Comment on They Can Fly 200 Miles with No Fuel. Here's How | Tom Scott: England E2 (Paragliding)

Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

• PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  See the video, but not really.

  ::: spoiler A tiny bit for the initial winch, but most of the altitude gain is just air currents.:::

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• Alvaro@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  You could also do a hike&fly, which is where you hike up a mountain and then jump. From that point you just catch thermals, so literally zero fuel (except food for you body I guess)

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• HuudaHarkiten@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Ackhually the title says they can fly 200km with no fuel, clearly they didn’t count the tens (hundred?) of meters of going up in that 200km.

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  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Height ≠ Distance
    I guess?

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• qaz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago

  They said they use a mechanical winch, so they might not use any fuel at all, even for the initial launch.

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• daychilde@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  They do use a winch that gets them up a couple hundred feet or so - it’s technically not energy-free, but it’s pretty darn close to it. It basically shortens the initial climb and makes it easier since they basically have to find a thermal to gain altitude. So having a couple hundred feet to play with means they can fly around to find a thermal.

  So they could take off without the winch, but it helps. But it’s such a minimal amount of energy that while it technically means not quite energy-free, it’s pretty darn close.

  And once they find that first thermal, it’s certainly energy free for as long/far as they can go, which can be hundreds of miles.

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