Kiting a Paraglider with Preset Hands (Preview)

This article has been written with the intent of teaching new pilots how to gain proficiency in this and also as a transition resource for the many pilots who learned kiting the Old School / Straight Handed style.

Kiting a Paraglider is managing and sustaining a Paraglider overhead in the wind. As a result of slight changes in the wind velocity and direction, the Paraglider moves back and forth over you and provides feedback through the harness and brakes. The combination of body movements and brake pulls enable a pilot to not only manage the wing, but to do a dance with it.

In the earlier days, most pilots learned to kite without the brakes set up for the turn. That is, they had to swap the brakes after or during their rotation from facing backward to forward. By the mid to late 90s, enough accidents had happened during the brake transfers that most schools began teaching some variation of preset hands to their students.

If you can consistently lift the wing to a solid and balance overhead position, you are ready to learn kiting. Kiting should not be attempted without the ability to consistently ……

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