German paraglider in Australia nearly dies

Right then,

According to the Beeb this lady is lucky to be alive. She was sucked up into whats called a Cu Nim (Cumulo Nimbus) cloud whilst flying in Australia recently. These clouds are those you see when thunder storms approach, something we get a lot of in Bavaria. They are dramatic shapes towering above the ground.Get stuck in one of them and you will be sucked up at incredible speeds and possibly freeze.

Bugger is whenever I drive past Brauneck in Lenggries I look wistfully at the lucky buggers flying above, wishing I could go agaian but can't with kids to look after. Glad I did it when I was younger, even though I kept crashing the thing!

btw for those who dont know, Ha Ha Said The Clown is the acronym for preflight - Helmet Harness Straps Toggle Canopy.

Amazing.

Amazing I should have been reading the same piece as you on a Friday night.

Mrs Crispybee used to do this thing for fun and she has told me a thing or two about getting caught in updraughts and being in winds that are stronger than you think you can hamdle.
Scary stuff, and to be blown so far from where you started. Thats like starting at Brauneck, Lenggries and ending up in Schwabing or further, having NOT been in control.

Aye bud, been blown over drystone walls and landed on me back. Thank heaven for crap wall building in Wales. Took a good foot out of it I did.

Other time I was dragged 50 ft along the ground by a tail wind and buggered my ankle. Not the best.

Dangerous (but bloody good fun)

Jeremy you should post some pics about this. Sounds exciting...I would want to try paragliding. I like living on the edge.

1) This sort of thing happened occasionally to gilder pilots in the 30s. SOme got their
planes "machine gunned" to pieces by hail. Certainly some died.

2) There is an important thing called "pre-flight preparation". Thunderstorms
with CB clouds dont roll up by suprise on any day. You usually know several
hours in advance that conditions might give rise - and then you should
act accordingly.

I'd say she took a calculated risk. How well the calculation was done...

CB clouds are know to any flying pupil as being capable of producing
intensive updraughts & downdraughts...

I have flown my glider on the edge of a storm occasionally and the noise produced by
just rain on the fuselage & wings is impressive.

exactly. she is obviously a professional and it seems to me she took a very calculated risk, so i don't feel sorry for her. harsh. i know, but the truth.

I saw it on CNN, seems she was flying and got between two storm clouds, and got sucked up. She survived, but a Chinese guy ended up dying- seems he was found 70km away.
Amazing that she did survive.

All pilots are aware since their early training of the dangers of thunderstorm (CB) clouds.
Applied from hang-glider pilots to those flying 747s...

FOOLHARDY is the term I'd use.

I started out with a very cheap "crow hopper" which had a glide ratio of 1 in 4. Massive cells. You took off and landed seconds later. Then I owned an Edel Apollo 27 - wonderful fun at 1 in 6 ratio which was far then - 10 years ago.

Was talking to a chap on Wallberg who told me that 1 in 6 - 1 metre descemt for 6 metres forward - was normal for beginners nowadays. The sport is now very tightly controlled unlike when I did it.

It happened in Manilla, just a few kilometers from my home town (Tamworth) ... I have actually visited the paragliding site and watched some flights. Evidently, according to the local radio and the head of the Paragliding association, the two Paragliders were warned about the storm and told, rather bluntly, not to go ahead with their training. It's very sad!