At around 13:00min. mark; best break down of how you suggest to use, altitude safety, and mindset in any video I have seen so far towards use of speedbar. Thanks for taking the time to make the video. I appreciate it.
30 years flying paramotors to 747… agree with you 100% and it applies to every type of aircraft. I’ve lost many friends and nearly myself ignoring this type of advice.
Got a question, as a free flight pilot, of course we don’t have trimmers on modern gliders, except on tandem gliders, speed wings, mini wings etc. but the majority of us won’t ever have trimmers, but we use speed bar a lot. Pretty much on bar when not thermalling, it makes the glider more “solid” and cuts through turbulence better, of course collapses are more dynamic, but we are thousands of feet above the ground when using bar, most of the time. But we use rear risers to control pitch and for steering, with weight shift being first for steering, but rear riser control is very effective and efficient especially with 2-liners, or modern 3-liners with the B-C bridge, like the r07 risers i fly on my phi maestro 2 light, the rear riser control is excellent! Do you guys use rear riser control while fully accelerated? I do plan to get into motoring at some point, it’s just the extra money that is keeping me from buying a paramotor right now. But I’ve flown paraglider’s for about 4 years.
@@TrevorSteele1 hmm. I guess there’s quite a bit of difference in a PPG wing, especially reflex. Of course they don’t need to be designed for an efficient glide ratio, for us it’s all about having the best possible glide ratio, same thing in General aviation, a Cessna doesn’t need to have an incredible glide ratio, but a sailplane is designed specifically for glide ratio.
@@TrevorSteele1 yea, definitely a cool sport. I’m getting a new harness, but maybe after that I’ll save for a motor. My old gto light is in need for replacement.
Nope. We use tip steer instead when accelerated on reflex wings. An accelerated free flight wing keeps the wing shape fairly constant throughout the speedbar range, because it's primarily only for changing angle of attack. Different reflex wing designers will put different amounts of reflex into the trims and speedbar, but quite often both will adjust not only the angle of attack, but the actual wing profile also, much more than free flight wings (or non-reflex motor wings, which are usually based on a free flight design). Motor flying is well worth learning! I actually find it less "stressful" than free flight with the constant search for lift. I first did free flight training and then motor and I think that's the best way to learn, because being familiar with the basics of wing handling and response, you can focus only on the motor-specific elements and it's less overwhelming (can form good "instinctual" safety reactions more easily, less chance of "panic" on engine out event since then you're just gliding down like you're already used to, etc). I started motor flying on my free flight wing, actually (Ozone Buzz Z5). Easy transition.
Great vid; sounds weird but the most valuable might be the clear defining of trim out/in, esp. with the riser schematic in the beginning as well 😂 been flying for 4 years and I have a good grasp of the wing physics and aerodynamics so I know how to set them, but the jargon never stuck cause I feel like it has been used inconsistently before
Trevor it’s a very complex subject- great attempt to explain. NON PK speedbar only use doesn’t activate reflex, definitely not the same as using trims. Speedbar changes AoA.
I second that, and there is other nuances between glider brands concerning this. My manual says its best not to use speedbar unless trimmed out in reflex.
Great video, thank you! One thing I was hoping to hear (maybe I missed it) was adjusting trims together or one at a time. Keep up the great work, though, these are awesome!
Hi. Once again super well made video that explained the mechanics for everyone to understand. One thing I did miss was how you would recommend to set trimmers while doing acro or even just working on wingovers? And will the answer differ depending on if you have a classic or reflex profile glider?
Or create good, safe habits around its use and actually use all the performance your glider has when it's appropriate. It's up to you. But I would simply caution new pilots to not use it until they're comfortable with the glider's behaviour and then only to start learning its use at altitude, along with weight-shift for directional control. Better to have it and know how to use it, than be caught in a situation where it could help, but not have it hooked up. Great for if you need a rapid descent and not yet comfortable with spirals (and lower risk of spin or g-induced issues): Big ears and speedbar can get you moving forward and down fast if you get caught in cloud suck, for instance.
As a seasoned thermal flying guy, I use speedbar for pitch-control. Using bar to control pitch became second nature to me, and I still fly this way when PPG, or any d-class wing on coastal flights (soaring dynamic lift, 'slopeflying') Eet wuks!
I trim in when I fly more aggressively, including when I do wing overs and such. Trimming in maximizes overall control. Turns can be much tighter. In many ways a trimmed-in glider can be more fun, especially in a slalom capacity. Give it a try.
There are two main good reasons to trim out: 1) Improved fuel efficiency: When flying upwind, trimming out increases fuel efficiency, measured in liters per kilometer. 2) Easier launch: In forward inflation with little or no wind, trimming out slightly can help the wing to come up.
Great summary, best one so far compared to other ones. Good mix of pics, text, voice and video 👍 Get the attention of the viewer. Helps understanding PPG is as safe as yourself makes it to be. Agree in pretty much all of your analysis. Some things need more explanation if you don't know the aerodynamics around a wing and can therefore be misinterpreted. But for this short video, GREAT job explaining what happened and why 🙏🎖
Definitely agree with pretty much everything that you said on this subject. As a free flight pilot i use speed bar pretty regularly, but only very high and on glide to another thermal trigger, or into a strong head wind, escaping sink or a cloud etc. but one thing i don’t agree with or didn’t understand completely, is your statement that while accelerated the aspect ratio of the glider changes, i do not see as to how the aspect ratio would change, yes there’s more loading on the A’s while accelerating, but the ratio of span to chord obviously does not change.
@@SkidzFPV well I failed to include in that video that the aspect ratio portion was my opinion and really should have fixed it before uploading. And to be honest, I don’t have a solid answer on that. I’ve reached out to paragliding designers and manufactures asking for clarification but never did get any. My question around it - is aspect ratio about fabric / wing above head or loading on the wing? Because if it’s up there but playing no effect (no loading) then is it really contributing to aspect ratio? Or is just the fact the fabric is there influence aspect ratio. In my opinion the loading is the influence on aspect ratio as the gliders going to respond to situations based on what’s loaded, not what’s there. Thoughts?
@@TrevorSteele1 i get what you’re saying, but regardless of where the glider is loaded, and this maybe just my opinion but I believe it is an educated opinion, but regardless of loading the glider is still there and it’s still full of air, therefore still has the same airfoil (however altered due to reflex, as a free flight pilot I don’t have experience with reflex but understand it) so in my opinion the aspect ratio would not change, except for maybe in a very minute amount if you think of it as projected area as opposed to flat area, maybe when accelerating the angle of attack being lower the “projected aspect ratio” could be altered just slightly, but that would be such a small amount I don’t think it could even be calculated. But, yes in my opinion the aspect ratio remains the same regardless of how much the glider is loaded between the rear to front cascades. I do think you have a good point, and i understand the importance of how the glider is loading more to the front lines while accelerated, and I’ve done accelerated collapses, autorotation, stalls, etc. in my opinion the aspect ratio only changes when doing big ears (obviously getting lower) or when you have a stuck collapse, cravat, etc. but when in the process of recovery that’s all changing and the glider like you said is wanting to fly, to get back the regular A/R. So, i guess this could be an opinion, or maybe just a way of understanding the same thing in a different way. However, love your videos, I’m hoping to get a motor myself to do some flying around my house after work, and on weekends i can’t go soaring, or during winter when it’s not really soarable. Thanks, safe landings brother, hope to see you in the air sometime.
@@TrevorSteele1 i think it’s an excellent question. To me, the A/R wouldn’t change, however the loading change makes a very large difference on how the wing reacts and recovers from a collapse, that combined with the extra speed makes accelerated collapses much more dynamic.
@@TrevorSteele1 Aspect ratio is about the wingspan and wing area. Unless the loading changes one or both of these two parameters (maybe by a partial or full collapse or a flattening of the wing), it has nothing to do with how the wing is loaded.
Great analysis! And excellent safety recommendations, I fully agree. However, I don't think the root cause was a compression tangle. I think it was a riser "fallthrough" (riser going between cascades before clipping in), causing the inner D lines on the right to be effectively shortened. Look carefully at the risers in flight and compare them. You can see the C/D lower risers are twisted on the right side and they don't form a straight gradient line. The takeaway for me, regardless of the root cause, on top of your recommendations, is to employ a "riser keeper" in your glider bag to prevent them twisting or falling between cascades and always kite before flight. Bringing your wing up while facing it allows you to see any compression knots or riser twists so you can fix them before launch.
Great job, @TrevorSteele1 ! Anthony's crash taught me valuable lessons that have made me a safer pilot by increasing my safety margins. The combination of flying without a reserve, using a new wing, and being fully accelerated at low altitude left Anthony with little margin for error. I'm super thankful for @AnthonyVella to share his mistakes. My takeaway is to always fly fully accelerated only at high altitudes (above 1500ft AGL) and with a reserve, ensuring I've thoroughly checked my wing beforehand. I'd also like to encourage all PPG pilots to become very familiar with any new wing. Gradually increase trim and speed-bar settings over time, always at a safe altitude. Take the time to understand the amount of tip steering needed at different speed settings.
First off, every aviation incident is learned from by investigating it. It improves safety for everyone. Nice job. Second, all of aviation follows certain guidelines for better safety. Learn and heed as much as possible, such as gain altitude before performing maneuvers.
Great video Trevor!!, I have two Paramotors and each has a reserve. Will not fly without one!!!! Your video did a great job explaining what happened and some precautions you should take as a pilot to keep it from happening to you
