3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue 1 & 2 Jan - Apr 2 3rd Year Special Annual Double Issue Vol 4 Issue | Page 16

first officially sanctioned FAI World
Paragliding Championship was
held in Kössen, Austria, in 1989.
Europe has seen the greatest
growth in paragliding, with France
alone currently registering over
25,000 active pilots.
Equipment
Wing
The paraglider wing or canopy
is usually what is known in
engineering as a “ram-air airfoil”.
Such wings comprise two layers
of fabric that are connected to
internal supporting material in such
a way as to form a row of cells.
By leaving most of the cells open
only at the leading edge, incoming
air keeps the wing inflated, thus
maintaining its shape. When
inflated,the wing’s cross-section
has the typical teardrop aerofoil
shape. Modern paraglider wings
are made of high-performance
non-porous materials such as
ripstop polyester or nylon fabric.
In some modern paragliders (from
the 1990s onwards), especially
higher-performance wings, some
of the cells of the leading edge
are closed to form a cleaner
aerodynamic profile. Holes in the
internal ribs allow a free flow of air
from the open cells to these closed
cells to inflate them, and also to
the wingtips, which are also closed.
The pilot is supported underneath
the wing by a network of
suspension lines. These start
with two sets of risers made of
short (40 cm) lengths of strong
webbing. Each set is attached to
the harness by a carabiner, one
on each side of the pilot, and each
riser of a set is generally
attached to lines from only one
row of its side of wing. At the
end of each riser of the set, there
is a small delta maillon with a
number (2-5) of lines attached,
forming a fan. These are typically
4–5 metres long, with the
end attached to 2−4 further
lines of around 2m, which
are again joined to a group of
smaller, thinner lines. In some
cases this is repeated for a fourth
cascade.
Transverse
cross
section
showing parts of a paraglider:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
16
Upper Surface
Lower Surface
Rib
Diagonal Rib
Upper Line Cascade
Middle Line Cascade
Lower Line Cascade
Risers
Vol 4 | Issue 1 |Jan - Feb 2019