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When jumping from a high place, will I get more distance if I pull out my paraglider and keep it out until I run out of stamina? Or is it better to intermittently pull out my paraglider in short bursts that use up less stamina?

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    I don't have concrete evidence, but it certainly feels that way. You cannot gain forward momentum if you're just gliding, it has a max speed. If you have any "air mobility" clothes, I think you move further forward just diving than gliding. Of course, you'll want to start as high up in the air as you can to make use of this.
    – Jeff Mercado
    May 21, 2023 at 20:06

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You can only go further horizontally if you have the extra height to support it.

Here's a diagram I drew to illustrate this.

A graph of the distance travelled by use of paraglider.

When moving with the paraglider, you are moving horizontally and vertically at a set speed - forward and down. This is a roughly linear path.

When taking small breaks to preserve stamina, you're still moving horizontally at the same speed, you're just also dropping downwards. This makes it easy to travel a further distance than just the paraglider alone as long as you have the height to support it.

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  • In other words, by using intermittent gliding you can convert the "drop height" at the end of the red line (= the vertical height of the blue/red intersection above the X axis) into additional travel distance (= the horizontal distance starting at the intersection from of the blue line and X axis, to the intersection of the green line and the X axis).
    – Flater
    Jun 22, 2023 at 0:28
  • @Flater Yup, pretty much. It's resetting your downwards velocity every time you pull out the hanglider again, so you get a liiiiittle bit further.
    – Corsaka
    Jun 22, 2023 at 20:51

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