Deadly "air pockets" vs. even deadlier "vacuum pockets"
Posted: Sat Jun 16, 2018 7:31 pmOne of the lurking terrors of free flight is the notorious "air pocket," according to police who have investigated paragliding accidents around the world for the past 30 years.
Within an "air pocket" apparently exists much thinner air that cannot sustain the airfoil shape of the unsupported paragliding canopy, causing it to collapse.
The paraglider then balls up and the unfortunate falling human falls, also balls up, out of the sky and dies.
But even worse is the ultimate terror of the "vacuum pocket."
Soaring parachutists entering this fearsome, invisible pocket suddenly find there is no air at all!
Unable to breathe, they gasp uncontrollably and black out as their paraglider balls up and they fall, also balls up, out of the sky.
Hang glider pilots have occasionally described encounters with turbulence as "air pockets," but have then entered a dive and recovered, thanks to the hang glider's airframe which preserves the airfoil shape of the wing.
Other hang glider pilots have discounted the existence of air and vacuum pockets entirely, attributing the phenomena to descending segments of swirling air that have separated from rapidly rising thermals or have been torn away by turbulent eddies.
More: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=2835&sid=38fc154d41f0cbab8106ba5765ce8e94&sid=38fc154d41f0cbab8106ba5765ce8e94#p21553
Within an "air pocket" apparently exists much thinner air that cannot sustain the airfoil shape of the unsupported paragliding canopy, causing it to collapse.
The paraglider then balls up and the unfortunate falling human falls, also balls up, out of the sky and dies.
But even worse is the ultimate terror of the "vacuum pocket."
Soaring parachutists entering this fearsome, invisible pocket suddenly find there is no air at all!
Unable to breathe, they gasp uncontrollably and black out as their paraglider balls up and they fall, also balls up, out of the sky.
Hang glider pilots have occasionally described encounters with turbulence as "air pockets," but have then entered a dive and recovered, thanks to the hang glider's airframe which preserves the airfoil shape of the wing.
Other hang glider pilots have discounted the existence of air and vacuum pockets entirely, attributing the phenomena to descending segments of swirling air that have separated from rapidly rising thermals or have been torn away by turbulent eddies.
More: http://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=2835&sid=38fc154d41f0cbab8106ba5765ce8e94&sid=38fc154d41f0cbab8106ba5765ce8e94#p21553
