Ever a good idea to pull on the A risers to kill a wing after landing?

[fuzzybabybunny]

So I've been doing some ground handling recently in higher wind conditions. I bring the wing down by turning into reverse, burying the brakes, and running towards the glider. The problem is that the wind is so strong that the leading edge cells continue to take on air, inflating, and then I'm stuck basically chasing after the wing as it goes downwind, cycling between me running and collapsing it and taking a brake wrap, re-inflating from the wind, me running and collapsing it again, etc. 

 

So what I experimented with was just initiating a full frontal collapse by yanking on the A's. Seems to work immediately and very effectively. The wing immediately loses all lift and collapses on itself. The leading edge gets buried under the glider making re-inflating almost impossible. Sure, it's definitely messier, but at least I don't have the risk of the wing re-inflating (possibly explosively) in high wind and dragging me off my feet.

 

Is this actually a valid technique to kill the wing in high wind? I figure that, especially if I have a heavy/expensive paramotor on my back, the moment I touch ground in high winds I will want to *kill* the wing as quickly as possible in such a way that it won't re-inflate on its own.

Edited June 8, 2016 by fuzzybabybunny

[andre_74]

I'm fairly new to Paramotoring, but I have been skydiving for over 15 years and the wings are fairly similar in design and construction. I have seen skydivers who repeatedly 'kill' the wing on landing using this method and it has lead to a failure in the stitching on the cell compartments within the wing. What happens is, as the nose of the wing hits the ground, a shockwave of pressure is sent through the wing which is obviously absorbed by the fabric/stitching within the wing (because the nose is hitting the ground and the air obviously cannot escape through the nose at this point). Eventually, the stitching could fail from repeatedly 'landing' the wing like this  

As I said, fairly new to PPG, so I'll let someone more experienced answer as to whether an A-riser collapse on landing causes any other issues specific to Paramotoring. However, always avoid 'crashing' the wing into the ground nose first (not saying you are) as it will eventually damage the wing.

[fuzzybabybunny]

I know what you're talking about but that's not what I'm doing. I'm not letting the wing shoot past me and nosedive into the ground whilst still inflated. 

I yank on the A risers which causes a complete frontal collapse of the wing. By the time the wing falls to the ground it is already completely deflated.

[andre_74]

Cool. As I said, I didn't think you would be doing that. Just wanted to add the above in case anyone else misunderstood and was thinking that was what you were doing. 

[admin (Simon W)]

It sounds to me as though your trying to ground handle in winds that are too strong for the wing. 

You will not have this issue in the wind level suggested by the manufacturer. If you do there is a problem with the wing set up. 

SW

[fuzzybabybunny]

21 hours ago, admin (Simon W) said:

It sounds to me as though your trying to ground handle in winds that are too strong for the wing. 

You will not have this issue in the wind level suggested by the manufacturer. If you do there is a problem with the wing set up. 

SW

I was thinking that it would be a useful skill should the wind grow stronger while I'm in the middle of flying. There's a video on YouTube of a PPG guy going up for a fly and then the wind picks up. Not only does he have a hard time losing altitude and making headway against the wind, when he does touch down he gets blown off his feet and, because the wing keeps on inflating even though he's burying the brakes, gets dragged along the ground until he's able to wrap the brakes 7-or-so times.

 

I was thinking that if you just yank on the A's to induce a full frontal collapse when you've just landed it would kill the wing outright and prevent you from getting dragged.

[admin (Simon W)]

A Paraglider getting caught out in the same way would use the B lines or the C lines which is very effective indeed and safer than loading the A's.  

For as long as you have the A lines in your hand in strong winds you risk re-inflation. 

SW

[nforster]

You can kill a wing pulling on the A risers esp if landing in strong wind but there is a risk it will re inflate and pull you. It is safer to practice using the rear risers C or D depending on your riser layout, pulling these will de power and kill the wing with less tendency for it to lift you like it would if just used the brakes. See video of Mike Kung on you tube

[aljken]

Pullling on an A is a recognised technique if you are a professional. I have seen videos of Chrigel Maurer yanking down on 1 A in super high winds on alpine slopes, causing an asymmetric collapse and the wing to spin into the ground.

There is no way I would do this, as you risk reinflating the wing, and you have to be super quick at running with the wing too. Also with a reflex wing the amount of force required would be much greater.

 

Pull on the back risers like nforster suggests, this produces way less lift than applying brakes.