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| Disclaimer - read this first! These guidelines do not apply in every case and are not to be interpreted as a recommendation or incitement to fly any glider. It is always the pilot's responsibility to decide whether or not to fly and to make the choice of paraglider. If you require any advice you should consult a qualified instructor who knows you and your flying ability and experience. |
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1. Choosing the right level of glider
2. Choosing the right size of glider
A paraglider pilot has a very personal relationship with his or her glider. Choosing the right glider is one of the most important decisions you will make - so take your time and make sure you make the right choice.
First of all, look at the kind of flying you do. Do you fly at every possible opportunity, clocking up a hundred or more hours a year and flying regularly in strong thermic conditions in the Alps or elsewhere?
Are you a regular weekend pilot, at home at your local flying site and taking the occasional flying holiday abroad? Or an occasional flyer, choosing perfect flying conditions for a couple of gentle soaring flights each month. Or something in between any of these types of pilot.
Consider your experience. Have you done any SIV training? How many seasons experience do you have? Are you looking for your first glider?
What kind of flying do you do? Do you always try to thermal to cloudbase and fly cross-country? Or do you often fly in smooth ridge soaring conditions?
What do you want from your flying? Are you always looking for a top performance? Or are you happy to take off, fly around and land for a chat with your mates?
If you are looking for a first glider, your choice is limited to a DHV 1 or 1-2 glider. You shouldn't even consider anything with a higher rating. The fundamental thing here is to feel comfortable in the air; if you feel nervous all the time, you will not be able to concentrate on improving as a pilot. A little nervousness occasionally is normal and desirable, but you should be able to easily overcome it, and it should lead you to make sensible piloting decisions - e.g. to land if the conditions deteriorate; or not to fly if it is too windy for you. If you find that your nervousness makes you stay on the ground when the conditions are good, or always land after only 10 minutes in the air, you should address it. Perhaps you should choose a more stable glider.
If you have a season or preferably two behind you and have experience of thermalling and SIV training, you have more choice available to you. You may be able to consider flying a higher rated glider such as the DHV 2 Mission. You will notice the performance improvement particularly when the glider is accelerated.
However, the DHV 1-2 class gliders are still worthy of consideration. If you are still flying an older design of glider, you may not be aware of the capabilities of modern DHV 1-2 wings such as the Pure. You may be able to get an increase in performance as well as flying a more stable glider - a double bonus!
If you are an experienced, expert pilot and confident of your abilities, you will appreciate the handling and amazing glide performance of the higher rated gliders. Modern high-performance gliders such as the Oxygen combine excellent performance with a good level of stability when flown by a pilot who has the ability and experience to fly such a glider. Only you can decide if you fit into this category.
For most pilots this is not a problem. Most people will find that they fit neatly into the weight range of one size of glider.
However, some pilots may be within the area of overlap between two sizes. In this case, they have a choice between the two sizes.
The first point to remember is that the glider has been tested by the DHV at both extremes of the weight range. So although the glider will react slightly differently according to the loading, the difference is not enough to change the rating. In fact, the glider will be very slightly more prone to deflations when lightly loaded, but against this the reaction to deflations is generally slightly slower and easier to handle.
Secondly, although the sink rate will be slightly worse at the top of the weight range than the bottom, the difference is very small. The difference in sink rate is related to the square of the area. As the increase in area between two sizes is only about 10%, the difference in sink rate is only about 6%. This difference may be noticeable in smooth light ridge conditions with little thermic activity. But on a good thermic day, the pilot will benefit from being able to turn more quickly and penetrate slightly better.
To summarise, the sizes of freeX gliders have been carefully chosen to ensure that every pilot will be able to find a glider to suit him or her. If you are in doubt, please feel free to contact us.