vleisie

The Conquest (from PISA?) also used to open pretty hard, if I remember correctly. Out of curiosity, why were you told to replace the Conquest?

Another paragliding company in the mix, Nervures 'Swoop': http://www.nervures.co.uk/swoop.php

This is the friendliest DZ I have been to in Southern Africa.

The usual suspects: Cessna 182/185/206/210 Caravan/Grand Caravan Porter King Air DC3 C47-TP Islander Casa 212 Casa 235 LET 410 C-130 Helicopters: Aerospatiale Puma MIL Mi-8 Bell Jet Ranger Microlight: Windlass Trike Oddball: ATL-98 Carvair

I have the same problem. I'm running NT. Another frustrating thing is that JPGs embedded in html emails get converted to BMPs when I send them.

Have a look at the clips on http://www.beyondgravity.com/NET/main.htm

Thank you. It is only a DHV1/2, but it has flown many km cross country. I will be upgrading soon.

Mine is a nickname I got while at university. It is Afrikaans and the pronunciation is something like flay-see. It is short for vleisbom (meat bomb).

I saw a video of Dale Stuart doing freestyle to 'It's a kind of magic' by Queen. I remember wondering how anyone could be smiling while in freefall. That inspired me to start.

Vet paddas en boerewors...

It's not really that bad and she actually enjoys it! They see things every week that people in private practice will see maybe once a year.

My wife works at Chris Hani - Baragwanath in Soweto, the infection rate in the burns unit is 30%. Burn injuries occur pretty randomly so it gives a good estimate of the rate for the general population.

You have only got kak right.

Hierdie ou is in Engeland, gebruik hulle nog Fahrenheit? Die hele plek brand seker weer af daar by julle?

Ek het al die moeite gedoen om weer te gaan registreer om te stem, maar ek is in Namibië op 14 April! Ek score darem 'n ekstra dag verlof. In die kaap is die weer elke dag crap, in Gauteng net op die naweke.

On SL progression I found that the first couple of free fall jumps (around jump #10-15) were the worst. After the first unpoised exit things started getting better.

It is also bad luck to break a brake line when you flare, making it hard to land with flair.

Do it! It is a brilliant sport, completely different from skydiving and satisfying in a very different way. Don't be fooled by the lazy beach soaring that you might have seen, thermal flying and big cross countries is what paragliding is about. But if you need more persuasion, go for a tandem flight on a good thermic day to see for yourself. If you go for the training, remember that you will probably start off on the paragliding equivalent of a student skydiving canopy. You'll be disappointed with the performance and handling, but it gets better eventually. Let us know how it turns out. Marcel

Last year a team of seven paraglider pilots top landed on Mont Blanc for the first time. The story is on the Cross Country Magazine website if you are interested. Marcel

If the run-in is directly over the landing area, have the first jumpers exit only once the chopper has flown past the DZ. If they exit before reaching the DZ, they will fly their canopies back to the DZ on the same track as the chopper, putting them in conflict with jumpers exiting later. It is something to be aware of when the run-in is not much faster than canopy speed. Have fun.

Yes I do both, but I started paragliding after I had about 200 jumps. I should actually rephrase what I said about safety. Again PG can be as safe or as dangerous as you want to make it. If you choose to fly paragliders in strong thermic conditions you will probably have an accident sometime during your career. Paragliding canopies can colapse in turbulance. If you get a big collapse too low to fix or throw your reserve bad things will happen. Skydiving will teach you basic canopy skills which will give you a big advantage when moving to PGs. More importantly, it will teach you how to control your fear, allowing you to be more aware of your environment and make good decisions quickly under pressure. Marcel

Paragliding and Skydiving are both very special sports in their own very different ways. To say which is best is impossible! Let me clear up some misconceptions about paragliding that may not be that obvious: -Most Paragliding records are flown from winch launches. (The current world record is over 260 miles) You don't need a mountain. -PG can be as docile or as exciting as you want to make it. You can spend hours ridge soaring at the beach in perfectly smooth air or you can climb to 18 000 ft in 2000 ft/minute thermals. Paragliders can be spiraled, stalled, spun tumbled and looped. -More often than not you will be flying with friends, thermalling wingtip to wingtip, but you will also find yourself sitting alone at 10 000 ft with only the wind whistling through your lines. -Skydiving is safer than PG. If at all possible do both! But realistically, if you have to choose start with skydiving. It will change your life and eventually make you a better paraglider pilot! Marcel

Last night I dreamed I was at the WFFC, the only aircraft there was a Cessna Caravan.

As far as I know, the first guy to do a 'McConkey' was a Czech paraglider pilot & designer called Ondrej Dupal (using a paraglider). A basejumper named McConkey saw the pictures, posted them on the base forum and the rest is history. Can anyone correct me on this?

Here are some of my favorites in order of preference: paragliding waterskiing rock climbing mountain biking