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20
BEWARE!
Spin and full stall are both dangerous and somewhat unpredictable
manoeuvres. Do not stall or spin your paraglider on purpose. However it is very
important to learn how to recognize the symptoms of a glider about to stall or spin so
that you can take correct action to avoid it happening.
Deep Stall
The UP Ascent
4
has no inherent tendency towards deep stall. It will recover from a deep stall
brought about by over-braking, by pulling on the rear risers, or by releasing the B-risers too slowly
after a B-stall, on its own without any pilot input as soon as the brakes or the risers are released.
Should you however find yourself in a deep stall (as described above, this could happen through
flying too light on the wing and pulling big ears) the situation can be rectified by simultaneously
pushing both A-risers forward until the glider resumes normal flight. Avoid applying brake to one
side if you think that you are in a deep stall as this could lead to a spin.
Always remember that practising manoeuvres where you fly close to minimum airspeed must only
be carried out under professional supervision and with plenty of altitude.
Fullstall
Wilfully induced full stalls remains the realm of the true experts of our sport. The full stall is when
there is no more laminar airflow along the surface of the canopy, and the wing has gone from
being a wing to being just a bunch of material at the end of some lines.
Once the airspeed has been reduced to below the minimum speed for the canopy the wing will
stall. To the pilot it feels like dropping backwards, not unlike the sensation felt when a jester
removes your chair from under you when you sit down. In this phase it is important to avoid
releasing the brakes again, as this may lead to uncontrollable shooting forward of the canopy. In
extreme cases pilots have fallen into the canopy through poorly timed full stall releases.
In the next phase the canopy stabilises somewhat above the pilot again. The wing tips will often
tend to try to reinflate quite violently, and it requires considerable force to maintain the wing in the
stalled configuration.
It is important to stabilise the wing above the pilots' head before releasing the brake lines. The
pilot accomplishes this by slowly releasing the brakes until the wing is all but reinflated across the
entire span. In this phase the wing will be moving somewhat along the cross axis. The pilot
attempts to release the last bit of brake input as the wing is surged forward
– this will cause the
wing to resume flight with the least possible diving tendency. Pilots should note that timing the
release wrongly may cause the wing to dive quite aggressively and be prepared to catch the dive.
Test pilots have also tested the asymmetric release of full stalls on the Ascent4. This manoeuvre
is ONLY for reference and should not be emulated by owners.
CAREFUL!
The approach of the minimum speed is recognised through the notable
lack of forward speed and thereby wind noise and the extreme increase in brake
line tension. Up until the wing starts to fall back the pilot may resume normal flight
by simply releasing the brakes.
Spin
The negative spin occurs when one side of the wing is stalled while the other is still flying. This
can happen when, if flying very slowly, one brake is pulled quickly to below the seat. When the
glider starts to spin, it will turn quickly around the vertical axis, with the stalled side flying
backwards. To recover from a spin, simply release the brake on the stalled side. The glider will
immediately speed up and, most likely, suffer an asymmetric collapse. Recover as described
