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Paraglider certification test demystified: I have been receiving fair amount of inquiries from various pilots and newbies with respect to loading gliders, categories and certification test. After I spent few hours on the phone explaining this over and over I have decided to write an article that would explain the above subject. Lets start with categories of gliders. The paragliders on the market are divided to 3 categories. Standard, performance and competition. Gliders in category standard are the most popular gliders for beginners, paramotor pilots or for pilots who fly recreationally. Gliders in category performance are more powerful gliders. In comparison to standard category, these gliders will fly faster and will have better gliding ratio. The handling will be more agile with less brake travel to initiate turns or other maneuvers. The recovery from unusual flight regime on these glider can be quite dramatic and will require more altitude loss then recoveries on standard category gliders. Pilot input though is not necessary for successful glider recovery. The performance gliders are only appropriate for pilots that have gained sufficient experience on standard category glider. I would recommend at least two flight seasons on standard category glider before anyone should upgrade to performance glider. Last category is competition gliders. These are gliders where max speed and gliding ratio were pushed to the outmost limit. These have very high aspect ratio (span divided by depth) which leads to highest performance but less safety. Comp gliders require the highest level of piloting skills since these gliders will not recover from unusual flight regimes on their own. Proper pilot's input is absolutely necessary to recover comp glider. Some competition gliders are not being certified at all and are lumped to the Z competition category. Now some of you may wonder who decides which glider belongs to which category. This is how it goes... Paragliding manufacturer will design prototype of glider that is already aimed at one of the three categories mentioned above. This involves many months of fine tuning the shape of the canopy, the amount of lines, line positioning etc. and hundreds of test flights during which glider's reactions are carefully monitored in order to squeeze as much performance while maintaining safety level appropriate to the category the glider should be certified in. Once the paraglider manufacturer is satisfied with the behavior of the prototype, several identical gliders are produced and submitted for test and certification process. There are two highly recognized organizations that certify gliders. The German DHV and Swiss SHV. The test it self has two parts: 1) The strength test where the glider is attached to heavy truck and first shock loaded at 1000 kg which is approximately 2000 lb and after completion of this test the glider is mounted at the back of this truck, inflated and taken for high speed ride during which the forces on risers are carefully monitored. Once these 2 tests are completed glider is carefully inspected for any damage such as tears, weak spots, stress alterations etc. In order to pass the strength test, glider must withstand minimum 10 G's which is 10 times the load that is suggested on the certification tag such as the one on Lift 24 that reads "Take off weight 60 - 75 kg." This glider will then safely carry load of ten times the amount which is 750 kg.
If there is no damage after this test, glider has passed the strength test and the second part of certification, the flight test, can be conducted. 2) During the flight test a test pilot will fly the above mentioned prototype of glider in regular and also irregular flight regimes during which the flight characteristics and reactions of prototype are evaluated and marked on scale 1 - 3 with one being the best and 3 being the worst. These maneuvers include:
After all the maneuvers rating is summarized (see example here) the glider will be placed in on of the 3 categories:
The conclusion is:
I hope this helps. Take care a be safe. Andre See more pilot resources here. |
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See video 
See video