Hang Gliding and Paragliding Compared

Perhaps the most common questions asked about these sports are "Which is better?" or "How are they different?" The short answers are "neither is better or worse." and "alike in many ways and very different in others."

Perhaps the most obvious difference between a hang glider and paraglider is their respective structures: A hang glider has an aircraft-grade aluminum frame over which a dacron sail is stretched; whereas a paraglider is basically a modified ram-air parachute designed to be launched and soared as opposed to dynamic deceleration as is common with sky-diving parachutes.

Hang Gliders are faster than paragliders, and can be flown in higher winds than paragliders, and are more tolerant of turbulence than paragliders, which can suffer major collapses in strong, turbulent conditions. However, all but the worst collapses are generally fairly easy to recover from on most paragliders. Also, a pilot can generally figure out what conditions are going to be before flying so as to reduce the likely hood of dangerous collapses.

Hang gliders usually take a little more time to learn to fly than paragliders. However, hang gliders generally have a better sink rate over a wider range of speeds. Because of this, and their higher speeds, hang gliders land faster than paragliders and need more room in the landing zone (LZ) than a paraglider.

Perhaps the principal advantage of a paraglider is its ease of portability--it can easily fit in a backpack which can then be hiked for long distances. A typical hang glider and all its associated equipment weighs quite a bit and does not easily pack down into a manageable size. In remote areas where there is not easy access to launches (i.e. most of Maine) paragliders generally offer more possibilities. However, flight parks, as they open, will offer more possibilities for hang gliders.

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