Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 3: March 2014 | Page 57

check to see if the control was correct after the speed change takes hold
(the delay mentioned above). But the
problem is, once our speed settles down
we may find we haven’t quite got it right,
so another little adjustment may be
required. During this whole process, the
air movement will often have changed.
So I find it best to throw the airspeed
out of the equation entirely. To do this,
I came up with a new concept I call
positions-to-fly.
I developed this concept in the midnineties and as luck would have it, I met
Dr. MacCready a year or two later when
he gave a talk on creativity at a university near me. After the talk I spoke to
him about positions-to-fly and he was
intrigued by the idea (he thought it creative). By then, I believe he wasn’t flying
sailplanes, so I doubt if he ever tried
it. But I did, and now I mostly glide
with positions-to-fly as my main guide.
Here’s how it works: All you need to
know is what control position relates to
what airspeed. For example, on a hang
glider, basetube at your chest may relate
to 28 mph. For a paraglider hands at the
shoulder may be 19 mph (or whatever
the speed you find on your indicator).
You should mark these speeds on your
instrument (use tape), putting the position next to the related airspeed. Of
course, there is an infinite number of
airspeeds you can fly between stall and
maximum speed, an thus more positions than in the Kama Sutra, but you
only need a few, say five, to deal with the
range from best glide (when in zero sink
or lift) to maximum speed. Then, when
your instrument speed-to-fly indicator
gives you its opinion it will point to the
position to put the control (along with
its normal airspeed indication). Instead
of paying attention to the suggested airspeed you simply put the control where
it says. No need to interpret airspeed
and look for that airspeed on the instrument as you make a control adjustment.
My book Performance Flying provides

more details.
The above method lets you spend
more time looking around and ahead,
which—it bears repeating—is where
your focus should be. With a little practice you are thinking control position,
not airspeed, except perhaps on landing.
I find I am automatically setting my
position-to-fly when I go through different degrees of life and sink. It’s easier,
more direct and even more accurate
than trying to chase a specific airspeed.
After all these years I really don’t need
my control positions taped on my
instrument—I feel the right position. I
can always check if I want by noting if
my instrument says I have matched the
right airspeed. It rarely reprimands me.
Practice makes it come naturally.
I often thought a wry T-shirt would
be one with the positions-to-fly marked
on it. Of course, it would have to be specific to the body types for accuracy, but
accuracy is only required in bowling,
darts and quoits, right?

Summary of the main ideas:
1. Learn and understand speed-to-fly