Crosswind Takeoff

Your site is a driveway. It’s long, there are no obstructions except line snagging beans to your left and right. But it’s crosswind. What to do? This situation has come up in my flying a lot, especially since I deplore taking off over water at beaches. If...

Flying Backwards in a Paraglider

Chapter 15, Advanced Ground Handling, covers The Alan Method of reverse kiting. This method can also allow you to fly backwards. Recently, we set out to get pictures of this technique and others from one of our motor haunts near Chicago. The chosen hill, a dirt pile,...

Light Wind Paramotor Reverse

The PPG Bible describes how most pilots do reverse launches—throttle in one hand and A-risers in the other. For light winds, the cross-armed method is recommended and indeed it is probably the most effective. But another method works almost as well with less fuss. It...