In article ,
Dana M. Hague wrote:

On Tue, 26 May 2009 10:53:34 -0400, Mike Ash wrote:

And there is of course an entire sport dedicated to this called
paragliding. I believe their parachutes are somewhat different, but that
just means it's harder to thermal a skydiving parachute, not impossible.

Despite some similarities in appearance and construction, a paraglider
is COMPLETELY different from a skydiving parachute. A paraglider is a
wing (PG pilot's don't call them "parachutes"), designed solely for
gliding flight, and cannot be used for jumping (the shock of a free
fall opening would destroy it).

What do they think the "para" in "paragliding" comes from, then?

Good information about the opening shock. I had no idea about that.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon