Lifting the Wing

“Preset Hands” A riser + brakes – Reverse Launches

The advantage of the reverse launch is that the wing’s ascent to overhead can both be observed and adjustments can be made to tempo and direction. There are several variations of the reverse launch, this article deals with the preset hands method. The term “preset” is used because the brakes are arranged so that when the pilot turns to forward, they are in the correct hands.  The brakes can be preset for several launch techniques.   Below, I am describing the basic A riser + brakes method.  With A rise and brakes technique, the risers are crossed and as the pilot faces the wing, the left hand will be lifting the left side of the wing (as he faces it) and the right hand will lift the right side of the wing. Meanwhile, the brakes are wrapped so that when the pilot turns forward, they will unwrap and be correctly arranged for forward flight.

In the early days of the sport, this was not the case for most launches.   Pilots would kite the wing one way after lifting, then would swap brakes during the turn transition to get them into the correct hands for forward. Many issues occurred as a result of failed or incorrectly swapped brakes.  As a result of this, by the mid 90s, most of the schools began teaching the preset techniques.

 

The Layout prior to raising the wing…

The power for the lifting process comes from the hips. While the hips are pulling, the hands deflect (lift) the A risers upward. This helps the airfoil ascend overhead. As the wing climbs above the ground, the pilot can direct and guide the ascent by lifting or not lifting either A riser.

In very light winds, it will take a full effort to get the wing all the way overhead.   In the lightest to zero winds, the wing will just barely get all of the way overhead. In winds about 3 – 5 mph, the wing will tend to come up slow most of the way, then zip overhead.   In this scenario, there is little wind resistance as the wing crests its ascent and it necessary to release the risers from the hands and pull the brakes to stop the wing from over flying and collapsing. This is called “Checking the Wing”.   When you begin to get familiar with ascent speed, become familiar with how much speed will require a check. When a check is necessary, pull the brakes to just below the shoulders or a bit more just before the wing comes overhead.  Over-checking is better than not checking enough.   When the wing ascends quickly, and enough check is not done, bad things can happen.  If the wing is over-checked and it falls back to the ground, this is not a bad thing and only requires a re-launch.   With time and experience, checking the wing will become natural and fluid every time you lift the wing.

A variation of this is called the A/B lift and is done by adding the B risers to each hand. Wings that tend to come up fast with just the A risers will come up slower by adding the B risers to the hands. The trade off of using the A/B lift is mainly that the ability to help a side catch up is not as good. So, if the wing is not lifter very straight, correction by using asymetrical lifting will not be very effective. By using the A/B lift, the pacing will be minimized and can eliminate the need to stop the wing with the brakes. Playing with the different techniques, a student will better understanding of all of the variations.

Guiding the Paraglider to directly overhead is the key to successful reverse launches. Learning how much to offset the hands to guide the wing directly overhead should be a primary focus while lifting the wing.   If you learn to lift the wing close to center every attempt, you will have ample opportunities to work on the rest of your launch sequence.  Trying to get a wing to kite without it starting close to centered can be an exercise in frustration.  This is why we will work very hard on this in lessons.   Once the wing begins coming up straight, you can simplify the launch to Lift, Check, Turn, Torpedo (a form of running during launch).  In light winds, kiting the wing to center while continuing to keep moving etc. can be very difficult.   A better technique is to learn to lift within a few feet of perfectly centered, then check, turn and torpedo.  If the wing is not within tolerance, simply abort and try again.

In stronger winds, there is much better ability to center the wing via kiting after the lift.    Even so, if the wing comes up too uncentered, aborting is still possible.   Once your kiting is good, more efforts to center after a bad lift can be done.

There are several phases during the ascent of the wing:

• The Initial (lifting initiation)
• The Middle (ascent)
• The Finish (completion and release of A risers)

The Initial Phase

Notice that the pilots legs are slightly bent so that the legs can power the wing overhead.

The first phase of lifting the wing begins with the initial backing up and deflection of the risers. The most important lifting adjustments are made during this portion of the wing’s ascent. If the wing is not ascending quickly enough, the body can pull more and the hands can deflect more. Or, if the wing is ascending too quickly, the hands can deflect the risers less.

The lifting from the hands and the amount of pull from the hips need to be in balance during this and the remaining phases. If the hands do a ton of lifting and there is not enough pull from the hips, the wing will come up incorrectly (A ton of lift on the risers is less like deflection and more like pulling on the risers – this often collapses the leading edge of the wing.  This does the opposite of what the pilot intends, slowing the ascent).  So, learn to use your hip pull on every launch and this will enable a lighter touch with the hands.

To use the hips correctly, squat down so that the legs can power the hips backward. This does not mean to lean backward, just squat down in the harness low enough to use the legs for power. Make sure that you do not lean onto the heels of the feet.  When pulling with the hips, stay on the balls of the feet.  Staying on the balls of the feet forces you to stay balanced. If you dig your heels in to get power to the hips, you will be falling backwards and out of balance.

The arms need to lift moderately, but remain supple so they can sense feedback that the wing is providing. If one side of the wing comes up quickly and the other does not, immediately stop lifting the rising side and try to help the side that is not yet ascending. If this type of adjustment is made quickly, the wing will have a chance to ascend to the center. Throughout all three phases of the launch, asymmetrical lifting can be used to help the wing rise as directly overhead as possible. On the other hand, if the wing begins coming up straight from the get-go, the hands can simply lift symmetrically.

If the wing begins its ascent slightly asymmetrical, you need to adjust it out during this first phase. When an airfoil begins to ascend asymmetrically, it can get past the point of recovery quickly without any immediate correction. The most important time to learn to sense for uneven ascent is right as the wing comes off the ground. Learn to be super perceptive as the wing first begins to ascend and you will better be able to react quickly and help the wing come overhead as straight as possible..

The Middle Phase

At this phase, you can arch your back to gain more power to the arms. This pilot is about to arch his back.

The initial phase ends and the middle phase begins when the trailing edge of the wing leaves the ground. The wing will stop the pilot from backing up at this point of the ascent even in light or no wind. This is because the wing is like a wall to the air in the direction the pilot is pulling it. It is ascending vertically, but prevents horizontal movement because it cannot go through the air horizontally while in this position. Sitting back and down a little in the seat will make the power easier to manage when the wing stops your backward motion.

During this phase of the launch the pace of ascent gets primary focus. If the wing is ascending at the correct pace, continue with the same amount of riser deflection. If the wing is not coming up fast enough, try to back up a bit harder and deflect the extra tension in the risers to help the wing ascend quicker.

If the wing needs asymmetrical lifting help, you will need to adjust this or continue to adjust this at this point. If the asymmetry is far enough gone that you will not be able to get the wing mostly overhead, it is better to abort the launch at this point. (To abort a launch, let go of the A risers and pull the brake on the side of the wing that is low).

The body position during this phase changes. It begins with the same position as the initial phase but changes as the wing moves towards overhead. The back arches to give the shoulders power to deflect the risers. The shoulders need to arch because as the wing rises, the arms need the arch to remain in a more powerful angle for your shoulder muscles. This position, the arch, is kept through this and into the final phase.

The Final Phase

Light touch and continued lean of the hands when necessary to finish the lift.

When the wing begins getting overhead, this is the final phase of the ascent. If the tempo and pace of the ascent are good, the lifting of the risers needs to lighten to just enough to help the wing finish its ascent into the kiting position. If, however the wing has extra pace to it, stop lifting sooner and prepare to or apply both brakes to stop the wing from getting in front. If the wing is rising too slowly, continued power from the hips and deflection of the A risers will be necessary.

Even at the final phase, you can continue to lift the wing asymmetrically if it is slightly off of center. For example, if during the initial phase, the wing came up strong on the left side and you began lifting the right and put no power to the left side, you could lift the wing all the way overhead with just the right hand deflecting the right A riser. This correction might have persisted through all three phases of the launch to get the wing correctly centered in the final phase. The point here is that you need to continuously adjust your lifting throughout the reverse inflation to steer the wing overhead. Managing how the As are lifted is certainly one of the keys to getting the wing straight overhead in a reverse launch.

When the wind is stronger (more than 8 or 9 MPH or so) you may not need to return to backing up after the wing enters the final phase. In lighter winds, during the final phase, the wing will allow you to begin backing up again as it nears the full overhead position. To keep the power on and continue with the launch, you will have to return to backing up and accelerating as the wing moves over you.

Whenever the wing comes up with zip at the end and tries to over-fly you, you will need to check the wing.   When launching from steeper slopes, it is better to overcheck and abort when compared to not checking the wing enough.  If you fail to check the wing enough, often it will continue moving forward and symetrically or asymetrically collapse just after you turn forward.  The best habit to develop is to make sure that the wing is checked prior to turning forward.   There is much more control and ability to abort a launch while still facing the wing.   Once you are forward, if there is something wrong, aborting is much more difficult and dangerous.

Cross Wind Adjustments

Ideally the wing should be set up perpendicular to the wind, but in some launches and situations the wind blows in a direction that is cross to the launch and possible wing layouts. It is possible to lift a wing so that the center ends up overhead in these situations.

In very light winds (less than 4 MPH), the slight cross winds (less than 45° – For USHPA, the recommendation for P2 pilots is within 25° of straight, remember this!) will be mostly negated by the pilot’s running. The wing will crab a little to the side that the wind is coming from. Just like flying across the path of the wind, the wing will crab slightly when you run with a slight cross wind.

The key to lifting the wing in slightly cross winds is to make sure the downwind wing is lifted with a tiny bit of extra power. You should make sure the downwind side comes off the ground just ahead of the upwind side. To enable this as you begin the lift.   To better facilitate this, offset your body very slightly ( a foot or two) to the upwind side. So, if the wind is coming from your left shoulder, you would offset yourself a foot or so to the left to ensure that the downwind side of the wing comes up equal or just slightly faster than the upwind side.

By lifting the downwind wing with a little extra zip, the extra energy on that side will enable it to come up as fast as the upwind side and it will also crab into the wind better. If you allow the upwind wing comes up first, it will be difficult to center and balance the wing during its ascent.  When you do not lift the downwind wing enough, the wing will come up to that side and will quickly all off that way.

If the wind is stronger than very light (5 MPH +), the wind will need to be less cross to make launching possible. The technique will be very similar, but the wing will crab more because of the vector of cross component.

As with all launch techniques, practice and gain familiarity with these until you learn the feel prior to using in the real world.

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