Did a taster day on saturday near Ingleton with Active Edge. Inevitably lots of learning/practising etc but by the end of the day I got to do three short flights – only about 30ft off the ground and 100 yards or so down the hill but enough to give me a sense of how awesome it could be – loved it. I suppose I’m just looking for advice on where to go from here.

What kind of budget should I be trying to save up for gear?
Any particular recommendations for good value stuff?
What do I need to consider?
Is buying second hand safe?
Are Active Edge good people to do the rest of the training with (think it’s about another £1200 or so to get fully qualified)?

I can see this getting quite addictive! Sorry for all the questions – cheers. 🙂

It’s more fun outside to be honest

tried it about 10 years ago.

You have to join the British Hang and Para association which sends you their regular magazine. It’s a little off putting it had more obituaries than the climbing mags.
I spent a lot of money on lessons which turned into sitting in fields as the “wind wasn’t quite right”
Passed the theory easily (on another day of sitting in a field with the wrong wind)
My mate who I did it with passed and flew a bit, he gave up after about a year and sold all the gear – very temperamental weather and as he described you’ve never experienced bad turbulence until it happens near the ground paragliding.

On the plus side the tandem I did in the alps was fantastic and amazing, even got to fly for quite a bit.

How dangerous is it statistically? I keep hearing about people killing themselves doing it, and getting travel insurance for it sems more expensive than mtb

Cant you get rigs now that wont collapse? I have a firend who did it lots and the footage of him crashing into a tree in Australia was pretty horrible. He was fine apart from concussion and cuts and bruises. His missus had a more serious accident 🙁 not fatal.

In Les Gets one year they had the World Champs, amazing to see about 150 in the sky at once, then in the blink of an eye they were all gone out of sight.

the safety stats i found were
motorbikes; 28 deaths per 100,000.
paragliding; 40 deaths per 100,000.
horseriding; 57 deaths per 100,000.

It’s more fun outside to be honest

Eh?

You’re all doing a pretty good job of putting me off, thanks! Is it really that dangerous? More dangerous than driving?

I picked up a hitchhiker in the lakes a while ago who had flown a fair way across the fells – he reckoned it was like anything, if you pushed it you could get into trouble but you could also stay in your comfort zone and be reasonably safe.

I spent a lot of money on lessons which turned into sitting in fields as the “wind wasn’t quite right”

There was a couple on my course who’d tried 7 times but the weather hadn’t been right – I got to fly first time! 🙂

I think when you’re a beginner there is only a limited amount of conditions that are safe for you to fly in – gets a bit better if you’re more experienced. One of them did say you need to not get too hung up on being able to fly and if you go on a trip, take a bike and walking boots too etc.

he reckoned it was like anything, if you pushed it you could get into trouble but you could also stay in your comfort zone and be reasonably safe.

TBH I couldn’t get my head round it really as there were too many variables at play for my head.
As a beginner you get to play in the same air as the experienced guys, my mate who did qualify had a couple of those moments.

Seems like fun though

but safer than horse riding. which lots of people encourage young children to do

he reckoned it was like anything, if you pushed it you could get into trouble but you could also stay in your comfort zone and be reasonably safe.

there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots 😉

there are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots

about the same thing the 40+ tandem pilot I flew with in the alps 🙂 that and the unlucky ones.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWPvRJ5hUeE[/video]

think when you’re a beginner there is only a limited amount of conditions that are safe for you to fly in – gets a bit better if you’re more experienced

yep, and just as well you learnt somewhere that knew that. I learnt to skydive in Spain where they don’t bother with such niceties and had a few near death experiences when I jumped not knowing the wind speed exceeded my canopy speed by some margin.

This leaves you with two choices – land going backwards at a moderate speed, but can’t see or brace properly, or land going forward at windspeed + canopy speed ie 40mph+ and dodge the buildings / trees but leave a 50 yard skid in the ground where you impacted and were dragged through Olive groves face first…

😯

So they can de-power and furl up just like a powerkite then? Oh.

the safety stats i found were
motorbikes; 28 deaths per 100,000.
paragliding; 40 deaths per 100,000.
horseriding; 57 deaths per 100,000.

Per 100,000 what though? trips? participants? miles covered?

Hopefully this guy had managed to stay injury free – awesome skills 🙂

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjxkXNC31Z4[/video]

I am near CP rated (Club Pilot) and fly from Chale cliffs or various other sites on the Isle of Wight.

Modern beginners (EN A) gliders have good passive safety, they don’t collapse or stall etc. unless you’re being really stupid, and recover more or less automatically (if you’re high enough). ‘Hands up if you know what to do in a stall!’

Second hand is fine but make sure you know what you’re getting and get it checked at The Loft or similar place. You can pick up some good bargains on second hand gear as many people progress quickly from their first EN A glider to a B long before the glider is anywhere near halfway worn out. Actually this is a contributing factor to many accidents – pilots trying to run before they can walk. Also a lot of people buy all their gear, then have a scare, decide it’s not for them and sell up.

£1200 is typical for and EP + CP course.

And yeah, it’s nicknamed ‘parawaiting’ as the conditions envelope for flying (particularly for learning/beginners) is quite small. Helps if you have a choice of sites nearby suitable for different wind directions, and some other stuff to do as backup plan (power kite/kite surfing/RC glider etc.)

Does being skilled at Kitesurfing give you an advantage when learning to Paraglide then?

An old friend of mine does para motoring and paragliding and loves it. Although he is the front jack man for Caterham f1 team so clearly has issues!! 🙂

Hmmm, not sure really, I’m not a kite surfer but I’ve had a go. I reckon there’s probably an underlying understanding of what the air is doing and how the kite/wing responds that helps.

I do fly RC gliders and a lot of the ‘rules’ are the same – always turn away from the hill, how to do landing approaches etc. as well as recognising where the best lift will be and where turbulence is likely to be and so on.

It’s more fun outside to be honest

😀

Can’t help but I quite fancy a paramotor. An electric one.

I’ve had a short go. I was at a regional gliding comp at Dunstable gliding club and a fellow competitor had paraglider he’d borrowed. At the end of our flying day, we walked to the top, I strapped in and jumped off the steep bit. As it turns out, a paraglider is remarkably easy to fly, so managed about 15 mins ridge soaring. Although it turned out well, what an unbelievably stupid thing to have done!
I never had another go as I fly ‘normal’ gliders, so on most days you can do paragliding, I’d be in the air anyway.

You can normally get a quality fully functioning bundle inc wing, harness, reserve etc for £800-1000

As a beginner You’ll want ring rated DHV 1 or DHV 1/2 for stability and safety.

Good resource for checking wing specs

Ebay is often a good bet, and there are dedicated Paragliding classified sites as well, such as: Sky Ads

You can get your kit checked over at various specialists such as:

The loft

or

Aerofix

Hope that helps, have fun 😀

Biscuit Powered – I’m on the IoW and following a brilliant tandem experience in Switzerland been thinking seriously about getting in to Paragliding – main arguments against are the number of flyable days/hours in a day and the attendant waiting… are you using the guys at Butterfly?

Yeah, Dave ‘butterfly’ Botha. It’s just him and his sidekick Josh. Plus Lucy who’s training to be an instructor. Really great bunch, if it’s not flyable we just chill out and do other stuff.

Give him a call, I’m not sure if he’s taking on new students at the moment.

If you’re living on the IOW the weather variability isn’t so much of an issue as you can check the wind/weather on the day and go fly or stay at home. For me being in Southampton I have to book a ferry in advance etc. – often a bit of a gamble.

BP Cheers for that. I’ll call him tomorrow. I’m flexible with work so can probably optimise the weather windows. As I’m not far from Cowes happy to offer lifts if I go for it and it suits you.

Chaz

Nice one 🙂

It’s something I’ve loved watching for some time, but I know that if I try it, I’ll want to do it properly, and there’s no way I can afford to.
Flying regularly wouldn’t be too much of an issue, as there’s a great spot within fifteen miles or so:

[/url] image by CountZero1, on Flickr[/img]

Heres a gaggle setting off for Milton Keynes.
Though why anyone would want to is anyone’s guess… 😉

Just got the joke. 🙂

Sorry been away for a few days – thanks for all the info everyone. Still weighing it up but I think I’ll probably go for it at some point.