Phororhacos:
I was walking the dogs on Devil's Dyke (nr Shoreham for the uninitiated) last Sunday and I thought I saw one of the paragliders climb up into the low cloud above the ridge.
Are these allowed to cloud fly?
A subject that is repeatedly and vigorously debated on free flight forums on a regular basis but generally purely theoretically.
The first reaction of the vast majority of paraglider pilots when in danger of going into cloud is:
1. Big Ears (yes, seriously
) This involves pulling in the outer A lines of the glider to collapse the tips and reduce the width of the aerofoil and will give around a 200 ft/min relative descent rate.
2. Spiral dive. When fully locked in this can give around 1200 ft/min relative descent rate - about twice as strong as your average UK thermal on a good day is going up.
3. B-Line stall - pulls down the main load-carrying lines, breaking the back of the canopy and also giving about 1200 ft / min relative descent.
Moving specifically to competitions, any paraglider pilot seen going into cloud and not already actively attempting (by one of the above methods) to avoid doing so is liable to be disqualified. It is also frowned upon in general cross-country flying, including in the national cross-country league, where pilots GPS tracklogs are also submitted and analysed for any other infringements.
I didn't see him come back down through the cloud but I must admit I wasn't really paying attention as I was being followed by a rather belligerent looking sheep at the time.
If it was low cloud, he would have used one of the above descent methods for certain. Low cloud has a habit of getting lower and increasing its rockiness quotient. The Dyke is also generally rather too busy to be comfortable with being in cloud for longer than about five seconds, if that!
To summarise, whilst the inherent pitch and roll stability of a paraglider means that it is possible to quite easily fly in cloud with nothing more than a compass and a variometer, or nothing in fact, it's wet, against the rules of even our less formal competitions, still disorientating and frankly, usually bloody scary.
The only place I'll do it personally is in the Alps around Annecy, where you've gotta be completely nuts to go piling through a cloud at say 8 - 12,000 ft ASL in your Cessna because there are paragliders and hanggliders everywhere (but having spent 10-15 mins thermalling up there you know yourself there are none near you).
Cheers,
Rich.