We depart from the Red Bull X-Alps in this episode and dive into a whole bunch of questions that have come in this past year from our listeners. And instead of answering them on my own we return to Karlis Jaunpetrovičs, former test pilot for BGD and current head of his own instructional SIV, coaching, and guiding (as well as running competitions) company Flying Karlis. We cover a lot of very solid ground here, especially when we got into reserves. Topics include:



•⁠ ⁠Stepping down in glider class



•⁠ ⁠Stepping up in glider class



•⁠ ⁠All about harnesses… open vs pod, fairing vs no fairing, seatboard vs hammock, sub vs non-sub. 



•⁠ ⁠Coming back to paragliding after being away from it



•⁠ ⁠Stepping away from PG, what’s on the other side?



•⁠ ⁠A more practical discussion about SIV, also practicing maneuvers outside of SIV



•⁠ ⁠How to climb better



•⁠ ⁠How to forecast better



•⁠ ⁠How to glide better, and everyday speedbar use



•⁠ ⁠Mitigating the testosterone driven decision making afflicting our sport



•⁠ ⁠All about reserves from a reserve expert (round vs square vs rogallo, lightweight vs regular weight, how to decide the actual right size, actual lifespan of reserves, repacking them safely, factors on reserve/bridle connections, sink rate, why isn’t projected area advertised? In depth discussion about down-planing and size of reserves relative to size of wing, tips on throwing in different situations)”



Enjoy!