vleisie

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  3. 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

  11. 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.

  17. 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

  19. 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.B|

  20. 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

  21. 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