Fails, misses, and nice exercises on a paragliding SIV course 

Das ist Gerlitzen am Ossiacher See - und ein ganz normales SIV bei Xandi.

⁠great videos thanks. Can you post in each video where the location is please? So far I have recognised Gerlitzen and Bassano! Who was this SIV with and how did find the instruction?

What is the purpose (or worth) of a SIV course in your opinion?

@@7up-weee it's worth it to learn a lot more skills and more feel for your wing under relatively safe conditions where you got two people in a boat to come pull you out of the lake. If you only have one guy in a boat and you get unconscious nobody can get you in the boat nobody can swim and help. If you have one of the higher performance wings like a two liner that doesn't have a picket fence to keep a tip from hiding all the way wrap around three times you need to be able to stall and fly backwards and frying Puffs at tip out if you can. I'm learning to fly and epsilon 9 and that's all I'm ever going to fly as long as I live so I might take an SIV course if I had a lot of money but I would probably get see if I could spiral all the way to the ground without passing out and hit the lake or something.

@@markmcgoveran6811 I agree it's about skills. That's why I asked the Colonel Panic there what he thought it was for. I've not thrown my rescue on SIV yet but I've learned a lot on the 6 SIVs that I've done. If you do go on SIV one day, I hope you can find one that focusses on skills rather than push you to do certain manoeuvres.

@@7up-weee give pilots a chance to practice safety (and recovery) in a controlled environment. Only after the safety skills have been mastered (including at least one reserve deployment) should the focus switch to acobatics.

@@CoIoneIPanic Thanks for replying. It's interesting to hear what pilots think SIV is about. There's still quite a lot of variation in courses but I've not heard of any that really push for a reserve throw. My own view - and of course it doesn't suit everyone - is that I should learn skills on SIV that I can repeat and hone throughout the year when it's safe to do so. These skills should focus on eliminating (or at least minimising) the biggest risks in our spot. The fundamental skills being: body position and balance in the harness, full brake range and timing and situational awareness. The manoeuvres don't matter too much if they train these things - but exiting rotations and understanding spin are two that I appreciate having practiced over and over. As for reserves, most of the skills required can and should be practiced in a simulator - i.e. just hanging your harness somewhere suitable and throw many times over and over. Getting the reserve out is the main skill - of course it's nice to have practiced disabling your wing but you can plan for this with visualisation. In contrast, wing control needs a lot of repetition so that the muscle memory is there when you need it, when everything starts going out of control and you need to call on the right action with the right timing. I've done 6 SIVs and they have all been worth doing - extremely valuable to my flying but I've not thrown my reserve on SIV yet.