The arrival of Autumn brings much frustration to paraglider pilots. Many have trained during the summer and find themselves with club pilot ratings, new canopies and unflyable weather. This often leads to pilots attempting to fly in excessively strong conditions and has been the cause of a number of incidents.

In these cases the wind speed was assessed as being acceptable by the pilot before take-off but increased as cloud came over. When clouds are dark underneath they are either 'sucking' air up from below or indicating where air is being pushed up rapidly. Strong air currents can be superimposed on the geostrophic wind which can surge by more than 100% with a corresponding increase in lift and turbulence. Our relatively slow and fragile canopies and may be blown backwards, sucked upwards or deflated in such conditions. If wave begins to set up stationary areas of cloud may appear rather than moving ones. Turbulence may increase as we descend and it may be difficult to get down.

When the wind is strong and the cloudbase is low look out for dark clouds coming towards the ridge or dark areas appearing within a lighter cloudbase. Observe changes in wind speed at take off over a period of time rather than just checking quickly.

DON'T try and land on the slope where there will be an increase in wind speed due to venturi effect at the edge. The best course of action is to fly out from the slope and land away from the foot of the hill. If you are blown back over the edge try to stay high and find a (relatively) rotor free area to land in. If you are unable to lose height away from the hill you are probably in wave. If the wind strength is O.K. move upwind but if it is too high use methods such as big ears or 'b' lining to descend.

Remember: