Paragliding is currently the most simple and light aircraft in the flying sports discipline, and derived from controllable parachutes. The paraglider, like all other aircraft instruments with or without engine, need an external force to win over the power of resistance and to stay aloft.  During the simple gliding flight in calm airs, the wing loses altitude while dropping to an inclined level and this enables it to use a component of the weight force, an external force, like the driving power in the same direction and opposed to the power of resistance. In order to extend the pleasure of flying, the pilot has to learn how to best use the ascending air currents of nature, otherwise he is bound to slowly lose altitude.  The flight with ascending air currents is divided into two categories, depending on the origin of the ascending air current:  the thermal flight makes use of the upward currents created by the warming of the air masses; on the other hand, the dynamic flight uses the upward currents created when wind encounters a an opportunely formed obstacle, like a ridge in the landscape.

HISTORY OF THE PARAGLIDER
The history of the paraglider starts in 1965 with Dave Barish’s invention of the ‘Sailwing’. Barish called this new discipline ‘slope soaring’. Parallel to this invention, Domina Jalbert created a parachute that used sectioned cells instead of the parabolic parachute: the so called ‘parafoil’. In 1966 and 1968, Dave Barish and Dan Poynter performed numerous demonstrations of slope soaring on a ski-jump. And many alpinists started to be interested in this sports discipline as it offered a fast and efficient– and of course enjoyable – way to descend after having climbed a mountain. In 1978, three French parachutists (Jean Claude Bétemps, Gérard Bosson and André Bohn) jumped with their rectangular parachutes from the mountain Pertuiset, close to Mieussy, in Haute Savoye in France.  They were the very first of numerous parachutists to follow and who started to take an interest in slope soaring. Laurent de Kalbermatten invented in 1985 the so called ‘Randonneuse’, the first parachute which was specifically designed for the flight. It represented a more efficient parachute, simpler to inflate and with higher performances compared to other parachutes of that time. The paraglider then became subject to many developments with respect to material and construction techniques and evolved to a separate sports discipline on its own. The first paragliding world championship took place in 1987 in Verbier, whereas the first world championship of air acrobatics took place in August 2006 in Villeneuve.  Due to the constant further development, it is difficult to state which of the many models represent a true prototype. At the moment, the PSYCHO Hammer EXTREM from a small Austrian company might be the popular one.

EQUIPMENT FOR THE PARAGLIDER
The necessary equipment for flying with a paraglider comprises the wing (also called ‘canopy’ by paragliders), below which the pilot seat is suspended in a harness by a network of lines.  The pilot steers the flight through two controls: the aerodynamic brakes. All wings have a feature to increase and adjust speed which is done through a kind of foot control, the so called ‘speed bar’, connecting to the leading edge of the paraglider wing. This control is used to increase speed or to provide higher efficiency, and depending on the aero logical conditions (better ‘penetration’ of the wing profile to the wind, in case it becomes necessary to increase the speed with strong wind or counter wind). So with the speed bar, the wing’s angle of attack is altered which leads to an increase of speed. It is strange that the Italian law does not oblige paragliders to have a reserve parachute: But nonetheless, all of the participants take with them these emergency parachutes which are usually integrated in the pilot seat. These ‘canopy’ parachutes can be pulled out through a handle.

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