A little bit of what to expect on Day-1 using a Mini-Wing designed specifically for training and learn the basic moves PG and PPG.
I am curious on why you do not teach them to grab the brakes already before the inflation. I see them fumbling after them in the video once the wing is up.
Because what we call the Crossed Brake Line technique does not work at all at the North Shore cliffs where we Paraglide. Most visiting pilots who show up there get in trouble, have lousy takeoffs, if they can even takeoff at all and all because of their lack of adapted kiting skills. If you do not know how to cliff-kite, you will have problems. The CrossOver move we use is perfectly adapted to our terrain and has many advantages over the “standard” technique you are referring to which BTW, I teach to Paramotorists for the reason you mentioned and works great when doing reversed PPG launches because the pilot is on flat grounds. About half my students fly both PG and PPG and have learned two kiting techniques. They can chose the one better suited to the site of the day. I have been Pragliding since the late 80’s and teaching it for over thirty years. I also opened the first Paramotoring school in the US. I witnessed the growth of both activities from the start with the good and the bad. I pretty much know what works and what does not. I am also a PG towing specialist and trained tow operators https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8liwFWv7VQ I also opened the first Speed-Flying (soaring) school in the North East. One kiting technique does not fit every situation and it is better to have choices to increase the chance of a successful takeoff.
I have videos after videos of visiting pilots getting trouble solely on the base of their inability to handle their wing in cross soarable gusty winds on a takeoff platform the size of a post stamp or trying to top-land (another specialty). All of them use the standard technique and can’t cliff-kite. They all have to use the staircase at the end of the beach to get back up to the takeoff while my students use their wing to get back up. The CrossOver technique is a bit harder to learn but once mastered it allows us to navigate our way up between all sorts of obstacles (bushes, boulders and rocks, fallen dead trees, etc…) towards the compression zone, quickly turn around, launch, make a sharp left or right turn and bench up over the tree line.
The crossed brake line technique (the standard moves all schools teach) is dead on arrival to tackle our local terrain. If you can’t cliff-kite you will not be able to fly dozens of soarable spots on the North Shore and will limit you to the only site we have where a wing can be set up at the top because you will have to start frm the bottom of the cliff. Sorry for the long answer!
Here’s a video illustrating the above https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogNSMB2BKMk
Have a great day!
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