SIV Course with Temple Pilots Paragliding
TP Club Pilot Yogesh Bansal from Delhi completed his Advance SIV Course yesterday. Yogesh is passionate about the life outdoors, a rally crack, rode on his Triumph from Delhi to Ranjit Sagar Dam & even enjoyed camping with us.
Eight Flights & we could do a lot – 1. Pitch Control/Dolphins & learning to check the frontal dive. We could do this about five times as it’s one of the Key’ learnings in an Siv as we use it so much in our flying. Be it Thermalling & XC, Stalls & Spins or Acro Manoeuvres, it’s a key learning to get the timing right to check the dive most efficiently.
2. A-Line Stalls/Symmetrical Collapse/Full Frontal Collapses – We practiced three of these to get comfortable with Symmetrical Frontal Collapses
3. B-Line Stalls – A descent Manoeuvre, not very dramatic but easy to execute. We practiced three of these & Yogesh could do it all by himself, without Instructions.
4. Asymmetrical Collapses/Deflations/Side Collapses – We practiced these a lot as again it’s important to learn all about glider behaviour & dynamics in asymmetric Deflations. – We observed big asymmetric Deflations without pilot input to study glider behaviour- We Collapsed the glider from one side & holding on to the deflation we practiced steering the glider straight. Something that will be useful also when you get a Cravat & can’t open it out or to fly away from a mountain if you get an asymmetrical deflation near the mountain.- We then practiced Asymmetric deflation & tried to turn the glider in the opposite direction of the deflation while holding on to the deflation.- We practiced Asymmetric Deflations with Full Speed Bar, Wherein Deflations are more dramatic & dynamic. First thing is you let go of the bar & then control the direction & deflation.Another big learning here is to focus on Course/Direction than getting caught with the sorting the collapse right away.
5. Full Stalls – We did three of them. First was a Classic recovery with hands directly up & checking the dive.Second, we held the glider in Back-fly for a bit & then released brakes to then check the sharp dive. We could not maintain too long in back fly.Third Full Stall was the best as Yogesh could hold it in Back-Fly for enough time to recognise the Back-fly position & feeling of the Wing in this funny configuration but super useful to get out of tricky n messy situations.
6. Progressive Spiral Dives – We did a detailed briefing on increasing speeds & onset of G-forces, how to maintain bank angles & speeds while maintaining the wingtip on the horizon. The idea here is to learn Spiral dives progressively. That’s why I call them Progressive Spirals. As you get familiar with increased speeds, bank angles & g-forces you go deeper & deeper as per your comfort level & this would vary from pilot to pilot. It’s so vital to learn Spirals progressively to understand the spiral dynamics really well & never make a mistake to safely execute nose down Spirals & safely exit while enjoying oneself with the high speed & g-force sensations.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PILOTS – Paragliding Worldwide Accidents Statistics show Asymmetrical Collapses & Spiral dives to be the two main causes of fatal accidents wherein pilots get into a rotation or a spiral dive without being familiar with the high speeds & g-forces & are unable to react when they perceive clear danger as the chemicals like adrenaline, cortisol & other stress chemicals rush to flood the brain causing the pilot to panic & freeze.It’s exactly to address this aspect of adventure flying that SIV Courses are designed to make pilots familiar with glider dynamics in instability situations so that the pilots are well prepared to recognise the situations when they occur & know exactly what to do & more importantly not to do.Yogesh had super fun with his Advance SIV & has decided to be back to give it another go as I suggested as well that a second one will really consolidate the learnings which will not only help him to become a more competent & safe pilot in the sky but to enjoy his XC Flying with much more confidence & skills.Life in tha camp continues to be as adventurous as they are. We go wood hunting to keep our evening fires burning to keep ourselves warm. Yesterday I had a hot water shower & it was glorious, one of the top achievements of the week. Now I feel as fresh as a wild flower Mission Score is 80/300 !
Love n light 
Avi Malik (Temple Pilots Paragliding)
APPI Master Instructor
