How to: fly like a shark

What we can learn from sailplane pilots on gliding efficiently, by Hugh Miller

The art of flying fast is both nuanced and complex – it’s definitely not just about gliding as fast as we can. And having recently taken up gliding, I’ve been working hard this summer to increase my average speed in order to crack my 500km flight. Along the way, I’ve been lucky enough to talk with several glider pilots in my local club, and also go on a coaching week. And there’s lots we can learn from glider pilots when it comes to increasing our efficiency as paraglider pilots. 

In a recent issue, Baptiste Lambert gave some fascinating insights into how efficiency and tactics translates into the kind of speeds needed to break paragliding world records. He explained how efficiency means doing different things in different situations. It may indeed mean gunning at full bar to keep up with our friends as we glide to the next sun-baked slope at 2pm on a cold, sunny spring day. Or it may mean gliding slower earlier in the day, to make sure our transition positions us high enough above the next ridge line or thermal source so we don’t spend valuable time hunting for the core, or even worse, going into survival mode.

In gliding, even with all their extra speed and performance, the same lessons apply. Let’s look at some of the updates in glider pilots’ thinking we might be able to integrate into our own flying.

Dolphin flying

During a coaching week with legendary sailplane pilots G Dale and...