ground handling

[phillip oakley]

could you tell me whether you can buy a wing that's suits ground handling and flying. are they two different wings?

 

[Capotec2015]

Hi Philip,

There seems to be a couple of lines of thought on this subject. Yes, you can buy smaller wings for the purposes of ground handling only -the Dudek Marlin for example is one such wing. You can also buy an old wing (a non flyable wing -some people have done that) however a lot of pilots say to ground handle the wing you will be flying.

I had a shot of the Dudek Marlin a couple of years ago out of curiosity and noticed that everything happens faster with it but decided to go back to my main wing which is a Roadster 2 and I've been there ever since.  So for me personally, I would ground handle with the wing that I am going to fly. So in answer to your question, in my case its not two different wings but there may be some people who have a wing they fly -and another for GH. 

[AndyB]

The tiny wings are great for ground handling on windy days, when you could not fly. Gets you used to control.

On a day with wind similar to that when you would fly, I like to use the wing I will fly as this means you know exactly how it will behave.

[DavidG4]

Im glad someone has answered this as I didn't want to be first .  As a paraglider pilot we were trained that using ground handling wings (tea bags some called them because they were old and porous) is a bad idea because IF it suddenly lifts you up you're flying, and you're flying a teabag so you're in big trouble.  So we were taught always and only ground handle the wing you'll know will fly.

 

I don't know whether a ppg wing will fly without a motor under it though.  Just my pennyworth.

 

As an aside I did ask whether I should get gh practice using my pg wing and Simon advised against it because it will be different from my future ppg wing so teach me bad habits.  Fair enough.

 

David

[benraven]

If you're new to Paramotoring it's best to practice initial ground handling with a specific ground handling wing - training schools have loads of these things for this purpose. I say this because in your first few days of ground handling you'll likely be flipping the wing upside down and slamming the nose into the ground - this can damage the spars. The last thing you want to do with your flying wing. Older wings are also harder to ground handle than a new crispy wing so if you can get control of an old one you'll have very little problem with a new one. 

However, if you've done you're first flight or first few flights on the school wing and you're comfortable with ground handling the wing, i'd recommend ground handling with your flying wing. My wing is a different beast to ground handle to my school's wing and requires extra technique to handle correctly. It's super important to know how your wing will react on launch, how to recover if a side dips e.t.c... 

If you're an experienced pilot, I see very little benefit in getting a ground handling wing. Logically ground handling helps perfect wing handling & technique - and wings behave differently. When I bought my wing the first thing I did was ground handle it for a day to get used to it before thinking about getting a motor involved. If you're transitioning up a tier in terms of the 'level' of your wing its still going to be best to ground handle that way before you think about taking it up. 

[phillip oakley]

Thanks Guys 

great advise from all of you.

I'm so impressed with the response to any questions. I can feel already that this sport is for me. I look forward to coming home from work and researcing the subject and gaining more knowledge.

thanks you all