Flying in traffic can be really intimidating, there’s a lot to watch out for and it’s
not that easy, because it’s not a skill that you really have a lot of practice with
until you get into a really crowded paragliding site.
So let me take you on a flight quickly, and we’ll talk through some of the basics, some
of the techniques that I use to stay out of trouble when I’m flying in a lot of traffic.
So this is pretty typical, flying in England, we’ve got a couple of gliders on the ridge,
conditions are light, it’s just soarable, and we’re trying to avoid each other.
Waugh. That’s the wake of the other glider. Now this is the common pattern, you avoid
anybody by turning to the right. So here the pilots are approaching me, I must stay on
the right, so I turn out to the right to avoid them.
It does mean that when I’m going this way, I need to stay slightly off the ridge, well
enough away that there’s enough space for the guys on the inside. But now you’ve got
a situation where somebody is turning and I’m having to go in between the two rows
of traffic. Now that’s what you try to avoid when you’re flying, try to avoid making
two lines of traffic because if that splits into three there, there could be somebody
on the outside that then you get four lanes of traffic and then five, and it just builds
up, and that’s when it gets very complex. So to keep it simple, try and stay close to
the ridge and when I do my turn now, I’m checking well before I do my turn, I’m turning
and if there’s nobody close by, I come back in onto the ridge, right up tight, and I now
form this line, so it makes it obvious for the other pilots. I’m close to the ridge,
they need to be flying on the outside. So this orange glider now approaching me has
got a lots of time to see what I’m doing, he’s at the same level so he should be moving
out round about now, He’s still too close, now I’ve got the option, I can try and slope-land,
but he really should be moving out. There we go, now he’s moving out, and giving
me space, that’s nicely done, but now the other pilot is creating a problem, because
I could fly into him, so he’s moving out. you can see how it works.
NOw I just hold my line, the other pilots move out giving me a bit of space.
Now when I’m turning this way, I have to look first, make sure nobody’s coming up
behind me, Turn, and stay on the outside if there’s
approaching traffic, these guys seem to be continuing … no, he’s turning now, so
I’m going to turn back to the right again, give him some space.
And now the orange glider is turning, so I’m not going to come in on the ridge, I’m going
to show him I’ve seen him, I’m going to go way out, and only once he’s got his line
on the ridge, I start moving in again. I don’t want to trap him against the ridge
and give him no space to react. Because you must imagine, he could hit sink, he’d have
to turn off the ridge and I’d be in the way.
So just give each other lots of space, try and anticipate long ahead, and you’ll find
you start making a smooth traffic pattern just by the way you are flying.
Also another thing to do is if you make your ridge beats long you know if I’m going right
to the end of the ridge, when it’s soarable all the way along it doesn’t make much difference,
if you make your beats long then there’s less turning and less chaos in the traffic.
Just do a long beat. Now I’m turning again, I’ve got that orange glider on approach,
I’m coming back to the ridge to show him, ridge on the right, it’s my ridge. Having
said that, I’ve got right of way but it doesn’t mean I can fly straight into him
and cause a midair collision, I have to be responsible and have a look and if I see he
is not reacting I’m going to jam out to the left hard.
OK, he’s turning out, that’s nice. I’ve got to be careful now, because if I come in
here and he drifts in onto the ridge, we could be on top of each other.
So I’m just keeping an eye on him, he’s going out to look for lift there, that’s
fine. I’m still aware of him now, because now when I need to turn out I’m going to
turn into him. Now he’s kind of trapped me, on the ridge,
so I’ve got nowhere to go. Now I don’t need to be in this position. What I should
have done is either flown faster or slower so I wasn’t parallel with him.
So now I’m following him around, giving him a lot of space. If I just fly along the
ridge hands up all the time, you’ll see that I start catching up to the pilot in front
of me, and I will end up creating a traffic problem again. So what I should do is fly
a little slower and that way I don’t bunch up in the traffic.
It’s the same as driving, really. Don’t be afraid to fly with brakes on, you’re
not going to stall your wing with just quarter brakes on.
You can see how it works, you just try and look far ahead, give the other pilots space,
try and establish your line close to the ridge. Don’t go in too close so you’re going
to bottom out or need to suddenly swerve when you hit sink.
Give yourself a good couple of gliders height and distance off the ridge, but then keep
a nice steady line, watch the pilots coming up towards you. If you think they’re not
going to turn in time, look, turn around, fly the other way … it’s the easy escape.
When you do your turns, make sure you always check before you do the turn, make it really
clear what you’re doing, so other pilots that are maybe in your blind spot will see
your arm out and your weight shift that helps them identify which way you’re going to
go. And when you come out of a turn, try and tuck
in onto the ridge if you’ve got the ridge on your right, or stay out and make sure everybody
has space if the ridge is on your left. Wheeee. Scratching out the last little bit
of lift there before slope landing. What a nice touchdown. Super setup there, really
cool. So yeah, play safe, be nice to everybody.
Give them some space. And if someone seems to be a problem in the air have a chat to
them later. You might find often it’s just that you can’t see what they are seeing.
You think that they are flying badly, but behind you there was somebody that was blocking
them from moving to where they needed to be. So be kind, be safe, and enjoy your flying!