Airmanship and the glide cone

Brief every flight, keep a real lookout, know where you are and how high, and always keep a landing field you can reach inside your glide cone, changing the plan early when it stops working.

In this lesson you will

On your first high flight the radio crackles, the landing field (LZ) looks tiny, and there is suddenly a lot to think about. Skill alone doesn’t keep pilots safe. The ones who stay safe planned the flight on the ground, looked around before every turn and noticed early when the plan stopped working.

That is airmanship, and it matters most where accidents start: most landing accidents begin with a poor or late plan, not at touchdown¹.

Brief the flight

Every training flight is planned before launch. You look at the site, the conditions and yourself, then state your plan: the path you will fly, the areas to avoid because of the wind, and the obstacles to keep clear of².

Briefing your flight

Say the plan in one sentence. Where will you fly, and what will you practise?
Cue You can point to every part of it from launch.
Why If you can say it, you will notice when you stray from it.
Find the landing field and the place where you will lose height before the approach.
Cue From launch you can point to it, beside or upwind of the field and never over the final approach, or wherever the site’s pattern puts it.
Why The field stays clear for landing traffic, and you judge your height better from the side³⁴.
Pick an alternative field, and the point where you would switch to it.
Cue A landmark or a height agreed with your instructor.
Why Deciding on the ground is easier than deciding low in the air.
Read the wind at launch and at the landing field.
Cue Socks, streamers, trees, smoke and water, which may not agree.
Why Launch and landing can have different wind directions⁵.
Check the traffic and the site’s rules.
Cue Who is flying, who is about to launch, and which landing pattern (circuit, in the UK) the site uses.
Why Landing patterns are site-specific and must be followed⁶.
Agree the radio plan, including what to do if the radio fails.
Cue A radio check with your instructor before you clip in.
Why Radios fail; APPI, for example, teaches every student a simple procedure for it⁷.

At a site that is new to you, get a site briefing from the local club or local pilots first⁸.

Lookout

Lookout is part of every manoeuvre: a look around before you inflate, a traffic check once airborne, and a check that the air is clear before every turn⁹. The BHPA teaches a sector scan: each part of the sky in turn, including above and behind, for about 3–4 s each¹⁰.

A wing on a collision course seems to stand still in your view; it just grows bigger¹⁰. Your eye is drawn to movement, and a converging wing has none, so scan deliberately.

Mid-air collisions are among the most dangerous events in paragliding. Keep a generous separation, allow for other pilots’ mistakes and sudden climbs or sinks, and leave when it gets busy: the DHV’s rule of thumb is three wings plus you¹¹. BHPA investigators have never found a mid-air collision that was the fault of only one pilot¹¹. If the air is too crowded for you, land¹⁰. Right of way covers who gives way.

Height and position

Knowing where you are, how high, and where the wind is taking you is your situational awareness.

Your eyes are the best glide computer you carry. The point on the ground that stays still in your view, the still point, is where your present glide will arrive; points that rise in your view are out of reach, and points that slide down towards you will be overflown¹². To hold a straight line, keep two landmarks ahead lined up¹³. What changes your glide has the details.

Early exercises are flown close to the landing field and into wind, so you cannot drift out of its reach; 360° turns and slow flight need extra height and distance from terrain¹⁴. USHPA’s P2 (Novice) limits also require that you can always see the landing field¹⁵.

The glide cone

From any height, the places you can glide to form a cone beneath you: your glide cone. In still air its reach is your height times your glide ratio. One maker gives about 8.5:1 for its school wing¹⁶, and real glides are usually worse¹⁷: at best, 200 m655 ft of height reaches about 1.7 km1.1 mi in still air.

Wind tilts the cone. Your groundspeed into wind is your airspeed minus the wind¹⁸. With a trim speed of about 37 km/h23 mph¹⁹, a headwind of 20 km/h12 mph cuts that 1.7 km1.1 mi to under 0.8 km0.5 mi, while downwind the same height takes you much further. Sinking air shrinks the cone in every direction.

Reach alone is not enough: arrive at the field high enough, upwind and to the side of it, to fly a proper approach⁴. That spare height is your safety height; your instructor sets it for each site.

Figure: The shaded wedge is the air you can reach while keeping your safety height. Here a light headwind puts the field out of reach, but not the alternative. The safety height shown is only an example; your instructor sets the real one.

The shaded wedge is the air you can reach while keeping your safety height. Here a light headwind puts the field out of reach, but not the alternative. The safety height shown is only an example; your instructor sets the real one.

Keep the landing field and an alternative inside your cone at all times. As soon as the main field drifts towards the edge of the cone, the alternative is your plan.

Upwind, and out of the lee

Get out to the landing field early, then fly your exercises and lose height beside or upwind of it. From there the wind helps you back to the field; from downwind of it you must fight the wind, and every metre costs more height. When the wind is stronger than your airspeed, you go backwards¹⁸.

Stay out of the lee. Behind hills and big obstacles the air sinks and tumbles, pushing you towards the ground²⁰, so never fly behind the crest²¹. Keep your distance from terrain too: the DHV’s rule is at least 50 m165 ft from the slope where possible, because even a docile wing can lose 20–40 m65–130 ft in a big disturbance²². See Rotor, venturi and compression.

When the plan stops working

Accidents usually grow from small problems piling up, not one big error²³. The trap is plan continuation bias, fixing on the original goal with no alternative considered²⁴.

You notice	Do this
The still point stays short of the field	Turn for the alternative now
A bigger crab angle and slower progress into wind	Head back towards the field and land early²⁵¹⁸
Too many wings around you	Leave the area, or land¹⁰
Lift stronger than you are cleared for	Fly straight through it and land²⁶
Silence on the radio	Fly your agreed radio-failure plan
A doubt about any of it	Treat the doubt as a no, as pilots do on launch²⁷

If you land elsewhere, land into wind in the biggest clear field you can reach with height for a planned approach. Don’t brake to stretch a glide into wind; it makes you land shorter (see the polar).

Common mistake Turning without looking

Symptom: Halfway through a turn another wing fills your view, much closer than you expected.
Cause: Your eyes were on the ground, the target or your instruments.
Fix: Look in the new direction and over your shoulder, clear the space, then turn. Between turns, keep scanning every sector¹⁰.

Common mistake Drifting downwind of the field

Symptom: On the way back the ground hardly moves, and the field rises in your view.
Cause: Turns and exercises flown downwind of the field, often in wind that is stronger higher up.
Fix: Work upwind and close to the field, and head back early¹⁴.

Common mistake Pressing on with the plan

Symptom: You keep aiming for the main field although the still point stays short of it.
Cause: The plan feels like a promise, and landing elsewhere feels like failing.
Fix: Agree a switch point with your instructor before launch, and use it.

Instructor's note The alternative field is part of the plan

Students treat the alternative field as a failure; I treat it as airmanship. On every site briefing, ask where pilots land when they can’t make the field, and look at it from launch. And ask your instructor what to do if a radio instruction ever seems obviously wrong; APPI briefings cover exactly that⁷.

Standards differ Planning and staying in reach on early flights

Common ground: Every system expects a briefed plan, a lookout before every turn and a landing field you can always reach²⁹¹⁴.

USHPA (USA): Every witnessed P2 flight is planned by the pilot and discussed with the instructor²⁸. P2 (Novice) limits require visual contact with the landing field; for first flights USHPA recommends a straight path from launch to landing with no obstructions within 60° either side¹⁵.
BHPA (UK): Schools brief students before and after every flight²⁹. Scan each sector for 3–4 s, conform to any established pattern near launch and landing, and land if it is too crowded¹⁰. A Club Pilot’s local flights normally stay within sight of a landing field³⁰.
APPI (international): A look around before inflating, a traffic check once airborne and before each turn⁹. If the radio fails, forget accuracy, take the widest place free of obstacles and land into wind⁷.
FAI/CIVL SafePro (international reference): Second-stage students fly close to the landing field and into wind so they cannot drift out of reach; turns, downwind flight and slow flight near the ground are avoided¹⁴.

Summarised from each body’s published material, which changes over time. Check the current official documents and follow your school.

Questions students ask

My radio has gone quiet. What now?

Fly the plan you agreed for exactly this. Without one, use APPI’s procedure, forget accuracy, choose the widest place free of obstacles and land into wind⁷.

Do I need an instrument to judge my glide?

No. The still point works on every flight¹². Instruments help later, used without losing your lookout; the BHPA teaches that after Club Pilot³¹.

Is landing in the alternative field a failure?

No. It is the plan working. An early, calm switch beats a late, brave one every time.

Key points

Brief every flight: plan, landing field, alternative, wind, traffic and the radio plan.
Look properly before every turn and keep scanning; leave or land when it gets crowded.
The still point shows where your glide arrives. Points rising in your view are out of reach.
Keep the landing field and an alternative inside your glide cone, with height for the approach. A headwind shrinks the cone.
Stay upwind of the field, away from terrain and out of the lee.
Change the plan early, while you still have height to choose.

Ground to Solo is a study aid. Paragliding is learned in person with a qualified instructor at a recognised school; nothing here certifies you to fly.