In article <20010609023550.01540.00003400@ng-da1.aol.com>, WEFLY UNIV
<weflyuniv@aol.com> writes
>>"Rufio" <davecawdell@home.com> wrote in message
>>news:Y_BT6.10667$L4.1928833@news1.rdc1.az.home.com...
>>> Start with http://www.bhpa.co.uk/ & find a club. Basic training
>>> is not too tough - but it does show plenty of people, that they don't
>>> have the aptitude (a surprising number can't tell their left & right
>>> hands apart, when they are getting "left brake, left brake yelled
>>> at them at take off).
>
>I taught more than eight hundred first time paragliding students. Their first
>flight (which was also their very first pull up) was from a full two hundred
>feet above the LZ. I can't remember one that didn't know his left from his
>right hand. The trick, in addition to a thorough preparation, was to call out
>"right hand" or "left hand" instead of "right brake" or "left brake".
>
>Anyone can learn. Some students may need a particular instructor and some can
>learn from just about anyone.
>
>Ken de Russy
>Anacortes, WA


On the contrary, Ken - when I taught Hang Gliding, the guy that taught
ME how to teach told me that around 1/4 of people didn't know left from
right instinctively - and had to think about it.

He used to do a trick, which I always followed:


At the start of day 1, he would gather the group of students together,
and say:

"Right. We're going to play a little "Simon Says" game here. The last
one to carry out my request buys the beers tonight. OK?"

Nods & grins.

"OK - here it comes - PUT YOUR LEFT HAND UP!"

Out of a typical group of 6 would-be pilots, there was always at least
ONE, and often TWO, who would start with the wrong hand, or look at the
other group members for a clue, before following suit.


I was amazed - but he did it with every group of students (so that he
could keep a check on who was unclear about left & right, even when
unstressed, on the ground.)

These people he used to give the "special gloves" when actually flying.

Two pairs of gloves, one red, one white, mixed up, so that each
directionally-challenged student had a RED glove on the left, and a
WHITE glove on the right.

It rhymes, see?

Red - Left

White - Right


If, when they were flying they seemed unsure, he would calls out

"Turn to the White hand"

"Turn to the Red hand"

Even if mis-heard, it was still correct.


I must say, I was surprised that this proportion of people had
difficulties - but then I'm also surprised how many people in the UK
can't actually read easily or fluently.

"Oh, I've forgotten my glasses, can you tell me what it says?"


Anyway, I followed this test scenario with every group I taught (and
often, in other situations, as a party trick), and sure enough, around
1/4 to 1/3 of ANY group don't know, instinctively, without thinking
about it, which is left, and which is right.

Most of them can do it with a little thought, though.

My sister was one of these. Totally dyslexic, too.

She eventually learnt at home, when we were young, that, when you
entered the main living room, the fireplace was on the left.

Years later, we'd tease here by asking her, in a different house,

"Which is left, Jackie?"

- and she'd instinctively look around for the fireplace!

Eventually, she took to wearing a watch on her left wrist, and THAT's
how she knew which was which.

Now, if someone has to think about it, unstressed, on the ground, then
in the air, trying to cope with an unfamiliar flying machine, and a
blizzard of inputs....

Hence the old UK Hang Gliding Instructors plaintive cry:

" - Not THAT left, - the OTHER left!!!"





- Rod Buck

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