Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

See Also:
• Crop Landing

What is a Sled Ride?

A Sled Ride is like it sounds; it's a ride from the top of the hill to the bottom but on a hang glider or paraglider. It probably got its name from a sled ride in terms or a sled running down a snowy slope! In flying speak this typically happens when there is little or no lift (with the glider being airborne of course). The hang glider will launch from the top of the hill then glide down its glide slope to the bottom landing. In ideal conditions if a glider has a glide ratio of 8 to 1, for every 8 metres of forward flight (assuming no wind) it will drop 1 metre.

Sometimes pilots refer to this type of flight as a top-to-bottom, however, a top to bottom may occur when a pilot screws up and falls out of lift and ends up in the bottom landing area. The key difference between a Sled Ride and a Top to Bottom is lift and the complete absence of it in a Sled Ride.

During training, initial flights will normally be a Sled Ride.