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head down, feet up
Suprone or prone, the pilot wants to be parallel with the yaw string for reduced drag.
isn't any fun
It never occurred to me that it isn't any fun to fly faster and farther and higher than the other pilots on hang gliders below and behind me.
I know, you're saying feet up, head down is uncomfortable, but the greatest element of discomfort is neck strain unless you have provided an elastic strap from the hang point to your helmet to support your head, which is absolutely necessary and I would say completely solves the problem - even on flights of 8 hours or more.
Flying in traffic is a different issue than XC.
I would think suprone would be safer in terms of avoiding midairs and maybe even those flying buildings I am hearing about.
Small differences in drag between paragliders are not likely to make much difference.
(A big difference would be removal of suspension lines.)
Cleaning up hang gliders yields marginally measurable differences.
(A big difference would be removal of upper rigging.)
Small differences in drag between sailplanes of the same type yield very measurable differences.
This all is due, of course, to the fact that drag rises dramatically with speed.
Use ctl/shift/- to see the maxed out suprone guy (same as prone guy).
With hang gliders, a superior pilot flying suprone would possibly be able to perform as well most prone pilots in thermalling or ridge lift.
But it won't do as well in XC on a good day.
It possibly could, EXCEPT for one thing, and that is the addition of the second horizontal tube in the windstream.
If Jim holds out that bar from a vehicle traveling 35 - 45 mph, it will be obvious the deficit the suprone pilot is operating under.
That's the between thermal run in serious XC.
The suprone pilots will fall below and behind the prone pilots at speed.
One way to reduce drag for suprone XC is to replace the lower controlbar with a cable and fair the upper bar.
And of course, get rid of the wheels.
Probably the best idea I've had is to use a properly engineered single forged stainless steel lower control frame that crosses above the pilot's lap and drops down two legs for flying wires to attach to. Shortened aluminum downtubes could attach to this bar.
You could even fit it with faired detachable wheels.
Probably less safe than a standard setup unless the downtubes are designed to fail at typical crash sideloads.
(You wouldn't want to catch your chin on it flying suprone in a crash.
Maybe a candidate for Jim's restraint device? A lot to play with...
