Hang Gliding - An
Outdoor Sport
Hang Gliding, comparatively a new sport in
India, is gaining popularity. If you want
to touch the skies and sky is the limit for
you, then hang gliding is the sport for you.
Hang-gliding is also catching on fast in the
valley. Men have their own wings and fly like
birds over valleys and meadows.
The Best Time for the Sport
Hang gliding is an outdoor sport and weather
is always a big consideration in this sport.
India has got thermal soaring effects in
the summer months and hill soaring almost
year-round. The monsoons are the only months
when this sport is not possible in India,
otherwise even the winter months are also
ideal for it.
How to Glide
Hang gliding is usually performed by using
air current without an engine power. The
pilot is suspended in a swing harness from
the centre of the keel and maintains control
wholly by weight shift arrangement with
the help of airframe. To take off, the pilot
runs on a down hill approximately 40-degree
slope and is airborne the moment he crosses
the gliders stalling speed, which vary from
15-km to 30-km per hour.
Soaring can be done by using
ridge lifts created by wind striking the
hill face or by hot air columns known as
"thermals" that keep rising upward
from the sun heated surface. One can fly
as long as one wishes once he has acquired
good experience.
Hang gliding Sites In The
Himalayas
Most Indian hang gliding sites have been
highly rated and those in the lower regions
of the Himalaya are among the best the world
has. Though some trials for hang gliding
have been held in the valley, the sport
still continues to be rare. The location
of a flat valley surrounded by high mountains
is an ideal terrain for hang-gliding. Higher
up, the meadows at the foot of mountains
such as Yus-marg, Gulmarg and Sonamarg are
idyllic spots to try hang-gliding. |
