Most members of the aviation community are acquainted with the "round" canopies long used for emergency jumps. A later version of a round canopy, substantially altered from a basic hemispheric configuration, resulted in remarkable improvement in steerability, rapid rotation, reduced rate of descent, and greatly improved horizontal movement. It was known as the "Para-Commander" ("P-C"), based on the earlier Lemoigne design for a "lifting canopy" (e.g., parasailing model described above).
There were also later similar and dissimilar designs that offered the same features as the P-C. Many latter-day aviators and aviation buffs are also familiar with the square parachute canopies used by today's skydivers. The squares have been seen at countless airshows, fair grounds, amusement parks, and many other places where exhibition jumps have been made, as well as at drop zones of parachute clubs. Spectators are generally amazed by the extraordinary maneuverability of the parachutes and with the great distances that can be traveled under canopy, plus the amazingly light, standing touch-downs. Gone are the "crash and burn" landings.

A "square" is not really square. Its form today is noticeably rectangular, with measurement from side to side (span) greater than from front to rear (chord). However, early models were distinctly squarish in appearance, though still just barely rectangular. But the square term lingered and is still generally used in sport parachuting/skydiving.
In construction a square (more properly termed a "ram-air" canopy) is a double- surfaced flexible flying wing made of lightweight, zero-permeability (often mistakenly referred to as porosity) fabric with top and bottom surfaces joined along the trailing edge. The front of the canopy is open across the width, and height between top and bottom surfaces varies with the design of a given canopy model.

Structural front-to-rear "ribs" are at prescribed points in the width and separate the span into "cells," providing a general identifier of a canopy type (e.g., 5-cell, 7-cell, 9-cell, and so on). The ribs generally have one or more "crossports" to aid air flow inside the canopy during initial inflation at canopy deployment. The "ram air" in the cells maintains the canopy shape, giving it the appearance of a wing. With the wing positioned to fly at a scientifically determined angle of attack by attachment to suspension lines, extraordinary glide ratios, in excess of 4:1, are routinely achieved. With such ratios, parachute rates of descent have also been reduced from more than a thousand feet a minute to less than eight hundred. A former two-minute or less canopy ride from 2,000 feet has been extended nearly three times, mostly depending on a jumper's weight and canopy characteristics.

Ram-Air Canopies Result in Glide Ratios

With square canopies proving exceptional, a lot of attention has been paid for several recent years to capitalizing on the once negligible glide ratio of a parachute canopy.
Experimentation began by skydivers using their ram-air canopies to launch from high natural slopes and striving to soar in the sky by using lifting air currents, much in the manner of hang glider pilots. Their goal was to use the known glide ratio of existing canopies to experience the pleasures and excitement of soaring, at a far less cost than purchasing a hang glider and learning to fly it. After all, an inquisitive sport parachutist already had a ram-air rig, so why not try to get the most bang for a buck; find out how to make the canopy fly better and for longer times and greater distances.
In a relatively short time a modicum of success was achieved, a new aviation capability was realized, a new recreational aviation activity was born - paragliding

Skydiver Canopies Turn Into Paraglider Canopies

Years of earnest effort have been put into developing paraglider technology, improving enjoyment, and promulgating safe practices. The rectangular form of the ram-air canopies used by sport jumpers steadily evolved into an elliptical form, of greater span and with more canopy cells. Other refinements produced an even more suitable gliding design. A new "flying machine" resulted.

A countrywide network of instructors, schools, and equipment manufacturers and dealers has sprung up. Competitive events for landing accuracy, time aloft, and altitude gain are held at local, regional, national, and world-meet levels.
The format of competitive events varies. For example, at one annual United States Paragliding Championships, the task for contestants was to fly a triangular course set on the north side of a ridge, with two turn points about a mile apart, and with a third point a few hundred yards out on the edge of the lower bench. Two heats were held on separate days, one of one hour, the other of two hours. There were 48 contestants, and some came from France, Germany, Austria, and Japan.

Other U.S.competitions have included:

• World Paragliding Speed Races, Torrey Pines, California
  
• APA Rocky Mountain Regionals, Sun Valley, Idaho
  
• APA Dino-Soar Regionals, Dinosaur, Colorado
  
• APA National Championship, Owens Valley, California

As another example of increasingly demanding skills needed, at a Torrey Pines, California head-to-head competition the flight course was a mile long (1.5 km). After launching simultaneously, two pilots flew in opposite directions toward their first turn points. A 180- degree turn after reaching the first turn point was required to be above the cliff edge. Then flying toward each other, passing in front of the launch point, pilots were required to observe right-of- way rules. Continuing toward the other half of the figure-8 course, one more turn had to be made above the cliff edge. Then followed a bee-line for the finish, with the first one to cross above the cliff edge being the winner. The event was a double elimination process in the first round - if a contestant lost after one round, the pilot was finished.

There are many paragliding competitions held regularly. Though it might seem that California, with its incredible number of sunny days and 800 or so miles of coastline and countless sand dunes might be the "center of the universe" for paragliders, the Colorado cities of Crested Butte, Aspen, and Boulder each have high numbers of paraglider pilots, resulting in a higher percentage of such pilots (relative to the total population of the community) than other cities cities of the United States. The mountainous regions of other parts of the country, and in many foreign countries as well, provide excellent flight conditions.

Flights of extraordinary distance, flight time, and altitude gain are commonplace as technology continues improving and new techniques are learned.
Using a specially designed "sling" seat for comfort and ease of canopy handling (rather than remaining with the customary shoulder-level harness suspension points of conventional skydiving equipment), paragliders have made many exceptional flights. Here are some achievements at sites in California a few years back:

• Clayton Wooley, on his third day of paragliding, flew for over an hour. When he had made 10 paragliding flights he had accumulated over five hours of air time.
  
• Tony Domenico, a veteran paraglider pilot, launched himself from a 400-foot training hill and soared to 3,150 feet - an altitude gain record for that site at that time.
  
• Jack Bonar made 66 flights in just over a month. On the 66th, he flew for over an hour and said he only landed because his spouse wanted to go home.
  
• Student John Ninomiya launched his first-ever thermal-only flight and managed to stay up for two hours and climbed more than 2,000 feet above his launch altitude.
  
• Michael Willingham also launched at the same time as John Ninomiya and made a multihour flight with altitude gains of 1,000 to 3,000 feet higher than his launch site.
  
• Dave Bridges launched from the "E" at Elsinore and headed out for his first cross-country flight. He flew more than 15 miles and reached the Perris Parachute Center, northeast of his launch site. Radio-equipped, he called the airport for permission to land, and flew to a landing in front of a large, cheering crowd of skydivers and spectator.
  
• After the annual Elsinore Competition, contestant Lee Kaiser went for a "fun flight" and managed to get to 5,000 feet above his launch site. Then he caught a local "shear" (the terminator between the moist sea breeze and the dry desert air) and began working it. The shear moved inland toward the desert as the day progressed and Lee worked to stay with it, heading east from Lake Elsinore, on a cross-country attempt to Soboba. Sixteen miles later he was over the town of Winchester and up against the smoke of a major grass fire and the aircraft activity of the firefighters. Disappointed that his flight distance was cut short, but in good spirits nonetheless, Lee turned back toward Lake Elsinore and completed an "out and return" trip of 32 miles. Someone remarked: "If only Lee could have managed this during the previous week's competition, he just might have had first place in his pocket."

Richard Bach, longtime general aviation pilot, famed novelist, and aviation writer, published an article on paragliding in the June 1992 issue of the AOPA Pilot, the monthly publication of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The article spanned 10 pages and included eight full-color photographs. Bach is best known for his book-writing prowess, particularly for "Jonathan Livingston Seagull." His other books were "Biplane," "One," "Stranger to the Ground," "Nothing by Chance," "Illusions," and "The Bridge Across Forever." As a flyer, he is a commercial pilot and helicopter pilot, with instrument, seaplane, multiengine, and glider ratings,

Bach, who learned how to fly a paraglider in 1991, wrote the AOPA Pilot article about his experiences as a student of Mike Eberle of North American Paragliding in Washington state. Bach has since traveled about the country on paragliding adventures and has flown at many different sites.

Paragliding seems a relatively inexpensive way to - paraphrasing John Gillespie Magee Jr., - "slip the surly bonds of earth,...to wheel and soar and swing, high in the sunlit silence"; it's less costly and more accessible than an airplane, balloon, or conventional glider.

Further information about paragliding can be acquired from a national organization:

United States Hang Gliding Association
U.S. Hang Gliding Association, Inc.
(U.S.G.H.A., among its publications, produces Paragliding, a monthly magazine.)

To enjoy yet another of the many forms of flight, aviators surely might want to take a closer look at that wondrous device - the parachute, which has been put to an originally unanticipated use. Now there's the PARAGLIDER!