outer A-line with your knuckles facing you, thumbs down and palms
facing forward. Pull down the outer A-line by rotating your hands away from you 180°
downwards. Now your thumbs are facing upward and palms toward you. If necessary, fold in additional
area of the wingtips by sliding down on the A-line, but DO NOT pull down so far that the other A-lines are affected. You
will cause the wing to “frontal“ (section 2.6.5 -a collapse or “tuck“ of the leading edge of the wing). To exit, let up on both a risers
separately. This avoids a surge, although some turning may occur.
On models equipped with split A-risers, simply execute this manoeuvre as described, but use the outer most A-riser on each side, instead of the outer A-line.
To increase sink rate and forward speed, Big Ears can be combined with the speed bar for maximum speed and a descent rate of 4–5 meters a second. Enter big ears, and then activate
the speed bar. To exit, let up on the speed bar before releasing the A-riser.
2.5.3 Losing Altitude – “B-Stall“
This manoeuvre can be used to reach much higher descent rates (about 8 m/s). Because the rate of descent is high, and there is some chance of instability in the wing upon exiting a “B“-stall, exit above
150 meters above the ground. Also, see section 2.6.1, parachutal stall.
To begin, slip the handles over your wrists. Do not release the brake handles and
do not wind the brake lines around your hands
(also know as “wrapping“ or “taking a wrap“)! Grasp the B-riser at the top of the riser.
A good reference is to grasp the riser by gripping the maillons connecting the B riser to the main B lines. Pull down towards your caribiners. After about 10 cm, the wing will seem to be moving noticeably backward and the
resistance in the B-risers will decrease. The wing is designed for stability, and “wants to fly,“ therefore some effort may be required. Keep pulling. You will be in a full B-stall when the risers have been pulled another 10 cm (
at least 20 cm in total). The B-stall will stabilise with wing overhead at a descent rate of about 8 meters a second.
To exit a B-Stall, release both B-risers simultaneously, quickly and smoothly. The wing will return to normal forward flight, perhaps with a slight movement forward or a “surge“. This surge will not require braking. If the B-risers
are released too slowly (3 or more seconds to full up), the wing may enter a “parachutal“ stall (section 2.6.1: not resume flying, but dropping as a parachute). There are two equally effective means to recover from a parachutal
stall. The first is to push forward on the A-risers until the glider begins to fly (usually announced by a slight surge as the wing dives for speed). The second method is to activate the speed bar approximately halfway until the wing
regains forward flight. ATIS is designed to recover from these flight conditions un-dramatically.
B-Stalls should be performed symmetrically. If the wing begins to turn in a B-Stall, exit immediately. You have probably pulled one B-riser more than the other, or one of them has slipped slightly
from your grasp.
NOTE:
Upon exit from a B-Stall there may be a slight surge. This can be necessary for the wing to regain speed. Do not apply the brakes.
Also, it is not unusual for a paraglider to turn about 45 degrees upon exit from the B-Stall. Ride it out until the wing
has regained normal level flight before applying directional control with the brakes.
