Spiral dive
A rapid descent in a tightening turn with high G-forces.
What it means
The whole wing keeps flying forwards, only steeply banked, whereas in a spin one half of the wing is stalled and goes backwards. It loses height quickly, but the G-force is physically demanding. Practising it belongs in supervised training.
Example in context
On my SIV course we first went through how a spiral dive differs from a spin.
Sources and review
- Ozone Atom 3 – User Manual (EN) (opens in a new tab)
- Cross Country – The difference between spins and spirals (Bruce Goldsmith) (opens in a new tab)
- Jakub Vrána — Paraglidingový slang: o nestandardních situacích (opens in a new tab)
Reviewed: