I bought an old paraglider and wanted to fly it. How can you check if it's safe?
The most important test is POROSITY. Will this aerofoil keep working, even in bad air? Let's find out!
In this series of videos about paraglider checks, we'll cover everything you need to know about keeping your wing in perfect condition. Porosity testing, fabric strength, visual inspections, breaking and replacing lines, and wing trimming.
Download my checksheet template and the servicing guidelines from the PMA below the video.
The PMA now recommends a conversion formula of porosity = 5400 / time_in_seconds to calculate flow volume but what they've done is make the reporting of porosity much more opaque to pilots. 'good' for everything above 15 seconds, and only a narrow warning band of 'acceptable' between 10-15 seconds. This makes it harder to judge the condition of a used wing. I'd recommend sticking to the traditional measuring scale. It's hard to compare one fabric results to another, but I still feel there's a lot of difference between a wing at 200 seconds and one at 20 seconds.
You can get your own testing tools from Parafly24.
Academy members get special prices - check the latest member's discounts for details (below the linked video).
Video © Greg Hamerton
Music licenced from Audiio: Brad Hill (The Apex), Speed Test (Blue BMX), Sean McVery (Red Light), Marscot (Low Contrast)
Subtitles by Greg (English), Stephan Assmus (German) and DeepL (other languages).
