It is often the little tips that make pilots’ lives easier. I would like to present three of these simple tips here. If I think of more tips in the future, I will post them here.
Hitchhiker’s sign
We paraglider pilots often end up somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And not everywhere public transport is available or runs regularly. So hitchhiking back home or to the car is sometimes the best method.
To get a driver to give you a lift, telling them where you want to go with a sign is helpful. Wipe-off signs that can be written on with whiteboard felt pens are available for purchase. However, after using them several times, I have found that the writing can no longer be wiped off, rendering the sign unusable.
As a simple alternative, I will in future use a DIN A3 document foil in which I insert DIN A3 paper, labelled with the destination. This also has the advantage that I can fold the document foil compactly so that it fits into the toilet bag, see tip #3 below.
Captain Kurt’s line winding method – Extended
Captain Kurt has demonstrated how to wind the lines neatly so that knots are relatively unlikely to form during packing, see video below. However, I had the problem that when the last loop fell out, it still came to massive knots. A simple clip, which is actually intended for closing bags in the household, helps here to prevent the last loop from falling out, see photo below.
Toilet bag
Which pilot hasn’t experienced this: you carry a lot of small items with you, which then fly around chaotically in your harness and you search for a long time until you find your stuff again. A small-sized toiletry bag (e.g. from Deuter), in which you can store your utensils, brings a bit of order to the chaos. The toilet bag fits perfectly in the pocket behind my cockpit.
Do you have any other ideas to make piloting easier? Let me know in the comments below, thank you.
