All certifications of paragliders and paraglider harnesses are a sham.
Paragliders can collapse and kill their occupants. This fact makes any attempt at so-called "certification" a joke on its face.
Paragliding harnesses offer very limited protection for falls from altitudes of no more than about 3 meters -- if the pilot is in a heads-up position.
The vast majority of fatalities are collapse incidents.
Very often the helpless falling human is tumbling and would receive no protection from the harness even if it were capable of providing it.
Above 3 meters, the kinetic energy of the helpless falling human very quickly exceeds any "protection" provided by the air/foam bladder seat.
Here is a velocity chart for only the first 5 seconds of a helpless falling human who has undergone a full collapse.
Time (s) Velocity (m/s)
1 - 9.8
2 - 19.6
3 - 29.4
4 - 39.2
5 - 49.0
At the end of ONLY the first second, the helpless falling human has traveled MORE than 3 meters - to the end of his so-called "protection."
If you are capable of plugging the numbers into the kinetic energy equation (low-information "pilots" are not able to do this), three things becomes frighteningly obvious.
1) A collapsible soaring parachute is not a substitute for a hang glider. The additional risk is unacceptable. You have to have an airframe to minimize your flying risk.
2) The paraglider Dead Man's Curve is no joke. A paraglider doubles or triples the risk of death compared to other aircraft.
3) The one thousand, three hundred and twenty-one dead people that I know of who died on paragliders should have put more effort into the study of mathematics.
Now put a little child at the point of impact.
Someone will figure out a way to make money off that.
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by Rick Masters » Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:14 am 
