Flying ↗

Big ears

A descent technique in which the wingtips are folded in to reduce the wing’s area.

What it means

Big ears increase the sink rate without much change in airspeed. Unlike a collapse they are deliberate, and unlike a spiral dive they do not involve turning. Learning them belongs in supervised training.

Example in context

The lift under the cloud was getting too strong, so I came down on big ears.

Sources and review

Reviewed:

← Back to the glossary