The paraglider wing or canopy is usually what is known in engineering as a ram-air airfoil. Such wings comprise two layers of fabric that are connected to internal supporting material in such a way as to form a row of cells. By leaving most of the cells open only at the leading edge, incoming air keeps the wing inflated, thus maintaining its shape. When inflated, the wing’s cross-section has the typical teardrop aerofoil shape. Modern paraglider wings are made of high-performance non-porous materials such as ripstop nylon.[note 1]
In most modern paragliders (from the 1990s onwards), some of the cells of the leading edge are closed to form a cleaner aerodynamic profile. Holes in the internal ribs allow a free flow of air from the open cells to these closed cells to inflate them, and also to the wingtips, which are also closed.[12] Almost all modern paragliders follow a sharknose design of the leading edge, by which the inflation opening is not at the front of the wing, but slightly backwards on the underside of the wing, and following a concave shape. This design, resembling the nose of a shark, increases wing stability and stall resistance.[13][14] In modern paragliders, semi-flexible rods made out of plastic or nitinol are used to give extra stability to the profile of the wing. In high-performance paragliders, these rods extend through most of the length of the upper wing.
The pilot is supported underneath the wing by a network of suspension lines. These start with two sets of risers made of short (40 cm (16 in)) lengths of strong webbing. Each set is attached to the harness by a carabiner, one on each side of the pilot, and each riser of a set is generally attached to lines from only one row of its side of wing. At the end of each riser of the set, there is a small delta maillon with a number (2–5) of lines attached, forming a fan. These are typically 4–5 m (13–16 ft) long, with the end attached to 2–4 further lines of around 2 m (6.6 ft) m, which are again joined to a group of smaller, thinner lines. In some cases this is repeated for a fourth cascade.
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