I had got a slight jerk on my back but that was fine. When I returned back on the take off, many pilots said that I am adventurous, but I know what my condition in the air was. I was not panic, nor I was scared, I just didn’t understand for a few seconds that what was wrong with my glider. I was on the ground till I could understand that!!!
That was my last flight of season 2009-2010, the wind grew quit violent later. Now I am waiting for the rainy season to finish in Panchgani [India] so that I can again go for some crazy things like this!!! FLY SAFE!!!

DO NOT USE OTHER’S EQUIPMENTS!!!!

 

You are always told that ‘’DO NOT USE OTHER’S EQUIPMENTS’’. Well, I was never told that when I started paragliding.
Two years before, I went to a trip to Bir, it was raining there when I reached. After 2-3 days the weather cleared and was suitable for flying. I went on the site and saw that it was too windy for me, resulting; I had to sit, observing others fly. My friend Ram, from manali, gave me a lot of information about that site. He wanted to fly but he didn’t get his glider, so I gave him my glider to fly as he was in that weight range. I never knew that he changed the settings of my harness.
The very next day, the weather was good for flying. I opened my glider, pined up my harness, and was ready for a flight. I picked my glider up and felt that I had no feeling on my glider, I thought it may be because of the extra weight that I am carrying in my harness to equalize my weight. I pushed myself off the ridge and leaned forward everything was normal. But when I tried to sit in my harness, it took me back with it. I got damn scared!!! I was not getting the judgment of my brake lines nor could I see the landing area. I don’t what happened but I got a strike in my mind and tried for weight shift though I never practiced for it any time, a picture of a biker came in my mind while doing weight shifting to sharpen his turns. While doing this I made a judgment of landing, the mountain was too high so I could take as much time I wanted. At last I landed down safely, in the landing area, without any damage to myself and my glider.
That day I learned a lesson, never use other’s gliders and don’t let anyone use yours.
PLEASE NOTE: IT MAY RESULT MORE DANGEROUS, OTHER THAN JUST A LESSON.

Equipment maintenance.……………..

We all do respect our equipments, but I feel, we should again recall its maintenance. This knowledge is mostly given in a beginner book.
The proper maintenance of our equipment is critical to maintenance airworthiness. Taking a few simple precautions we can significantly extend the life of our canopy.
• Do not expose your canopy to more sunlight. Keep the paraglider in the bag until you are ready to fly and pack it up as soon as you can after flying.
• Do not expose your canopy in excess of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Do not store your canopy in your car, or in your trunk, or in the bed of a truck. Extreme temperature can also degrade the rubber bands used for the proper deployment of your reserve parachute.
• Never use a knot to tie a broken line together. It changes the line length appreciably and reduces the breaking strength significantly.
• Keep your paragliders dry. Paragliders are flight certified while dry & a wet glider may behave quite differently. If the canopy gets wet, dry it in the shade or indoors. Do not sore it packed up wet since it may weaken the fibers. If your paraglider gets wet in the ocean, you must flush the salt water out of the paraglider thoroughly, and then dry it thoroughly before packing it up. Crystallized salt may abrade and weaken your lines, and therefore the lines may need to be replaced if soaked in salt water.
• Avoid washing your paraglider with any soap or detergent; it is normally best to only use water. If dirt gets ingrained in the fabric then a mild non-abrasive detergent may be used with a soft sponge. Never scrub the canopy with anything other than a soft sponge or cloth as you may damage the lightweight fabric and the UV coating.
• Do not make any attempt to repair the glider yourself. All repairs should be done by a qualified repair technician. An exception to this rule is small tears in the fabric that are not located on high-stress areas may be repaired with special self-adhesive rip-stop nylon sail repair tape. Do not walk on or kink the lines.
• Avoid dragging the canopy along the ground.
• Do not pack up the canopy on hard surface with objects that could cause puncture damage (rocks, sticks, thorns, etc.).
• When storing your glider for extended periods, loosen the ties to reduce the stress on the fabric and allow better air circulation.

(Reference- PARAGLIDING: A Pilot’s Training Manual)

PRACTICING WITH WORLD'S BEST PILOTS!!! ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES.....

Being a junior pilot, I was flying with the world ranking pilots. It sounds too energetic. At first glance you feel like being at their place and enjoying the flight. Those deep spirals, wing over, B-stall, etc. which was impossible for me that time. I saw many senior pilots like Mani, Mike, Pascal, Antonio, Dave, etc. whose flying taught me many things in Paragliding.
If you see them flying, you learn many things like weight shifting, deep turns, flying close to the ridge, etc. these are the advantages, but you need to be a good observer for that.
But their flying can also teach you some bad things, if you don’t learn them the right way and right time, they all did that and now they are highly experienced pilots. Well I tried that many times and it was deadly for me as a junior pilot. That day I was trying to go for deep and fast 360s, I don’t know what happened, but my glider went in a spin and I performed a stunt ‘HELICOPTER’ I had a good control on my glider so it recovered, but everyone thought that it was a stunt. And I was called ACRO after that. Paragliding is not an easy game and I understood this later. This event took place accidently but it taught me a lesson.
Please note: ‘Observation is good, but you should use it on the right place’ FLY SAFE!!!

DECEPLINE FLYING ROUTINE....................

To win any battle of your life, you need to frame it. Framing can also be defined as ROUTINE. It counts each and every minute of a day and the schedule of that period.
During holidays, my day starts at 6:00am in the morning, I reach at the table land in Panchgani at 6:45 for ground handling, the between time I dress up and the other ½ an hour goes in travelling. Ground Handling session for 2 hours till 9:00am. Then breakfast in Panchgani market. Later, for flying to Harrison Folly. If I do a top to top flight then I do 2-3 short time flights and if I go for a top to bottom flight then I do 1 flight, but if the weather is good I go back to the sight for another one all way long. After 11am, mostly the wind grows violent which many pilot suggest, not good for me. At that time, I watch the other pilots flying, trying to learn something. Many cross-country pilots attempt for a cross-country at that time, they are Dilip Kotecha from India, Dave from Britain, etc. I wish I could fly with them for a cross-country one day. Doing flying regularly is good, but observing other people flying and learning from them is more important.
After that, I go for my lunch to Wai, and go back at 3:30pm as the wind grows lighter at that time. Flying in the smooth wind is fun, I take long flights at that time and land after the sunset. While flying, one man is always behind me with a stick, he is Andre Savard. He is a very helpful person but strict also. He keeps on shouting for people’s welfare. He helps all the pilots around, though he knows them or not. It is good to have people like Andre, around you.

ONE HAS TO BE AN ATHLETE………………………

Play any game, but it is necessary to have an Athlete physic first. It includes good stamina, strength and flexibility with firm determination. For that you need proper coach and training.
The whole world says the same
But who all follow this!!!
It sounds too energetic to say but is very hard and bugging in practical.
When I started swimming I was quite hefty. I used to do a bit of running and nothing else for fitness. For some days, I was doing good, but after reaching a certain level I understood that I was lacking in fitness. My timing for the swimming events was not changing for a year. Then I realized the importance of physical training. The very next day my father called Mr. Afzal Pathan from Wai for physical training. He trained me for a month. The exercises which he thought me were not taken from the books, these were natural exercises. In these days my fitness level and self instruction theory was increased.
I actually was playing two games together – Swimming & Paragliding. I had to decide which game to play professionally, I chose Paragliding.
My fitness also helped me in Paragliding. I was not having the required strength for this game, therefore I was not able to control my glider on the ground, which is the most important to understand your glider. Many of them asked me to go for ground handing practice but I was not able to keep my glider on my head on the ground. Later I had to increase my work out to become strong. Like Rocky Marciano and other boxers I had to go for some arm workout, for example: digging, hill climbing with weight, pulling water from wells, gym workout, carrying weight on my arms and swimming, etc. This increased my power, stamina, endurance and confidence which all most made my ground handling perfect which was essential. Other pilots also started appreciating my improvement in Paragliding.
I am not 14 years old yet, but I feel somewhat I am better than before. And I am confident that I will be able to compete with other pilots all around the world, in 4-5 years.
Please note : Paragliding is not an easy game. You need to be 100% fit physically and mentally.

First accident I saw……………[Shashi Yadav]

“FLYING BANNED IN PANCHGANI” on that day, only permitted for me. A day before, the PSI of Panchgani Police Station had banned Paragliding due to more Air Traffic on the sites. The same night, I went to Shreemant Chhatrapati Udayanraje Bhosale to meet him. I informed him about the ban in Panchgani. The very next moment he called the PSI and the Collector of the area to allow me to fly solo.
The next morning I went to the Police Station to confirm my permission to fly. Only I was given permission to fly, as soon as I came out of the Police Station, a Tandom Pilot showed me the News Paper titled as “The Youngest Paraglider Pilot not given access to practice flying”.
Later, after having my breakfast, I took my glider and went on the site to fly. I opened my glider and took it on the take off point, on the same time, Shashi-a Tandom Pilot came to help me for my take off as I was not so good at it. I took off and had a top to bottom flight. As soon as I landed I saw one more green glider taking off and as usual I forgot my radio set, I could not confirm who was it. That glider was also approaching to land and I could clearly see that the Pilot was not wearing shoes, he was on his floaters; he was not having a proper harness; and was flying on a really old glider, which I know, was not safe. He was just about to land, but pulled the breaks when he was about 7-8 feet above the ground resulting in a stall. He came down in a great speed and started screaming as he banged on the ground. I knew it was painful. I tried to call someone to help him to get up, but no one was there around to help. Later, a villager with his hoe heard him scream. Luckily he had his mobile with only Rs.4.78 balance. I called my father and told him all the story. He immediately came there and we took him in the nearby hospital, carrying him in a sleeping bag.
After his check up we came to know that his 3rd disc of the back bone was crushed and needed to be operated immediately, but facilities were not available. So he was taken to Pune for treatment.
He had three operations, yet he became paralised for 2 years. That time I assumed the seriousness of this accident.
PLEASE NOTE : USE PROPER EQUIPMENTS AND ALWAYS CARRY A MEDIUM OF COMMUNICATION