Soaring - A Family Outing With A Difference.

By: Tim Parish 

You've read articles I'm sure, about taking the family out to some kind of week-end activity. But for something really different, something that touches man-kind's yearning to fly, why not go out to see a bunch of soaring pilots in action? You or your son or daughter will come home dreaming of joining them one day, I promise you. With just a little organization, you can make this happen and have everyone talking about it for days afterwards. That word 'soaring' pretty much means to fly like a soaring bird. The kind that can stay aloft for long periods without flapping their wings. 

In most countries, you can observe some kind of soaring at any time of the year. From a spectator point of view, the winter months are somewhat better. Why? During summer, soaring pilots have a habit of disappearing over the horizon on long cross-country flights! Too far away even for your binoculars. 

Soaring is enjoyed in every continent. Here's an ever-so-brief re-cap of soaring in various parts of the world. The U.S. and Europe have clubs throughout their length and breadth, and most people there are within reasonable driving distance of some flying. Australia, a big and relatively empty country, has many soaring opportunities within reasonable driving distance from most capital cities. In Africa, it's the South Africans who have taken to the soaring sports in greatest numbers. Plenty of opportunities to observe soaring there, if you look for them. Asia has a paragliding hot-spot in South Korea, but there is growing interest and flying activity in other countries as well. For example, China, India, Taiwan and Japan. 

Clearing Up Confusion 

I mentioned paragliding in that last paragraph, which is just one of the three main groups of soaring sports. Here's a quick overview of the different types of soaring aircraft now, in case you're confused. For a start, all these aircraft are under complete control of their pilots, who are able to plan ahead and land at any particular spot within gliding range. 

Paragliders look like sports parachutes, and are the lightest and slowest of all gliders. No, the pilot doesn't jump, he or she just walks down a slope into the breeze! Next come hang-gliders, with their rigid, fabric covered wings. They are somewhat heavier and faster than paragliders. Finally, sailplanes are beautiful, streamlined craft with long gleaming wings. Commonly called 'gliders', they are very much heavier and faster than paragliders and hang-gliders. 

Now here's a little note about soaring sports in general. Since they are so dependant on the weather, it is not unusual to have to wait a while for an opportunity to see some flying. Particularly if you can only go on weekends. Even once at the site, a little waiting around is inevitable. In fact, paragliding pilots have coined a name for this - para-waiting! 

Since gliding of the various kinds is often done on land with restricted access, it is important to contact a local club or group of pilots to organize a day of glider-watching. 

Para-Man Sails Past 

Para-Man over there sniffs the sea breeze. Direction is good, strength good. Turning, he starts to inflate his paraglider. Up and up, billowing full and tight, like an enormous kite. It's overhead, hovering like a shiny spaceship. Slowly he turns underneath, checks the wing once again and takes a few purposeful steps into the breeze. A moment later, gaining height slowly, he flies away from the grassy ground. With a gentle pull on a brake toggle he turns, following the slope. 

Getting ever smaller in the distance, he joins a few stray gulls enjoying the salty air with him. A while later, here he comes again, sailing right on past with the soft hiss of his lines straining the air, the dead-smooth ocean breeze. An hour later, he decides to return. Briefly, he guides the chute-like craft downwind and then turns back, smoothly dropping out of the sky. About to land, Para-Man instinctively pressures down the brake toggle in each hand. Like a swan on the local pond, he lands not far from us, takes a couple of steps and waits for the colorful canopy to deflate to the ground behind him. Para-Man is back. 

Hangy-Man Spirals Away 

Hangy-Man has finished rigging his machine. The hang glider looks awkward on the ground, one wing down. Every taut panel deflects some of the gentle summer breeze wafting up the mountainside from the valley below. Hangy-Man double-checks the rigging, clips himself under the attachment-point and picks up the craft easily. Harnessed up with wings outstretched he strides to the launch spot. Minutes pass. 

Now the moment is right. Hanglider and man depart at a good swift running pace. Bar in a little, he picks up speed and moves straight out across the valley, brown earth dropping away below. Legs and torso tuck away into the pod harness, man becomes bird. Losing height ever so slowly. And still going down.. but wait... A bump. Another bump, and the audio-vario exclaims deeeee deeee dee dee dee! as Hangy-Man cranks his weight to the right. That sinking feeling now, followed by a surge and more happy variometer song. Stop the turn, waaaaaiiiit for more lift, then the obedient wing cranks over again. Spiraling upwards now, another hang-glider is closing fast, wanting some of the action. 

We have driven ahead to the local landing field, waiting until Hangy-Man has had his fill of local soaring. Shading our eyes from the late-afternoon sun, we see him on approach. Getting low, he gently pushes out the bar, skimming the ground and slowing to jogging pace as the nose rises high. As if pointing longingly to the sky from whence it came. He's down, and Hangy-Man's Bird is machine once more. 

Glider-Girl Hurled Into The Sky 

Glider-Girl runs through her checks, in charge of the launch from the perspex covered cockpit. The glistening white aeronautical marvel is poised on the hard dirt strip. Thumbs-up she signals to the wing-runner, the towline takes in slack. As it tightens, girl and glider seem to move tentatively, but soon gather pace rapidly as the wing-man lets go of the wing tip and the glider surges off the ground. 

Smoothly, Glider-Girl allows airspeed to build before nosing high, high into the cool winter air. The sailplane climbs like a fighter jet, high-tensile cable reeling in quickly to the V8-powered winch exerting itself far below. Finally, she lowers the nose, pulls the release and the cable is gone with a jolt. Girl and glider fly in silence, covering ground so effortlessly compared to those other more flimsy craft. 

But it is winter, even a sailplane must soon land, if it has no rising air to frolic in. 900 feet above ground, Glider-Girl runs through another checklist and joins circuit. Flaps set, undercarriage down.. the familiar pre-landing routine. We see her flying the cross-wind leg of her circuit, now turning gracefully onto final approach, a slight curve in those magnificent long slender wings. Glider-Girl pops the airbrakes halfway out. 

Getting closer but still a little high, she rotates the brakes out some more, they claw at the breeze over the wing. It's a delicate job, a coordinated dance of stick, rudder pedals and airbrake lever, but she does it well. She floats over the runway threshold, gently lowering the heavy machine's main wheel to the dirt strip. A few small rattles as the tail wheel contacts at almost the same time, now slowing, now dragging a wing tip in the dirt as the craft slows below flying speed. We walk out to meet her, and help to push the machine back. Like a pelican, it seems so clumsy on the ground after such a display of grace in the air. 

In Conclusion 

Why not make a phone call or two so your family can see your local Para-Man, Hangy-Man or Glider-Girl for yourself! And perhaps dream about flying as they do.

Make the Most of Your Child’s Sports Experience

Monday, October 27, 2008

(ARA) - As children venture back to school, they get many opportunities to participate in sports. No matter what the activity, you can help your child understand how to make the most of the experience. 

Dr. Kevin Sverduk, chair of the graduate program Sport-Exercise Psychology at Argosy University, Orange County, shares his insights for parents. “We place emphasis on applied sports psychology in our programs. In other words, the psychology of human potential and performance,” he says. “We look for ways of helping individuals do what they do to the best of their ability. Not just in the performance, but in the whole experience. It’s important for athletes of all ages to raise enjoyment of the activity to the fullest level.” 

For many children, participation in sports has become more about winning and losing rather than playing “They harbor expectations about the outcome of the game -- from themselves, or from their parents or peers. People tend to worry about things they can’t control. They worry about whether they’ll win or make the shot instead of focusing on effort, attitude, and motivation,” Sverduk says. “This is the paradox of control and paradox of success. The way to give yourself the best chance of achieving success is to stop thinking about it. If you focus instead on things you have control over, you can increase the likelihood of success.” 

Sverduk recommends talking with your child to shift the focus of the sport away from the results of the game. “Parents can help kids re-focus to things like, energy, effort, and concentration,” states Sverduk. “If someone is upset over a loss, you can ask, ‘Are you upset because you did all you could and you lost, or because you didn’t do all that you could and you lost? Why be upset about losing if you didn’t work your hardest?’” This can help a child understand that the responsibility as a team member is to control only the things he or she can control to the best of their ability. 

Parental involvement in sports helps to shape the child’s value system. “A parent’s primary question after a game teaches the child what is important,” says Sverduk. “It’s far better to ask, ‘Did you have fun?’ or ‘What did you learn?’ than ‘Did you win?’ When parents value improvement and fun over the score of the game, the child begins to place more emphasis on learning and enjoyment. The shift emphasizes the process of the sport rather than the results of the game. It comes back to placing value on things that the child can control,” he continues. 

Sverduk suggests that parents talk with kids about competition. “The original definition of the word ‘competition’ was ‘to move forward with others.’ Our culture has reshaped the meaning, and we now think of competition as moving against others, which breeds anxiety and fear,” he says. “But if you think in terms of playing the game with the goal of elevating the skill level of all participants, it breeds involvement, empowerment, and enjoyment. Competition is all about the challenge and doing your best. Winning is important, but it’s not enough.”