Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 1: January 2014 | Page 45

“If you’re deathgripping the base tube,
you are throwing out
valuable information
about your wing and
the air you are in.”

I

first heard of PPF when I started flying with “Dangerous
Dave Gibson,” so I’ll give him credit him for originating
the term. Known by many other descriptions, albeit less
concise, PPF stands for Proper Prone Form.
In early hang gliding training, we learn how to control a glider
from the uprights. At the point when we begin taking higher,
longer flights, it becomes practical (for comfort mostly) to lie down
and fly “prone” above the base tube. We are taught how to transition down to the base tube as well as how to transition back to the
uprights. We learn how to get in and out of our harness. But PPF
seems to be something most of us learn over time, with experience,
more than through being given specific instruction.
In addition to being observant of individuals’ flying styles, I have
recently become a mentor for some pretty advanced pilots. And
I’ve discovered that “PPF” is something everyone can benefit from,
especially at the H3-and-up level. Proper prone form offers many
benefits, the most important being the ability to be more precise in
your inputs and to be able to conserve energy (which really helps on
long flights and many consecutive flying days).
A little history: Flying prone evolved out of the need to improve
performance. A prone body presents less surface area to the wind
than does a seated body. Proper prone form maximizes the perfor-

by

R YA N V OIG H T

PREVIOUS From this angle we can see Dave is a
master of the light grip, and is pulling IN while making
contact only with the front of the base tube | photo by
Ryan Voight.

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

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