[Frank Colver]

If anybody on this forum (besides me) still belongs to the USHPA, there is an excellent article in the June 2015 issue of "Hang Gliding & Paragliding" magazine on hang gliding safety. It is written by Mike Meier, of Wills Wing Inc.

fcolver

[JoeF]

https://www.willswing.com/author/mike/
At some point Mike's articles show linked from that page.

[Frank Colver]

Thanks Joe. Also, at the suggestion of Rick Masters, I've asked Bob to include the title of the article in my original post (I'm past the edit window) so someone could Google it from there.

FC

[Rick Masters]

RE: https://www.willswing.com/why-cant-we-get-a-handle-on-this-safety-thing/

Here's the part UShPA didn't mention as it conflicts with the myth that paragliding accidents are caused by pilot error and has the potential of causing great financial loss to the paragliding industry if it ever gained traction:        

        A paraglider - any paraglider - is an aircraft of extremely limited capability with regard to wind and turbulence. As a lightly loaded, relatively high aspect ratio ram air inflated wing, a paraglider is highly subject to spontaneous distortion or partial collapse induced by turbulence, which will result in some degree of both increased descent rate and loss of control. Should this occur close to the ground, an impact at a speed high enough to cause injury or death is not unlikely.

        When paragliding exploded in popularity in the early 90’s, many hang glider pilots warned of the dangers of flying paragliders in strong winds and mid day thermals. A segment of the paragliding community responded by taking this as, effectively, a challenge to their manhood, and their response has been to do everything they can to "prove the old farts wrong." So now we have a new medical condition called "the paraglider limp," and we’ve had to say goodbye to some very close friends who managed to survive hang gliding at the highest levels for 25 years but were killed by untimely collapses in paragliders.

-- Meier, Mike, “Warning - unsafe flying conditions ahead,” Paragliding Magazine, Aug 1999, as archived by Wills Wing, accessed 9 July 2014

[Bob Kuczewski]

That's a very good article. It's very close to what Joe Greblo has been stressing to all of his students for a long time.

Thanks for thinking of it Frank.
Thanks for the links Joe and Rick.