SIV — Simulation d'Incident en Vol, the simulation of in-flight incidents — is the course where a pilot deliberately puts the wing into the very states they fear most, in order to learn how to bring it back. Collapses, line twists, full stalls, locked spirals: things that on a mountain you only need to meet once to pay for, are here repeated under control, over water, with an instructor guiding by radio. Following the success of the first SIV course held in November 2022, Mebayluon Paragliding ran a second edition in June 2023 at Nui Coc Lake, Thai Nguyen, together with ISKY Flying School.
Why SIV must be flown over water
Every SIV manoeuvre has one thing in common: the wing stops flying for a few seconds and the pilot loses height fast. Over mountain terrain, a developed full stall or a locked spiral at low altitude is an accident. Over a lake, the same situation is a water landing. The requirements are therefore strict: the working area sits entirely over water, a rescue boat stands by, pilots wear life jackets, and every exercise has a minimum altitude — below it, no manoeuvre is flown and the pilot heads straight for the shore.
Two Nepali instructors
This edition was taught by two instructors: Alish Thapa and Subash Thapa. Having two allows the roles to be split — one runs the exercise by radio with the pilot in the air, the other watches the whole working area, tracking the position and altitude of the other pilots and ready to stop the session if conditions change. That is also what separates a properly run SIV course from a pilot "trying" manoeuvres alone: the person on the radio must see the wing at all times, know in advance where the pilot will react late, and end the exercise before the situation outruns them.
