AERIAL RECREATION

ACTIVITIES
BY: REMY GUTIEREZ
INSTRUCTOR I
 AERIAL RECREATION ADVENTURE

Haras (2012) unpacks the term aerial adventure environment by defining each
word. Aerial refers to the fact that the experience occurs above the ground,
whether by only a few inches or at great height, and therefore requires specialized
skills and equipment. The experience also involves adventure (individual or in a
group) and is chosen because it poses a challenge and entails at least a perception
of uncertainty. Finally, the word environment refers to both the physical structures
and the delivery method of the experience. Using this broad idea of AAEs, we can
now explore what this type of experience encompasses.
Examples of AERIAL
ACTIVITIES
Parasailing

also known as parascending, paraskiing or parakiting,

is a recreational kiting activity where a person is towed
behind a vehicle while attached to a specially designed
canopy wing that resembles a parachute, known as a
parasail wing. The manned kite's moving anchor may be
a car, truck, or boat.
 Skydiving

Skydiving, use of a parachute—for either recreational or

competitive purposes—to slow a diver’s descent to the ground
after jumping from an airplane or other high place.
The sport traces its beginnings to the descents made from a hot-
air balloon by the French aeronaut André-Jacques Garnerin in
1797, but modern skydiving is usually performed from a
propeller-driven airplane.
SKYDIVING AERODYNAMICS

Typical jump altitudes in modern times for experienced skydivers range from 7,500 to 15,000 feet (2,300 to
4,600 metres) above ground level, yielding a freefall time of between 40 and 85 seconds.
 Paragliding

Paragliding, sport of flying parachutes with design

modifications that enhance their gliding
capabilities. Unlike hang gliders, their close
relations, paragliders have no rigid framework; the
parachute canopy acts as a wing and is constructed
of fabric cells with openings at the front that allow
them to be inflated by movement through the air—
the “ram-air” effect.
 The pilot is suspended in a seated harness and controls the wing via lines attached to the trailing edge of the
paraglider. These lines may be operated individually to turn the paraglider or simultaneously to influence
pitch and speed. Takeoff and landing are on foot and usually occur on a hill or mountain. To launch, the pilot
first inflates the wing by pulling it up like a kite and then runs down the hillside until flying speed has been
reached. Usually a speed of about 12 miles per hour (19 km per hour) is enough to launch the craft.
Paragliders may also be launched from flatland by towing, either with a winch or behind a vehicle.
 The sport can be traced to the activities of French parachute inventor Pierre Lemoigne, who tow-launched
his advanced round-parachute canopies in the 1950s. The ram-air-inflated cell structure originated in the
early 1960s with the kite and parachute designs of the Canadian-born American inventor Domina Jalbert.
These designs evolved into steerable rectangular parachutes with relatively high forward speed. It was soon
found that they had sufficient glide performance to allow them to be launched from steep slopes as well as
by the aircraft deployment usual for parachutists.