SAT

Description:

This manoeuvre was invented by Raul Rodriguez in 1999. The name comes from the name of his team, the Safety Acro Team. Actually it’s a kind of spiral, wherein the center of the rotation is between the glider and the pilot. It means, the glider turns forward, (positive) while the pilot turns backward (negative). The sinking rate is pretty low, somewhere between 2-6 m/s, depends on the glider and the execution of the manoeuvre.
The SAT is the basis of some other manoeuvres such as Asymmetric SAT, Tumbling and Rythmic SAT.

Enter:

If you want to do a SAT to the right, grab the left riser, push it out as much as you can, and shift all your weight to the right. It’s called SAT position. Take one or two wraps on the right brake (If your brakelines are long, it’s more comfortable to take two, because then you don’t have to pull the brake so deep, however I advise to do the first attempts only with one wrap, because there’s less risk to pull an unintended Spin. Probably you’ll be able to enter the SAT like this, but maybe you cannot turn it up very steep). Start to pull down the brake gradually, just like as you lead in a Deep Spiral but dynamically. After about 3/4-1 turn, as the leading edge starts to be facing the ground and the brake is getting heavier, pull the brake even further just a little bit faster (but still gradually!), around to your nipple (but of course it depends on the glider’s type and the brake setting). Now the center of the rotation is changed, the right side of the wing will be higher and you’ll lean down to the left in your harness. Keep yourself in SAT position by your left hand, don’t let yourself slide down. You’ll see there’s almost silence in the SAT, you are turning slowly, unlike in Deep Spiral.

Once you’re in, you can adjust the steepness (the angle between the leading edge and the horizon) and the speed of the rotation by the right brake. As you add more brake, the leading edge will be steeper according to the horizon, and it decreases the speed of the rotation, the sink rate and the G-Force also. But be careful, do not pull a Coconut Spin unintentionally. The maximum angle of the SAT, where the profile of canopy is still unbroked is various from glider to glider.
In a stable SAT, you can release your left hand, but keep yourself in SAT position (One-Handed SAT).

From my experience, it’s easier to SAT low DHV rated gliders (like DHV 1, 1-2), because on these types you have much more time to enter (you don’t have to be so precise) and due to the lower Spin tendency, it’s also much safer. I advise to learn this manoeuvre on one of these gliders, and once you did some successful SATs, it will be pretty easy to do it on other gliders.
Anyway, there are some gliders, especially older types, but also some of the newer designs, which are not able to do the SAT. Make sure you don’t fly with one of these wings before you try this trick.

Exit:

Just center your body and release the right brake quickly. The movement will transform into a simple Spiral Dive. Lead it out gradually by few turns. Usually the lower wingtip collapses for a moment at the exit, but it doesn’t matter. With some gliders, you can prevent it by releasing the brake a bit slower, or use some outer brake at the exit.

Dangers!

Like in almost all acro manoeuvres, the most important thing is the right timing.

If you try to lead in too early, the glider won’t have enough energy to enter the SAT (too big angle between the leading edge and the horizon), and as you pull the brake very hard you’ll end up in a dynamic Spin and you can easily get a riser twist, big cravattes etc. Please read carefully the dangers of Spin, especially riser twisting. Anyway, if it happens, Full Stall is the safest way to return normal flight. Before you try this manoeuvre, be very confident with Full Stalls!

If you don’t brake enough or try to enter too late, the glider will have too much energy to SAT and you will enter a very dynamic Spiral Dive. In this case you won’t be able to enter the SAT anymore, even if you pull down the brake really hard, so immediately release it and lead out the Spiral (Ok, it’s not impossible with some damped gliders, but it’s better to exit anyway).

If you leave your body in SAT position at the exit (still lean to the right pretty hard), you may enter a Nose Down Spiral. This kind of spiral is very fast and stable and it doesn’t recover for itself if the pilot doesn't do anything!

Please read very carefully the dangers of Nose Down Spiral and before you try this trick, learn how to exit from fast descending Spiral Dives.

Latest Comments

TONYPARAMOTOR's picture

hi concerning the sat quote "Anyway, there are some gliders, especially older types, but also some of the newer designs, which are not able to do the SAT. Make sure you don’t fly with one of these wings before you try this trick." how do i find out if i have a wing that doesnt like a sat? i have a ozone viper 3 three riser set up???

paracesar1997's picture

thing you need is to know if a DHV 1 glider enters sat

paracesar1997's picture

thing you need is to know if a DHV 1 glider enters sat

cruelangeltesis's picture

Duuuudes, yesterday i made my first SAT!!!!! It made my day!!! You're tricks instructions are extemely precise man!!! I've done Asymmetric spirals, loops and now the SAT with a lot of help from this page!!! Thanks a lot!!

Now, when i do the sat, the downward wing collapses a bit. My acro friends told me it is because XC wings are very rounded. (Nova FActor LTF2 EN C) Any advise on how to keep the wing inflated? Apply little brake maybe?

regards!

jimrooney's picture

Mac Para Eden III doesn't SAT.

After a long time of banging my head against it, I gave it to a very experienced acro pilot to figure out what I was doing wrong. He said it really didn't want to go. It's a dhv 1.2
I'd been SATing an Ozone Atom (dhv1) for ages.

I sold the Eden and bought an Airwave Mustang (dhv2)
SATs with ease.

Raven's picture

Anyone done a SAT in a Swing Astra 5? Also is the decent rate slower or faster than a spiral? I know my spirals can be quite slow sometimes.

Raven

palika's picture

Hi guys!
Did enyone tried to SAT any AXIS??? Mostly I'm wandering about Pluto or Vega.
thx for respond... =]

aulona's picture

did anyone has SAT an ozon rush?
thanks

Monika's picture

Hi Eduard!
Yes I know Ricky and Basti very well! They are very good pilots and if i have a question they are always very helpful.
But I think this forum is very good because there are lots of pilots with different experiences!
So it is a big hope to meet someone who had exactly the same problems! (oh my bad english, but mayby it is getting better her) :-)
Sorry but the cable cars are not open in Westendorf at the moment.
But in december if they have enough snow the cable cars are open again.
I wish you a nice sunday and mayby we meet us for a winterfly in Westendorf. Monika

audacium's picture

Hi Monika,

At these places there are several acro pilots, one I know is Ricky. He flies a WOC Acrominator. If you see him I think there is no problem to ask him about SAT etc.

It is much easier to give good advice when one can see you flying. I am also around sometimes there. Are the cable cars (Lifte) running at the moment?

Well, for this weekend there is little hope of flying, though :).

Best, Eduard.

Monika's picture

Thx for answering my question!
I don´t know that it´s not allowed to write in german, but for me it is not so easy to explain my problems in english. :-)
My favourit flying places are Westendorf, Hohe Salve and Markbachjoch because this places are nearby my home!
Nice greetings to all of you, Monika

pogozoli's picture

Hi Erlend,
I saw that you have an Aspen Freestyle. Please write to me in the Wing for XC and ACRO topic how it works...
Thanks,
Zoli

audacium's picture

Get a grip. The question was in German (maybe by error) and I answered in German. The question had nothing to do with what was written before.

erlendmc's picture

Why do you guys write in a different language?????
I find it disrespectful. I have a feeling that I might not be the only one with this feeling..?!

audacium's picture

So ungefaehr kann man das sagen. Bei der Ausleitung Gewicht neutral, Aussenbremse dazu, Innenbremse nachlassen, eigentlich moeglichst symmetrisch rausbremsen (es ist aber durchaus ein deutlicher Bremsimpuls notwendig), Schirm stoppt dann mit einer Nachdrehung ueber ca. 180 Grad die Drehung (geht dabei aus dem SAT raus) und geht aber nicht in volle Spirale. Im Optimalfall also den SAT auf Achse einleiten und auf Achse ausleiten (d.h. rechtzeitig rausbremsen). Dann noch den folgenden Pendler ausleiten.

Habe da aber schon lange nicht mehr so explizit drueber nachgedacht, hoffe meine Beschreibung stimmt ungefaehr :). Wo fliegst denn normalerweise?

Monika's picture

Hallo!
Wie verhindere ich, dass der Schirm bei der Sat-Ausleiung nicht in eine stabile Steinspirale kommt?
Muss ich sofort bei der Ausleitung an der Außenbremse dran sein, damit er nicht so abbohrt?
Danke

pogozoli's picture

Hi!
I think I didn't made myself clear enough :). I didn't twisted in the harness. I had 3 spins with the glider, just like in helico, but more instable. So my brakes, risers were free, without twist.
I think you are right, the time is very short to enter in SAT with Syn 2. I just missed the point and pulled too hard after I've entered in the SAT.
I need to see that SYn 3 XS.
Safe landings!

edupsousa's picture

As yourself said the Synergy 2 isn't a good wing to SAT, for sure is possible as i have seen, but not easy. The time window to enter the manuever is very short.
About your failure, a friend did the same 2 times, and both times the spin was fast and strong enough to twist him more than 3 times, and both times he was low and have to pull the rescue, the wing was a MacPara Intox 19, more dynamic than the Sinergy 2, but the error could be the same, he pull the brake in the right time, but too fast and hard, the brake must be more gradually.

By the way, how you manage to make the FullStall with 3 twists? The brakes dont have locked, or you get the lines above the twist? This tip can be usefull to me!! :)
Cya!

pogozoli's picture

No, it wasn't a simply spin. I've entered already in SAT and after that I spinned it. Like in coconut but it wasn't slow, it was pretty fast. I had three negative spins, the risers were ok, the glider was opened, so I simply made fullstall and recovery from it.

Benny's picture

Sounds like you pulled the brake too early and spinned the glider.

You made a fullstall with three twists?!

OMFG!

pogozoli's picture

Last time I had a beautiful SAT failure. I knew that my Synergy 2 is not good for SAT but I've tried again :). I managed to pull in SAT but in the first round the glider made a huge and aggressive twist, it was like a very fast coconut spin or a mactwist. I had about three twists, after that I pulled in fullstall and solved the problem.
I know I was stupid, but anybody has any idea what happened there?

dpop100's picture

Somebody try SAT with Magic4?

JaroXS's picture

You probably enter to late and you get too much of speed. When you miss the point sometimes is not possible to enter sat even when you are pulling much of brake. The inner tip have some small angle (looks like sat) but the outer tip is flattering. The g-force is getting higher and you can hurt your arms. Iv got some simillar problem few years ago.

BTW: pushing the riser is the most important thing entering sats.

t7bdh3hdhb's picture

hi,

i tried the sat with my mantra m2 and a charly titan harness. the force of the initiation was always so strong that my arm, which pushed the riser away, get some kind of hurt. so i always did it without pushing the other riser. i was not already in a spiral when i tried it? what could be the failure - any ideas?

airblade's picture

Yep that I'm interested too? I own Envy as well? How does it behawe in SAT?

scalpa's picture

Did Anyone SAT the Macpara Envy? thanx

cool's picture

I tried SAT on Vulcan many times, it is just a great glider for doing that. For tumbles - I have no idea.

akira's picture

Well, it is not the best wing to SAT but it SATs. A friend of mine tried to SAT it in a SIV clinic. It was his first SAT-atempts and he did not succed. The external tip was always collapsing when the wing faced the ground which obviously prevents a clean entry.

This is probably just a problem of timing .. the window for the entry seems to be smaller than other wings (vulcan for example). But I know other people that SAT their addict ... so it is possible.

talebano78's picture

I have felt to say that the addict it is not adapted to the sat... it is true?

lupus78's picture

I think the failure there, is that the pilot enters too early...

ioel's picture

Just looked at the SAT failures clip. The first failure with that ugly spiral (or perhaps it's a SAT) happened to me a few times.

I found that while rolling my body into the turn I had slided in the harness in the opposite direction. I think it caused the failure. I tried to fix it while spiraling but couldn't.

Of course I'm blaming the harness's big seat board - not me :-)

PalTakats's picture

Hi!

Does anyone fly acro with XS Vulcan? One of my friends flies a Medium size and he would like to buy a smaller size for acro. How it works? Good enough to learn Tumbles?

Thanks!

gleitmittel's picture

I just ordered a second one, to compare.
quite sure there is something wrong with mine...

they changed a piece of a cell, so maybe there is a problem with the sail-tension - i will see and post some info.

martincowley's picture

I can also confirm that the large Vulcan will SAT happily (weight range 95-115kg, TOW ~105-110kg) though the brake pressure is quite high and I often suffer numbness in my little finger for up to 2 months after doing a SAT. I tried SATing a Macpara Bitch 22 at Annecy and found it so much nicer (no numb fingers).

lupus78's picture

I'm surprised to read this about the Vulcan. I never flown one, but I heard it's ok for beginning acro.
Even a bit outdated SAT report sais this:

Vulcan S (65-85kg /TOW: 88kg)
Pilot: Torvald Rugsveen, Norway
Entry: A normal Sat entrance. Enters smooth when brakes are applied increasingly. A little bit harder to make a clean Sat than with the Vibe MS (which I learnt it on)
Exit: Exit is also smooth, only small collapses.

Vulcan, M (80 -100 kg, TOW 105 kg)
Pilot: José Augusto Sampaio, Brasil
Entry: Between 3/4 and a complete turn I give a little more brake and all body shift possible. its enough to make it SAT with no tendency to collapse. It enters smooth if you don´t use too much brake from the beggining.
Exit: Smooth, with a little tendency to collapse the outer side.
*Very good for beginners.

http://www.ojovolador.com/eng/read/tecnics/survey_gliders_sat/report_gli...

gleitmittel's picture

@lupus78
you wanted to know about problems with higher classed gliders...
here you are:
i have a vulcan m and it seems to be quit impossible to sat it!
it`s nearly the same as you wrote as you wrote about the syntax (please don`t kill me ;-)
I tried all sat-entries that i know (progressive, pumping, from wingover) and its always the same: the outside (non-braked side) collapses - sometimes the outer wingtip keeps open and just the nose to the middle rolls in like a frontstall...

i have no problems to sat on other gliders, but the vulcan?!?!?
the lines are ok, i had it for a check some time ago - they said it`s perfekt...

Jason's picture

Hi there, I'm no SAT expert but done maybe 30-40 and now can get close to spinning them without doing so, so I think I have my entry quite good and early. I wouldn't take more wraps, I think Lupus is right, you should enter the SAT earlier when the wing is maybe 45-30 degress from horizontal, then progressively pull (with one wrap) the initiating brake and once you're in pull as much as you can to get the wing as high as possible.

Also, Joel's method will work for begginers as you get the chance to enter the SAT let it set-in then exagerate it...

Jason

lupus78's picture

I think the problem is that you are trying to enter too late. You shouldn't wait till the moment, when the canopy is going on the nose. I usually enter, when the canopy's leading edge is about 45 degrees to the horizont.
You can also read about this in the http://justacro.com/index.php?m=18&c=15 SAT description , at the Dangers section

Stoffel's picture

Hallo Pál!!!

Thanks for your attention. It´s not easy to discribe, because I didn´t du it lots of times.
I normally take two wraps, go into sat position (take the right riser) and lead in a spiral. In the moment where the canopy is going on the nose, i pull the break with an impulse down. Then the right side collaps and the glider goes into a deep strange spiral.

I don´t know what i should do. Perhaps three Wraps?

ng
Woody

PalTakats's picture

"and immidiately pull again as hard as possible"

I think this is a good way to make your first MacTwist, but not SAT. I prefer to pull the brake slowly and gradually, just wait until the glider accelerates into spiral and pull down the brake deep when the leading edge is facing down. Of course at this moment the brake pressure will be high, so you have to brake it hard, just dont yank it.

Woody: are you sure you pull enough brake when you want to enter? Can you describe what happens when you try?

ioel's picture

Two step entry secures you from spin.

I tried the following method that makes timing much easier:

Pull into SAT until the slow tip is about 20-30 degrees above the horizon. Then release brake (till 10 degrees) and immidiately pull again as hard as possible.

The wing that was in danger of spinning gets a chance to recover it's speed before you finally set your SAT position.

lexou777's picture

Hey woody, try to pull more the breaks when your the leading edge is on the point to point down. It as to work pretty well. be carefull niot to enter a dynamique mac twist :-))

Stoffel's picture

Hy at all!!!

Since last weekend try to make a SAT. And the problem is that i couldn´t do it with with my MAC EdenIII but with the Nova Aeron it´s no problem. Could it be, that this manuever doesn´t work with my MAC glider?

Please write an answer

simon2's picture

Hey..

I fly a UP makalu s (DHV 1-2). Is it possible doing a SAT with this glider?

Thx for answers..

lupus78's picture

I think a floppy wingtip on exit is usually on many gliders. Mine does it also!

arjan's picture

When doing a SAT on my former wing (Swing Arcus) I always had it rock solid while in the SAT and during the exit. Now I bought myself this really superb entry-level acro-wing U-Turn FreeForce22 (I love it). It perfectly suits my demands and skills at this moment, but it's pretty anoying to notice the inside wingtip flapping on SAT lead-out.

I've tried a couple of variations with weightshift, releasing brake, keeping inside and/or outside pressure etc.. but on lead-out, the tip kept collapsing. Does anybody know a way to prevent this ?

Today I've read the latest competion-document concerning Red Bull Vertigo and I noticed they pointed out there is no penalty for tip-collapse on SAT-exit !

Could this mean this problem is something comon to paragliders in this situation ? It may also mean there is no solution to this problem ? That would be a pity, because a solid wing looks a lot better on exit than a floppy wingtip.

Good tips are welcome !

lupus78's picture

After I made my brakes shorter on my Cayenne my SAT f*cked up, the lower wingtip was flapping all the time. First I couldn't figure out what is the problem. Later I realized: by makeing the brakes shorter, I had to grab the risers higher, close to the lines. With this I pushed down the lower wing a littel bit more, and that made the flapping. Finding a lower point on the riser solwed the problem.

morosteff's picture

i experienced the collapsed outer wing on SAT if i pulled the inner break too strong and fast. for SAT the wing needs some time to turn...

akira's picture

pogozoli :

I get the same problem when I have some break on the outter side with my vulcan. It goes into SAT but the lower half is flapping. Be sure you release the brake completely when you grab the riser.