Kiting Practice Taken to New Heights at Vanier Park
Ingredients: Laminar Wind 14-18km/hr, preferably straight off the water. Hand held tow rope (in this case, about 6 meters long). Experienced paraglider pilot with excellent ground handling skills. Strong and experienced partner to manage the line, the footwork, the tension.
Mix together.
Results: Flying your paraglider for minutes at a time off a flat surface at a public park near you, with the aerodynamics, feeling and experience 100% the same as if you were flying at 3000 feet! Trust me, your wing doesn't know or particularly care about the difference :) And when you're hungry to get airborne, being a human kite will work just fine to satisfy the itch!...with some fantastic active-piloting practice to boot, that will help to make your "real" flying that much safer.
Warning:
- #1 Yes it's as fun as it looks!
- #2 Don't try hand-towing until both you and your lineman have thoroughly mastered ground handling and kiting in relatively high wind conditions.