Flying the Stratus 8
Section 5
21
05 Flying the Stratus 8
The Stratus 8 was developed for
performance pilots with extensive flying
experience. The basic types of flying
described below should be second nature
for such pilots, but have been included in
this Manual for the sake of completeness.
Laying out the paraglider and
pre-flight check
Before launching, always check the
following:
•
Are there any tears in the glider or other
damage?
•
Are there any knots or tangles in the
lines?
•
Are the brake lines clear and attached
firmly to the handle?
•
Are the brake lines adjusted to the
correct length?
•
Are the quick links to the lines and risers
closed and secured?
•
Is the canopy dry?
•
Are the risers and seams in good
condition?
•
Is the harness in good condition?
•
Is the handle for the reserve chute
secure?
i
TIP
A careful pre-flight check is required for
any type of aircraft. Make sure that you
exercise the same level of care each
time carry out the check.
Place the paraglider with its upper surface
against the ground and spread it out so that
the leading edge is slightly curved.
Carefully sort out all the rigging lines and
make sure that there are no lines
underneath the canopy, tangled or caught
up in any way.
WARNING
If there are obvious folds in the glider
because it has been tightly packed or
stored away for a long time, then the
pilot should carry out some practice
inflations before first launch and smooth
out the trailing edge a little. This
ensures that the flow profile is correct
during launch. It is particularly important
in low temperatures that the trailing
edge is smoothed out.
5-point check
The 5-point check is carried out immediately
before launch to check once again the most
important safety points. It should always be
carried out in the same sequence so that
nothing is overlooked. The 5 points are:
1. Is personal equipment correct (harness,
carabiners, reserve, helmet) and are all
straps done up?
2. Is the canopy arranged in a half-moon
shape and are all the air-entrances
open?
3. Are all the lines untangled and are any
lines under the canopy?
4. Does the weather, in particular wind
direction and strength, allow a safe
flight?
5. Are the airspace and launch area clear?
