Paragliding in strong thermals | Face down spiral | Full asymmetric collapse | 7000 feet at Palomar

[@domschimicmic]

Maybe get a A Wing.... Noob

[@Andrey-nh4mj]

The glider did exactly what the pilot asked!

[@thewinnemuccaparaglider9556]

I want to tell you I think this is one of the best videos for paragliders to watch. I never knew a thermal could spit you out so violently. Thanks for showing that. There are other behaviors we can watch the thermal do to you as well. It dropped you like a rock. Great educational video. Good job!

[@callanrdaniel]

Thanks for sharing your mistakes, dude! Very good learning material. We need more people like this, with less ego in the sport!

[@joshmedina5471]

That beyond intense! Way to keep your cool man! Well done!

[@PaulDowsettUK]

You often don't turn 360s in strongish lift, which is making it more difficult. Flying through lift is like going over the humps on a roller coaster - you're just there for the ride and all you can do is hang on (and dampen the pitches). If you turn in them, the wing will be more pressurised and you'll have more control. Caveat - obviously, do figure-of-eights until you're well clear of the ridge.

[@stefankoch8283]

year - but you managed it well. I a similar situation last week I endet up in a twistet spiral and throw the reserve to land in pretty alpine terrain, but, knocking on wood, no injuries. Next week I booked an SIV and hope to do better next time...

[@felix_crts]

If you mean mentally yeah he handled it like a boss, if you talk about piloting it could be dangerous for new pilot to think this is a good exemple of reaction to the situation. I'm pretty sure that not touching the brake at all would have done a better job. He didn't necessarly had a "too spicy" wing for his level but needed a proper SIV training

[@Eric_Karnezis]

probably my 20th time watching this video and it's still one of my favorites! never gets old!! Haha

[@adamedgar5765]

Hi Rob, great video and i am glad that you are willing to share your experience and take naysayers comments on the cheek. There is always a lot of advice available and in reading between the lines on most of the comments below you have your answers... Just a little foreword...not all high end b's are too spicy. Most are meant to self recover however i think the issue here is not so much the wing, but your inputs made it very difficult for the wing to self recover sufficiently enough to avoid further escalation of the problem throughout this incident (for example wrong weightshift, wrong brake input, turning back into the shitfight, not trying to maintain straight and level at the earliest opportunity after each out of control event etc). I have seen En A wings do almost exactly the same thing when put into recoverable situations by pilots and but then kept in the wrong configuration by incorrect inputs. 1. a little too much brake when shit hits the fan can be a double edge sword as it prevents the glider from being able to get its trim speed back again. If you then encounter more turbulence during the same manouvre, the second time round is worse, then third worse again, then full stall/riser twist/disaster. You always need to ensure that hands go back up to a position where you feel pressure but are not slowing wing down. A lot of low hour pilots will hang off the brakes in unbalanced scenarios...in my view it would be better to brake the golden rule and "hang off the risers" to regain your balance, if you must hang on at all! 2. The sudden increase in rotation was right on the borderline spiral sat. The difference between the two in terms of brake positions is that getting into a sat is achieved by applying more brake to the lower wing tip with opposite weightshift at just the right time, thus dragging that tip above the horizon and with it comes a sudden increase in rotation speed. If you experience this then the exit is to ease off a bit on that tip whilst applying a proportionate amount of opposite brake exiting back into a spiral then normal spiral exit procedure back to level flight. I wont go into this as there are a number of different spiral exit options (ie the sudden stop big swing through, gradually reducing spirals, spiral/swing through/wing over/straight and level) I have heard about this site being dangerous...this video clearly illustrates just how agro it can be. I would hate to fly my competition wing there...looks like a pretty nasty site to fly with a lot of very complex terrain features below. I am particularly interested in the cloud formation in sky above you...quite whispy.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Adam Edgar well said! Best comment yet! Thanks you for that! You are the reason I posted this and take it up side the head. There's a troll under every bridge, but if you can learn one thing, it's worth crossing the bridge. Have a great day.

[@jesse2006]

The day I had a terrible collapse had whispy clouds, something to take note of, also I got tossed around on launch but wanted to fly so badly that day. 2 signs I won't ignore again.

[@paraglidingtalk]

jesse2006 great info! Thanks for the comment.

[@slimking]

I think this is on purpose for the views. You can literally see him pulling spins for no reason. Pulling and holding the spiral, pulling a late wing over, and pumping the second spiral for no reason. But it looks like he succeed in getting views so I guess it worked out. To the newbies, if you literally leave the commands up, nothing would have happened to the glider (but there are time when your wing will collapse or stall, but this one is certainly just pilot induced)

[@SuperCodeL]

Hands up man, hands up!

[@paraglidingtalk]

SuperCodeL too late. Lol

[@577buttfan]

What about if the wing is smackin ya in the face?

[@paraglidingtalk]

you got to punch that wing back. Bob and weave.

[@gregoiremichiels5064]

Man, you really need to learn from a SIV course! It was a simple collapse and then it was due to your actions on the brakes ... You need to learn how to exit a 360 spiral ... how to manage a collapse, how to stall, how to fly reverse and how to go out ... but first when to brake and when not to brake (it was a dynamic full stall). With this knowledge it is possible to be much more relaxed mentally and on the brakes. Pargliding is a long way, fly safe. (english is no my language)

[@paraglidingtalk]

Thanks for your comment. I have not experienced a large collapse like this one yet. What I learned from this after going over the video with my instructor was that I was too heavy on the brakes, and I needed to let the wing fly. After flying in to some very turbulent, and ratty wind, I realized that I had reached a level of wind shear. My focus was to keep the wing open, and loose some altitude. The problem was I have never been in a spiral, so I was giving the wrong inputs. Then I tried to exit the spiral with too much energy. Lesson learned. Let the wing fly, and bleed off some energy before exiting a spiral.

[@Uni1Lab]

I agree with Grégoire. You need SIV to train yourself with asymetric collapses and stall. Enjoy!

[@airiemerlin123]

SIV should be done after one has learned to fly the glider actively. Robert has yet to get there. The issue here is the hero attitude (flying a high end B glider on a big day, well above pilot's ability and skill) and the intermediate syndrome where the pilot thinks he's invincible. One step at the time Robert, progression in paragliding is a process. Going flying on big days without appropriate active flying skills (as shown in the video) can result in proper spanking. Luckily you got spanked and humbled at altitude.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Thanks for stoping by and watching. This is not a case of intermediate syndrome. This is a case of I am learning. At this point I had never had a collapse of this size. I was next to a giant thermal and a strong one at that. I was flying with my instructor, he knows my abilities better than I know. And for the record he is one of the best in the world. I am surrounded by excellent pilots who are helping me every step of the way. The reason that I haven't done any clinics yet is because I can't afford to spend the money or take the time off work. In the meantime, I am learning every time I go out. I have documented my progress from the very first flight on youtube. I have had some very interesting experiences along the way. I took the very dangerous, self taught route. I don't think it is a good idea, but that is the road I chose. On this day, I experienced my highest flight. The funny thing is the reports did not line up with the strength of the day. We were all a little shocked at how good a day that turned out. The thermals were strong, the lift was wide and predictable. The big mistake I made was underestimating the wind sheer that was at the 7k altitude. I was so glad to get in the biggest thermal I had ever been in that I forgot about the possibility of strong turbulence and chaos at 7k. Everyone who got up to 7k had the same experience of collapses and sketchy flying. I just happened to be a little green when I took this collapse. Fact is, I figured it out after the second spiral and then I was good to go. I don't think I am invisible, I was humbled this day and I needed it. I will learn from this and the reason that I posted this is because I am hoping that others can learn from my mistakes and put another tool in the bag. I have gone over this video extensively with my instructor and many other incredible pilots. Thanks for your comment.

[@airiemerlin123]

Mate, have a look at this video in a couple of years with a bit of experience under your belt and then tell me whether your attitude, your live video narrating (when you should've been flying) coupled with the apparent lack of basic glider handling skills (like exiting a spiral), the lack of active piloting skills topped up by overreacting, isn't a text book example of the intermediate syndrome. I'm glad you had the height to come out of the self induced mess unscathed. Wish you many fun flight and safe landings.

[@GetiG]

"Hang on to your hats kids" the way you said that was so funny it had me laughing good😂 Nice job staying calm in that crazy rough air, I would have been scared shitless

[@paraglidingtalk]

Geti G can you email me. I am going to do some live streaming stuff and want to invite you on stream. It will be in the near future.

[@GetiG]

Dude that sounds so cool I'm definitely keen! I think you might know him already but it would be cool if you could also get Max Martini on aswell he is quite active on youtube and knows alot about acro & paragliding in general. I can advertise the stream on my channel somehow? I'll send ya an email now

[@paraglidingtalk]

Geti G funny you say that because we are talking on email right now. Lol

[@GetiG]

Haha that's cool, I saw that he commented on one of your videos and I know him a little bit that's why I mentioned him

[@olivergrayread]

15:17 'Lord have mercy on my soul!' as a novice pilot this is interesting video to watch, thanks for uploading. I'm nowhere near experienced to comment on the actual flying but i thought the comment criticising your (amusing) vocalising commentary during those hairy tumbles was unfair. Some people talk as an instinctive way of calming and keeping control of their nerves as I think you do, it doesn't mean your not concentrating.

[@russellwilson5246]

high syrus (front coming)..air not clear..no cumulus..dosent look like a fun day ..looks like a dust devil day...these scares build up and you end up with pts instead of having fun...you found a sheer hey? i think maybe you did too....you would have lost a lot of hight....dont be afraid to get a dosile wing..i read in the coments people saying silly things like noob and infering pilot eror....looks to me like the site/type of location/arid desert could be a hand full for any one.im over 1200 hours and i fly low B and A and i would not have flown that day.i think its a very good video showing what can happen in real conditions...that was not a controlled colaps in still air for a EN certification...that was moltipul events and it lasted for a long time.i was surprised to learn the other day some of the new A wings have over 10 to 1 in glide..i can not see why any one would fly any thing other than an A now days.when shit hits the fan and it will at some point why not have a wing thats going to try help?.

[@Dromicete]

Nice fullstall at 15:44. Yeah, i would say the hands where a bit heavy :) Happy landings mate, take care.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Dromicete thanks for watching.

[@srd2010srd]

Yes, it is only your fault

[@autolode4215]

I thought you showed great restraint I'm sure I would have screamed a tapestry of profanity that would still be lingering in the skys over Palomar ! thanks for sharing

[@paraglidingtalk]

Auto Lode thanks for watching.

[@onfinalparagliding9554]

Big fan of the continuous narration!

[@paraglidingtalk]

Thanks for watching my friend. 👋🏻

[@onfinalparagliding9554]

@@paraglidingtalk have you considered including your tracklog/IGC file? Check out how I included it in a strong thermal @14:15 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmmvdqeIibCgotE

[@wiley0714]

I've only flown my paramotor for a year and since I live in Jersey is really not much around for any local SIV type training. But you kept your cool I admire you for that and hopefully down the road I can hook up with some guys to help me out and keep me alive. Thanks for sharing

[@paraglidingtalk]

RainbowSixThree Enlightened for sure! Let me know when you are here and we can definitely hook up.👍🏼

[@rickleaver4617]

Good vid & thanks for posting. You're flying a Rook2 which is a safe EN-B - as previous comments (and you) note, your inputs are excessive (a King would bite you) but an SIV will help in those situations. Looks to me like you hit an inversion (look at the colour change & see the horizon). Tip though - be sure to set a sink tone on your vario (I generally set mine at 0.3m/s climb and -1m/s sink). Also, you missed every turn in the thermal low down! If you're climb is increasing fly straight, but as soon as it levels/drops start banking - with your wing you can be really quite aggressive (30 degrees plus). And please - don't reverse direction in a thermal!! No prob here but in busier skies it's asking for trouble (not to say a lot of verbal abuse!). Anyway, thanks for sharing - a great vid for people learning and good work in the end recovering the wing. Looks a beautiful flying site too - where is it?

[@paraglidingtalk]

rick leaver this site is in Southern California close to San Diego. Thanks for the feedback. Make sure you watch the show on Thursday nights and say hi in the live chat. 🤙🏼

[@rickleaver4617]

And re-watching I agree it looks like you instigated the spiral (you looked liked you contemplated a SAT - def not a learner move..also - giveaway is the lack of input on the frontal afterwards :-) good vid though. And please don't teach people to '8' in an established climb...:-)

[@ChrisJewell7333]

Nice work getting out of that spiral it definitely was looking like it was gonna lock you in…😅

[@stefansoderback5074]

I think your theori is right, What goes up must come down.... Great film, I feel happy just looking.

[@Parahooners]

Brilliant ! Well played -

[@fun3721]

+Robert Michiels Just a couple of observations.... Right from the start, you are deep on the brakes. When circling in a thermal, I noticed you were deep on the brakes on the hand opposite to your turning direction. Secondly, there is no need to pump your brakes to turn. Just weight shift into your turns and progress into your turns than pump into them. In nice thermal just weight shifting will do with minimum use of brakes. AT 13:27 your vario is beeping but your left brake is too deep. You gotta be hands up in thermals with just minimum pressure on the brakes to feel the glider. At 15:14 when you enter the spiral, again your left brake is deep. You gotta ease it back and slow the spiral by using the right brakes. The glider recovers on its own but since you are deep on the right side at 15:28 you again enter a spiral to the right which you correct by pumping. Less input, the better gliders fly. Fly safe. Cheers.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Fun the best comment so far! Thank you for that.

[@fun3721]

+Robert Michiels I am glad you did well in the end and it was a happy ending!. Did you realize at anytime later when you watched the video that you stalled the left side for a moment at 15:43??? Then You went left hand up rapidly at this point and the left side dived forward at 15:47 almost leading you onto a kravat.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Yup. The only thing I was thinking at that time was "I want to keep the wing open." I couldn't feel the normal pressures on my brakes anymore. That was a 60 second learning experience. Glad I had more than 60 seconds of altitude.

[@fun3721]

+Robert Michiels Cheers! You did very well under the pressure not to panic. Wish you lots of happy and safe landings to you!

[@alltheboost5363]

That seemed really scary... glad you're still here to talk about it.

[@DJSemEvents]

Robert, this video is awesome... i was just searching for some videos and got to yours by luck... great video... hope to fly with you again soon !

[@paraglidingtalk]

Thanks homie! Can't wait to fly with you again soon.👍🏼

[@alexsakon]

The wing doesn’t spontaneously go into a spiral unless there’s a cravat. This was all caused by poor pilot input. Also, if you’re in a sink, don’t talk about it. Just hit speed bar and get out.

[@AnthonyVella]

“Have mercy on my soul” 🤣😂🤣😂

[@paraglidingtalk]

This is harassment*

[@huberthubert860]

I'm not familiar with Soaring or your sports, bur really enjoyed your adventure. Always wanted to do Paragliding or Soaring, but I live in a Region were there are no mountains, besides I m not owning a car, unemployed and poor. Therefore I am thankful to have a surrogate at least. Somewhat a second hand emotion, but Thank you!

[@gh3954]

Best flights are made in flatlands, you don't need mountain to soar

[@NourLababidi]

That was crazy but you had the breaks on your hand down thinking you don't want frontal collaps :) Watching it is easy but being there where you where is a lot of action :) Thanks for sharing!

[@safranpollen]

great clip. I think the first time you fall out at the leeside of that thermal, that is never nice:-) and the second time, at 7000 feet, you said the wind changed. So there are mostly heavy turbulences, for all wings. But great you stayed cool, thats very important, no over reactions, like you did, right reactions and of course a bit luck too.

[@brianspinniken7589]

Store you breaks and just let her fly that's what it is design to do. :)) Glad you are still here. Peace.

[@petern5565]

Love your video man, So honest!! it's worth a thousand videos of perfect flying. To your compliment:- you hit MAJOR SINKING AIR, The launch site was within range and you SUCCESSFULLY landed on your launch site AWESOME!!!. Option 2 would be to SAFELY land at the bottom of your hill if in range. Option 3 is to land anywhere you can SAFELY, LEARN from it and go "FLY ANOTHER DAY". I am subscribing to your videos. I would love for you to put your videos out to REAL EXPERIENCED pilots to show HOW NOT to get into situations and also how to DEAL with it when you are in them. They WILL respond because they LOVE the sport and in the case of TEST PILOTS for new wings have often put their life on the line to keep YOU safe. I like RUSSELL OGDON from OZONE but they ALL meet the standard for me and they can really give your site a LIFT.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Peter N thanks for subscribing to my channel. Check out my website www.paraglidingtalk.com I just finished it up for the most part today. Let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by. My goal is to help other pilots get better in the air.

[@erinchillmusic8930]

Love your attitude through the whole thing! Speed. Speed is your friend. Hands up, buddy, hands up! And one more thing, it's perfectly fine to fall into the collapesed side, give it a second for the wing to pick up speed in a dive and then AGRESSIVELY weight-shift to the open side with a good pump of the brake on the same (open) side - this technique re-opens the collapesed side in a hurry. If you have the extra altitude and maintaining direction of the flight is not a priority - this might be the fastest way to recover from a large asymmetric deflation. Do SIV to practice this. Thanks for sharing! Awesome video.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Good looking out homie!

[@lockhack]

This is the sort of reason that I hang glide and not paraglide. These collapsible wings scare me. Too many stories about wings collapsing too low to the ground to recover. Respect to you.

[@paraglidingtalk]

lockhack it happens.

[@petrucciMsk]

Fully collapsed wing can get you to the ground with an acceptable vertical speed like 5-7m/s, comparable to sport chutes of the past. Just prepare your legs and back for hard landing. But rotation is an enemy, pilot really must control it.

[@ClarkKent-kg6tl]

Got my heart pumping! Cool head under pressure

[@paraglidingtalk]

It was a pretty fun day. I just need to not be so heavy handed in my corrections. It could have went much worse. Glad my glider stayed open for me.

[@AdventureMarlon]

Hey Robert, I really like your videos and your comments! And I think you already know what your mistakes were, but I like the way you handle the trouble! I think the way you do a sport like this, is the way to have good and fast progression in your learning! But like you say, don´t have too much risk tolerance...I would really like to watch your videos in the future ;) And by the way, nice stall and spiral, this will be a experience that will maybe save your ass in the future when you got in trouble with less hight!

[@paraglidingtalk]

Marlon Jonat thanks for watching. I love this sport. There is nothing like it. I will keep them coming. I just need to figure out how to get off work earlier 😂. Since the time change it's hard to fly after work.

[@DansEscapades]

Nice flying mate! - iv got a few flights on here but nothing like that!

[@svensubunitnillson1568]

"Welcome to Palomar!!" so it's a thing? it works? hell ye wanna visit this place once

[@paraglidingtalk]

This is the video that made that saying. 😅

[@RunIntoTheSkyNonprofit]

What a ride

[@sandrainthesky1011]

That was a rush to watch. I have been there as well, it's a real ride for sure! SIV = good idea!

[@sandrainthesky1011]

I have since done an SIV and really, the results would have been pretty similar, less on the brakes perhaps, but way way less scary!

[@DavidHotz21]

Ifly a rook2 as well. Great Wing. Super surprised you hadn't done spirals at that point. How about wingovers ? Maybe STDs different in us. Fly safe.

[@paraglidingtalk]

It is a great wing. I am thinking about moving to a Q2. We will see. I had only done light spirals at that point. When this video was made I was a 50 hr pilot or something like that. I had no business flying in those conditions. Lesson learned. I have been working on wingovers and spirals at blossom when ever the conditions permit the altitude. Thanks for stopping by.

[@christophostrowski3382]

Wilde Ride Boiii... take it easy 4 the next time

[@Efntodd]

You sir a brave man. I shit my pants just watching that.

[@airman6113]

Perfect. The Flying looks like a SIV Fligh :))

[@paraglidingtalk]

The.Paraglider it was a little crazy😂

[@slodays1158]

Intense is an understatement!!!!

[@Cauzzie1]

Nice video! Pretty scary collapse, way to stay calm(ish)! I'm no expert but I found learning to kite really well in non-laminar air helped me a lot with managing your wing in the air and understanding what's happening so you can react instinctively in a collapse. Also, learning to spiral intentionally helped me understand how to manage the energy and builds confidence. What kind of camera did you use to film this? Looks great!

[@paraglidingtalk]

Thanks for the feed back. I use a GoPro Hero 4 with a wind slayer cover for the sound. I love to ground handle (I have about 30 hours on the books) This was a special case in my opinion. I hit some really nasty air. Everyone flying that day seemed to hit that wind shear at 7500 ft and had a story to tell when we got down. What you don't see in the video is the extremely strong thermal that I just came out of to get to the 7500 feet altitude where the shear was expected. My mistake was that after I fell out of that massive thermal, I turned back to find it again. There was a convergence over the mountain, I was really trying to go as high as I could go in it. I didn't factor in the wind shear. All in all it was the best thing that could have happened to me. It was like a little SIV over Palomar. LOL

[@577buttfan]

Im always kiting in heavy rotor here,i love doing it!!

[@MrHoshi90]

Hi, good to see that it has ended well! Mi point of wiew: (please don't take it as bad critique, but as an examination of the video) at 15:06 you are to heavy on the right brake and the wing was starting to stall (that C form of the wing) 15:12 when exuted the collapse, why do you start and hold a spiral to the left? 15:21 why do you exit a spiral with a loop? with a heavyly loaded wing no problem, but light loaded?.. It maybe had worked if you had braked earlyer to prevent the collapse ;) Like sayd in the comment you have then started (full of adrenaline I think) a spiral to the right and at 15:37 you have stopped the spiral waaay to fast, thats why you shoot straight up. Than you have controlled nice the diving of the wing with the right amount of brake input, but not released the brakes. 15:42 was a fullstall like in the SIV handbook ;) the exit timing was very well timed but you released the right side a little to slow and caused a spin to the right(15:47)... You than have stopped the dive resulting from the not flying wing quite well with the right amound of brake input. All in all WELL DONE!! :) The next goot thing is maybe to do a SIV course (you have already done half of that) and after a while of flying you will see situations like this as peenuts, i promise ;) Y have a similar video from my first time in such situation on my channel from few years ago... i's the natural learning progress of a pilot ;) hehehe (I'm sorry if my english is not very good)

[@paraglidingtalk]

Thank you so much for your detailed analysis. I can't wait to get back in the air and work out some of these things in the air. My hope is to do a SIV this season. I have it scheduled for May. Have a great day. Thanks for stoping by. I will check out your videos.

[@SternLX]

Heh 6:05 I heard that collapse. You just found out what a full dynamic stall is. FWIW I was yelling at my monitor, "grab your A's, grab your A's... off the brakes!!" heheh Ya I learned about those the hard way too until I read up on SIV procedures. I'm one of those that learns faster by reading then doing. I find most instructors teach their bad habits or just plain skip over material.

[@loums52]

Glad you're OK and also happy to see you try and understand what happened after the flight. I saw that Phil was there that day and a great resource to understand what brought on the collapse, spiral, etc. SIV definitely a good idea for everyone. Take care!

[@paraglidingtalk]

I will be making a video where I analyze what I did wrong. I also spent a couple hours with phil doing play by play of what I did wrong. Stay tuned. I also plan on doing some live chats using google hang outs. If you are interested in being in the live broadcast let me know. And I will bring you on the live feed.

[@WhatDidIJustWatch-0]

15:00 your welcome

[@SteveWrightNZ]

Strong wind ground handling will teach you as much as SIV here. It's about keeping those wingtips in the right location - brake and release real quick to hold them rock steady above you - try it and really put some discipline into it... Use a bit of g-force from a tight turn to keep the glider pressurized hard - makes it a lot more rigid in cranky skies. SIV is more about the acceptance that the glider IS going to kick yer girlie ass one day, but you already know that - well, you do now.. ;)

[@paraglidingtalk]

Steve Wright love it!

[@tiagolugarini1987]

It seems this wing is too hot, You got pretty nervous. Maybe a BLow should bê better! Fly safe

[@1copperfly]

Flying a Tripple Seven I see. Maybe move to a Knight or Pawn. I am not sure but I know you stalled your wing.

[@paraglidingtalk]

I am currently flying a Alpina 2. Really incredible wing.

[@goswo]

Happy camper. You may loose some altitude, but your attitude is great :-)

[@CarlMarvin]

Holy what. That was ridiculous. You eventually got out of it, but I hate to say it: you did pretty much everything wrong with your collapse recovery. Thankfully, you seem to be aware of that. The thing that honestly terrifies me: Your response to everyone telling you to take an SIV course is "I just need to fly more" No. You don't need to fly more. Experiences like this are NOT good learning moments. Please go take an SIV clinic. You'll learn so much, have a blast, and come out a better pilot. If there's a large amount of people on the internet telling you to check your attitude, maybe it's time for a quick look in the mirror. We're not doing it because we like berating people on the internet. We're saying these things because we've seen bad things happen to people with the same attitude, and we don't want anyone else getting hurt from the same mistakes. I've already seen way too much carnage in this sport...I want my flying buddies to stick around for a while, even if I've ever met them in person

[@shnapshnapsheb]

Robert Michiels Rob, I kinda have to agree with Carl. It's blunt, but on point. You need people like this in this sport to tell you straight things as they are. As an intermittent trainee pilot, I watch your videos as well as other pilots' to see if I can learn something, and thank you by the way for sharing your experience. However I always get this uneasy feeling when watching that your approach is not quite right. You seem to be chasing performance in your progress, not safe piloting skills. When exploring comments to see what other pilots' inputs are, you seem to be answer defensively to (constructive) criticism, yet positively to yeaahaaa dismissive style comments, which makes me think your flying more with your EGO than with your own honest self-awareness. Who flies highest farthest, better/hottest wing best gear than you...who has the biggest penis? That's your EGO taking over. The problem is EGO KILLS in this sport. If you're flying with your EGO, you're not 100% focused on flying well, instead you're more focused on growing a bigger flying penis than your mates. You're pushing risk for end goals instead of getting the best out of the moment. A bigger flying penis doesn't fly better, it's just a bigger flying penis. A good pilot is first and foremost a safe pilot. A safe pilot has a much greater chance staying alive. No shit you tell me, well I hope you sink these next paragraphs deep into the core of your soul. Learn to fly safe first. What does that mean? It means BEING MENTALLY PREPARED for when the shit hits the fan and KNOWING HOW TO REACT SAFELY AND BEING ABLE TO APPLY THAT KNOWLEDGE over and over and over. This is why pilots say be a ninja at ground handling first. Do an SIV. Then do another one if you need to. I fucking mean this and here's why: From personal experience, I know that YOU CAN DIE on an A-wing, at the end of your training, which included a mini SIV, because you freaked out after a collapse that turned into spiral exiting a thermal (sound familiar?), and in your panic you mess up what your learned in your training and splat. You're a pancake on the ground. This happened to a young training colleague in a previous class. He died in the ambulance. He was in his early twenties. You were much luckier than him, you had more altitude, and got out of it alive despite no training. Now re-read this paragraph again, imagine being in his shoes, picture, feel everything he went through, from the flight to stall to spiral to physically hitting the ground..Then his loved ones on hearing the news. The funeral. Feel that. This was real. Just like you. Luck is random. Death is final. Being at ease, in the right mental space to make the right decisions to be able to be in control of your actions is very important to build into your training (this seems to be commonly overlooked in schools, but maybe a personality thing too...). Get rid of any distractions that affect this (Go Pros are terrible for this). You don't need the gadgets, even though they are super tempting to have. You're still learning, not in a competition. Fly by feel. What is the wing telling you? How does it behave? What are it's limits? How does your piloting affect those limits? What are YOUR limits? listen to yourself, and be honest. Get on point, fly for you, at your own skill level, not for nor versus others, fly safe, and live to enjoy another day. It's a great sport, practiced right. Practiced wrong, it does not forgive. Your life is more important than making youtube videos. Nobody will hold it against your for not uploading videos if it affects your flying. Be safe first, then have fun!

[@seanc8054]

this type of guy isn't able to check their attitude usually, they don't actually learn very much very well (usually) obviously i dunno this guy, but just from the opening of the video i assume he's one of those "in a rush" type of guys, can't ever slow down to think, they go balls out until their balls on the ground usually :( it's that same type of guy who refuses to wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, i dunno why those types do that, they prolly dunno either, like them close to the ground acro paramotor guys, a couple of them a year end up a wreck on the ground and yet people still do "that wont happen to me" kinda thing "i just need to fly more" except they die after awhile.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Sean C thanks for your comment. Hope you can come fly with me at some point so I can learn some stuff from you. I always learn stuff from the more experienced pilots...every single time.

[@ShadowlitphotographyRPS]

Glad you are ok Robert. I think I soiled my pants for you on that one! Bill

[@paraglidingtalk]

ShadowLit Photography lol. It's a strange feeling falling at 2000 feet per minute.

[@martinpolach6171]

Probably a little harsh ...but you sounded nervous through out the flight ..??

[@ranman58635]

I think i saw you pumping the brakes to keep the wing inflated but you also started to do a sat spin. Did you do that on purpose? When you were about to spin and going right it looked like you also pumped the right brake to level off. You recovered well but I wonder if you didn't accidentally cause the sat by pumping the brake?

[@paraglidingtalk]

It’s hard to tell. It all happened so fast. Also, I was very green at this point in my flying career.🤓

[@ranman58635]

@@paraglidingtalk, I really enjoyed studying your video because that's where I learn a lot. The fact that people post their mistakes amazes me. You had to have watched it too. Learn from the video so you dont do it again. You said at the end, guess that's why I should take a SIV course. That was your best statement as a newbie at that time. What I saw was, if you get into trouble and don't know what to do, you can actually inadvertently make things worse and you realized that. That makes you a good pilot to me and someone I don't mind learning from. (Humility)

[@ranman58635]

May I share to a public paraglider group? We are going to discuss some of these things if that's ok with you? PPG GRANDPA will be hosting if I can make it a podcast.

[@paraglidingtalk]

pararanman58635 go for it. That’s exactly why I created paraglidingtalk.com Its a show where you can come watch live every week at 6pm pacific time.

[@ranman58635]

@@paraglidingtalk, but what about looking back? You had to have studied you own video to learn.

[@Awkbots]

Interesting watch, thanks for sharing

[@paraglidingtalk]

awkBOTS thanks for stopping by.👍🏼

[@vmlinuxz]

Why did you induce a stall at 15 minutes? I mean you yanked on them really hard like you wanted to tail slide.

[@IrisPPG]

Oh man! That was intense!

[@mauricekoller]

Nice Video but you should really consider going to a SIV, as to know where your stall point is and how to correctly and quickly react to collapses. You really should be able to do this flying an high-EN-B wing with a pod harness as I don't want to see you falling in your wing next time ;)

[@gliderrider]

The way I use to look at these things years ago when I hang glided, if you sink out, well, that was just bad luck. If you sky out, that was pure skill.

[@3centsmckenna]

Your hands man your hands! You had both hands down when you were spiraling. You need to take a siv on a low b.

[@paraglidingtalk]

3 Cents McKenna. That was an SIV on a high B.

[@niconico3907]

I know the video is 1 year old. But you didn't have the skills and the need to fly a pod harness. You didnt even know how to center a thermal. A safe pilot would have chosen to stay on the ground when you top landed after hitting a sink you didn't understand. Don't go in thermal stronger than you know how to descend. Don't go in a 5m/s thermal if you don't know how to descend 6m/s. You dont look like you take the sport and the air seriously enough.

[@supergrooover]

Thanks for sharing! Glad to see you learnt something and are not too proud to share that. Way to go! Have you considered switching to a low end b just till you get some more experience recovering and preventing? I think 70% of what happened was pilot induced sorry to say ;) with a more forgiving glider, you have a better learning window to get your reflexes correct!

[@monggi9186]

Wow that was intense!

[@Uni1Lab]

It's a fake. This guy is a pilote and he simulate incident with over reactions ... The proof is that the second spiral was clearly intentional. A way to get a lot of view on KZbin ...

[@prignony]

Don't know but it seems like he is constantly using too much brake on a B+ you see that on A and that is ok but on a B receipt for disaster. Maybe the camera angle? Concerning the falseness, I'm sure the pilot liked it :o

[@sylvainlathuy2702]

Agreed... And the glider is so safe that his desperate attempts to make it stall before were unsuccessful (you can see him very heavy handed). So he decided to trigger it with a huge amount of brake at once: it looks so intentional! Furthermore, if he was really stressed, he would not talk this way to his microphone... A real beginner in a stall situation would stop talking until he recovers both his wing and his brains.

[@577buttfan]

I know this guy and its not fake lol,you idiots crack me up hahaha!!!

[@kevinshort3943]

I can see why you think it's fake, but he almost span it on his first fight too just after the four minute mark. It's also not a good sign when you don't see the pilots hands for most of the video. This is what happens when you fly with too much break, and don't take the wraps off or put your hands up :(

[@throatball]

Not fake

[@tamariderr]

Haha, nice SAT dude! Scary stuff.

[@opoc.architects]

What's that beeping thing

[@Richard-Freeman]

What's the beeping? Is it marking lift?

[@paraglidingtalk]

Richard Decker it's called a variometer. It beeps to let you know when you are in lift.

[@HumanRationalist]

Why do you have to skip progression steps? You are not ready for this glider neither for thermal flights. Learn how a paraglider flies first. It makes me sick. I'm an old school instructor and when I see that I'm telling myself that paragliding forgives mistakes .... but not always .... believe me. So instead of investing in so much useless electronic devices, just pay yourself a good course in a good school ... It will save your life one day. And personally I think that an SIV would be totally inappropriate for your actual level. SIV is not a magic potion, it's just meant to experience flight incidents in a safe environment. I have seen numerous pilots who went for an SIV and once they got into a real shit, they were totally lost because they don't feel the glider. An SIV doesn't make you be a better pilot or adapt to a demanding glider.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Great feedback. Thanks. One year later. Today I have around 150 hours of flight time. I absolutely love my wing. I have learned so much in the last year. Its nice to get instruction from some of the best guys in the sport. That was a rough day in air, and I have had a hand full of days like it since then, however, I have a much greater appreciation for active piloting. Palomar has a nasty shear some days. I recently talked to a pilot that has been flying for years who hit the same shear. He unfortunately had to throw the sheets. He wrote a great piece on it. I was a little to confident in the beginning. Nevertheless, I am still a rookie. BTW I love this wing. Its a high B. I feel like am now grown into it. Make sure you check out the show on Thursday nights at 6PM pacific time. Subscribe so you can get the notification. Have a great day!

[@flydylan_9725]

@@paraglidingtalk no offense but for smone whos only got a 150 hours thats a very aspecty wing youve got there, most people on 150 hours are generally flying low to mid b's tops and dont upgrade to a high B till theyve had atleast 300 hours or much more :/

[@paraglidingtalk]

FlyDylan two years and some change now I am over the 200 hour mark. I fly 3 times a week. Normally after work. My wing and I are one. I would agree with you about waiting until you have 300 hours to fly a high B. That is what my conservative self would tell someone wanting to buy a high B. Again, I love this wing. I am considering moving into the C class in the next year. I am keeping up with the C’s and D’s I fly with regularly. For the most part I site fly. I am wanting to go XC on a regular basis as I can fly the site in my back yard year round. (Blossom) every decision is calculated and through my instructor Phil Russman. Thanks again for the feedback.

[@jeffturner2693]

thanks for vid.

[@YankeeinSC1]

wow, just wow.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Don't try this at home kids. 4 G's is a full bowl of cereal.

[@allthesecontinents]

Congratulations! You done SAT ;)

[@paraglidingtalk]

I found out on the ground that a couple guys were cheering when I was cascading down. I will say this, I was ok with the fact that I got down from that shear level. It was very turbulent at that altitude. I needed to get away from there. lol

[@allthesecontinents]

Did you noticed my blinking eye? ;) But seriously, look at 15min 12sec and leading edge. You can see a) a lot of break input b) leading edge parallel to horizon and after that, leading edge pass even further just like in SAT. In the same moment you can hear that pilot get new level of sensations...

[@thevengust]

Way to heavy on the breaks. Flying te same wing and newer use so much brake. I'm suprised that she takes so much. I have few thermaling videos with the wing on my channel if you're interested. Take care.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Gregor Vengust thank you my friend. I will check it out for sure.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Gregor Vengust are you on steemit.com?

[@EvelcyclopS]

needs much more weight shift IMO, but im no expert

[@opoc.architects]

Whats that's beeping sound?

[@paraglidingtalk]

Its call a variometer. It give a beep to let you know when you are going up.

[@kevinshort3943]

As others have said, you fly with too much break. When you feel that acceleration of being sucked into a thermal put your hands up not down. There is less chance of a collapse, and you have more energy to really wang it round if it's a good one. If it all goes wrong the first thing you should do is look down!! If you are too low to recover throw the washing immediately, If you have height keep looking down and at the glider repeatedly, so you can sort it and don't get too low. Put your F'in hands up!! When it collapses and you don't know what's going on put your hands all the way up , and no wraps. Also sit up and drop your legs, it will go a long way to stopping the twists. Bruce Goldsmith (Airwave,Advance,BDG) said something along the lines of the glider is better at sorting it than the pilot, so put your hands up. Really try not to fly slow or turn in sink, and conversely try not to fly fast and straight in lift.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Kevin Short best comment on this video in a while. Thank you! See you in the air.

[@kevinshort3943]

Some words of wisdom from "sausage". kzbin.info/www/bejne/imPcopSbhdBjbsk And some advice from my local site. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJ6qgXyBhN1ppM0&t

[@MegaCosmetica]

Where is Palomar located, good recovery

[@MarkLoves2Fly]

Congratulations with your excellent learning opportunity. (>* I saw a number of points in the video, where you could have used a different approach. I'd like to know what you have learned since this flight. Post here, so others can learn from this experience. I'll let you explain, what you've learned, rather than point out what you could have done. One hint however, is in the very beginning of the video, right about 11 seconds in. I hope you are willing to discuss this. Blue Skies & Fly in Peace (>*

[@upnupnup]

Its all fun and games on days like that,,, keeps ya on ya toes :P yeah ya gotta get more "hands on" and step up your reaction time, Most of the collapses were preventable. But hey. full points for entertainment , thanks :)

[@amevideos8346]

is this palomar mtn in san diego?

[@paraglidingtalk]

AME Videos yes it is.

[@amevideos8346]

thats awesome. do you ever fly black mtn?

[@paraglidingtalk]

AME Videos I haven't flown big black mountain, but I have flown little black. I will try big black this year.

[@amevideos8346]

please post a vid on it when you do. love your stuff.

[@commandofaku]

I have 10,000 plus flights in US and Europe and I have never had or seen this experience ;-)

[@paraglidingtalk]

Feeling special.

[@577buttfan]

Big air USA #1!!!!

[@Les__Mack]

How many hours of flight time did you have at the time of this video?

[@paraglidingtalk]

60hrs and 175 flights.

[@Les__Mack]

Thanks. You really kept your composure and trusted your wing. I have about 11 hours at this point. Still working on my PG-2. We train at a ski resort, and it got cold early this year. Once it gets cold they start making snow and the training stops. I'm hoping for an early spring.

[@paraglidingtalk]

Right on! Happy flying! Don't forget to subscribe so you can see all the interview videos that we have been doing live. Also Check out the website paraglidingtalk.com

[@brunojacq5473]

The pilote decides if the wing dives in a spiral... Where was the pilot ? You need a shorter decision and action time !

[@paraglidingtalk]

Bruno Jacquet part of me was ok with getting down from the that altitude because of the wind shear. The problem was that I gave the wrong inputs and wasn't ready for the G-forces that were about to happen. I am fully aware that I was slow to lean into the good side of the wing when I took that collapse. It happened pretty fast. I will figure it out. I am just glad I had some altitude so I could sort the bad inputs.

[@PhilippeLarcher]

First real test and already in a pod? 😱

[@paraglidingtalk]

I had about 50 hours before I switched to a pod. I knew it was where I was planning to go so I didn’t want to waist any time.

[@bigsailboatproject]

I don't know, scared the crap outta me! Yep SIV!

[@paraglidingtalk]

This was an SIV. 👋🏻😎

[@darrenbrown454]

Think I'll stick to hang-gliding!

[@bornuponawave]

Darren Brown sorry but a fixed wing is more dangerous if you take a strong gust.

[@mark675]

@@bornuponawave sorry but its not

[@bornuponawave]

@@mark675 sorry, but it is.

[@AdrenalineVideos1337]

amazing and terrifying

[@seanc8054]

i kept waiting for him to blow up, what is that beeping anyways?

[@paraglidingtalk]

Its my variometer. It gives me a beep to let me know I am going up or down.

[@petergfrazier]

7:25 ...stay away, not a step closer, I know how to defend myself.

[@PapaPapaGolf1]

Hell to the NO!!!! if that ever happened on my paramotor idk wtf id do haha

[@bornuponawave]

Brian Welling need more altitude

[@matleyo]

Hi! From my point of view the main problem is how you dealed with the spiral! Spirals can be learned out of SIV because you can go super progressive. Degree by degree you go a bit deeper. You can start by something as light as coring a thermal! Well, practice makes the job. SIV is short, daily practice is better

[@paraglidingtalk]

Well said. >Daily practice is better.

[@blackbirdpie217]

Another example where a wing with a frame, i.e. hang glider might have a bit more margin of safety since the air itself isn't part of the airframe as it is with a tension-only wing system.

[@stefanakise]

this is not correct. the most of the problem here was lack of experience and limited knowledge about the weather and the wing. He will be ok in a few months. after 150 h on the air it will be noting. hang gliders would react more violent in that turbulence.

[@stanradzikowski]

to be honest, your technique and incorrect inputs at the wrong moments caused all of that.

[@paraglidingtalk]

You are exactly right my friend.

[@flightmonkeyuk6944]

Smash an SIV fella, looks like you need it.

[@paraglidingtalk]

what are you talking about? This was an SIV. I figured it out before I hit the ground...

[@danielkluckner8984]

Wtf are u doing do a SIV or something u completely give wrong input all the time !!

[@FlyingScot]

thanks for sharing...it was entertaining to hear how calm you were throughout this flight but I kept asking myself why your wing was making so much rustling all the time... seems you may be way too light on it..best to be in upper 1/4 of the weight range. Play with ballast until you find the sweet spot.

[@m.sierra5258]

Didn't seem too calm to me, honestly :D

[@dusankogoj650]

Slovenian paraglide, american hero :))

[@paraglidingtalk]

Dušan Kogoj I am not sure if that is good or not. But thanks.

[@dusankogoj650]

Robert Michiels Dear Robert. In paraglading you can not be a hero. But I admire you. It was a great experiance for you. Better than all the lecturs from the book. You made some fundamental mistakes, flying at strong wind and on the back side of the ridge ... But the most important is to geather the fillings ... and do not repeat the same mistakes never again. Regards, Dušan

[@banalpedant41]

I flew hanggliders for 20 yrs. It`s what taught me to never fly with a paraglider in strong air. LOL

[@fun3721]

+banal Pedant Thanks for your comment. I am a Paraglider pilot 7th year or so now. Now seriously considering switching to Hang gliders. Are HG generally safer than Paragliders? Or they have their equivalent of collapses??

[@banalpedant41]

@@fun3721 Hanggliders will take a smack to the top surface and not fold. Hanggliders require more skill on landing approaches and generally fly a bit fast but in big air you need to be able to penetrate. IMO paragliders are to be flown in smooth ridge lift. Handgliders are for thermalling.

[@fun3721]

@@banalpedant41 Tks for your kind reply. Yes indeed HG seem more technical requiring a lot of planning not only on landing approaches but also while doing XC. PG can fly is small thermals but I guess HG requires much larger thermals to climb. Must be challenging. You have inspired me to explore it seriously now:) Can you pls elaborate a bit on "smack to the top surface"?

[@banalpedant41]

@@fun3721 I just recall one HG flight when I was ridgesoaring an inland site which had a cliff face and I got stranded about 200 ft over the cliff face unable to penetrate because of the wind. If I sped up I would loose so much allitude I had no choice but to turn downwind and go for a top landing but when I flew through the rotor my harness straps went weightless. In a paraglider I would have been done. Basically, the margin for error is narrower on a paraglider as well because of the fairly limited speed range. A hangglider might need a larger LZ but at least they can reach the LZ.

[@fun3721]

@@banalpedant41 Thanks for sharing your experience. Im quite excited about the prospect of doing longer XC on HG as compared to PG. I will seriously consider signing up for a HG course soon when the season begins! The more I talk to people like you the more I end up wanting to learn HG. I like PG no doubt but HG seems fun. Long before I became a PG pilot, I saw this dude flying HG in a steep valley which was a beautiful sight. He would climb high real fast and then turn and dive down like a bird. Cant get it off my mind:) Something like that is unimaginable in a PG.