SIV Paragliding & Emergency Reserve Toss | Skywalk Arriba 3 | Lake Garda

SKIP TO 2:25 for the reserve throw sequence
SKIP TO 3:14 for the actual reserve throw
(detailed info in the description)

Some maneuvers from my first SIV training at Lake Garda including a reserve throw in an emergency situation.

Here's another video of the same SIV course with my AirDesign Eazy (SATs, Stalls, Spins):    • SIV Paragliding | AirDesign Eazy | Lake Garda  

The Skywalk Arriba 3 is definitely a lot more difficult to control during a full stall than the AirDesign Eazy. After stalling, the glider snaps back open immediately and starts flying again, at least with the beginner level full stall technique of just burying the brakes and finding the flyback position afterwards. It also has a very narrow window for the flyback and surges a lot when releasing. I suppose the glider starting to fly again immediately is a good characteristic for regular flying situations, when stalling a glider is overwhelmingly likely unintentional.

On the flip side, collapses seem to be very benign and easy to control with weight shift and a little break to stop the dive.

The reserve throw actually happened during the very first flight of the course, so I've not had any experience with stalls at that point, which might have been helpful to recover from this mess I got myself into.

The exercise that landed me in the water was just to induce some rolling movements without break input, 'wing overs' without breaking, so to speak.

It was definitely my fault for not braking the glider when the pitch movements started to get too intense, but the severity of the collapse and what resulted from it caught me completely off-guard. I had several twists almost immediately and the brake lines were stuck because of it. It didn't even occur to me to reach above the twist and stabilize the glider that way. At that point I was reduced from pilot to passenger.

There's a couple of factors I believe contributed to the situation escalating as it did after the collapse:
pod harness (supine position with legs extended; prone to twisting)
relatively narrow chest strap setting (about 40cm; prone to twisting)
being light on the wing (only about 30% into the certified weight range; prone to collapsing)

Lessons learned:
tuck in legs immediately when abnormal glider configurations occur for increased stability
an upright and stable harness configuration is more important than being aerodynamically optimized
having the reserve parachute mounted in front is great; I could throw it very forcefully
having the reserve connected to your shoulders is great; I was upright all the time
coming down on a reserve parachute over ground would suck a great deal with this amount of pendulum motion
wrapping the brakes to prevent the glider from flying works well and does not require much cognitive effort (I would never have been able grab the Bs or Cs instead)

All in all it was quite a humbling experience, but also very educational. In hindsight I'm quite happy that it happened and that I came out of it unscathed. I definitely have no intention of repeating it in a non-SIV situation.

Equipment used:
Skywalk Arriba 3 M (LTF/EN-(low)B)
Sup'Air Strike L
Turnpoint InCase 3.0 130

September 2017

Music Attribution:
Hall of the Mountain King by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: http://incompetech.com/