Tips and Tricks for Paragliding

Paragliding allows people to fly in the air currents that skilled pilots use as well as birds. The aim of paragliding is to stay as much and as long as possible in the air, or to rise above the place of takeoff and fly as far as you can.

Tips and Tricks for Paragliding

Paragliding allows you to quickly and easily satisfy the desire for flying, which probably exists in all of us. However, it is not so simple. Flying contains a certain amount of risk. How big the risk is depends on you. You must not let yourself to be fooled by the simplicity of the first steps: a good pilot keeps improving themselves for years.

This is not a sport to prove something to yourself or others. Flying requires a cool head and a good dose of common sense, and in addition, a lot of knowledge, experience and thoroughness in execution. Only a person who has such an approach can become a good pilot and fly successfully and securely.

Important note: it is impossible to learn how to fly properly from books or videos, no matter how much you think you figure it out. Reading or watching videos cannot replace time spent in the air with an instructor.

Flying with a paraglider looks simple when it's viewed from the side, but in reality, it is not. To become a proficient paraglider pilot, you need to develop three things: knowledge, experience, and skill.

Paragliders

Paragliders are designed to take off from the ground, and their structure is much simpler than a parachute, and does not impact against high wind speeds. They are made from a wide variety of materials, from wood and fabric to ultra-modern fibre glass.

They have an aerodynamic profile, and except for gravity, wind, and power control, they do not use any other energy for takeoff, moving, and landing.

All beginners must know that a paraglider is a craft for flying only under certain conditions. That's the mindset you need as a beginner. Later, you will begin to shape yourself up as a pilot that can fly long and safe.

Paragliding is, perhaps, the best and closest way to achieve the longstanding human dream to fly like a bird; so when you decide to take this step, go to your nearest training center and learn to fly with paragliders from someone who knows it.

Who can do it?

Almost every healthy person. You will have to run, jump-start paraglider, and have decent coordination and good reaction time.

In many countries of the world the minimum age for paragliding is 16 years old, and there are children paragliding schools, even children's championships are held. Flying without parental consent has a minimum age of 18 years old. The upper limit of the age is not determined: we saw flying grandparents in their sixties. Just rev up your willpower and go for it!

When you can fly?

Not many people know that paragliding is possible all year round. Winter is the most preferred time for training. In winter, the atmosphere is stable, with rarely a strong wind, which provides the most pleasant flight dynamics around the slope. But summer - this is the time for the high "thermal" flights, shuttle flights, and competition. These are not possible without the warm summer sunlight.

Tips on how to learn paragliding

Do you need to learn this, and if you do, where and how? Before making an expensive purchase, it is necessary to obtain full information and practical experience on the activity and determine whether you really want to learn it or not. You save your health, time, and money, if you take your time and do everything correctly.

It is very important to attent a paragliding school; you don't just get technical skills and the necessary attitude to paraglide from your first instructor, but a lot more. Your own views - that's what matters, and that makes this sport safe.
This ephemeral nature is the most important, and also commodity that you get by devoting yourself to paragliding. The school you go to and your equipment need to be proper and first-class, because you will be entrusting your life to them.

The apparent ease of initial mastery of the skills and the ability to quickly progress should not mislead you. Paragliding is very serious. After all, as a flight sport, failure could lead to falling down great heights, causing injury.

Of course, is difficult to instruct an adult on the right path, but it is possible. When training children for paragliding, it is possible to correct and form deep layers of personality, such as the right balance between boldness and caution, the ability to quickly and adequately assess the situation and respond to it with responsibility, seriousness, and discipline. These traits are necessary and useful to any pilot. Your instructor should be able to give you everything you need for the flight, starting with technical skills and ending with the settling of legal issues. There is an Air Code that you should follow, it is a set of certain rules of flight performance for any aircraft, including paragliding in the airspace. There are mandatory documents that any paraglide pilot needs to have (flight log and the testimony of the pilot).

Recently, possibly due to the paragliding boom, there has been a great number of clubs and individual "trainers", who will take charge of a similar "run", "ride", and "educate" you. They can be divided into three categories: white, gray, and black.

"White" clubs are certified with instructors who have a state certificate flight instructor license. These are the best to teach even children and teenagers. They have high qualifications, professionalism, experience, good teaching methods, and reputation in the world of flying. They are the best option for those who love quality and safety, at the cost of a relatively high price.

"Grey" are usually smaller clubs, formed by young people that work on a home basis and go by unrecognized by public organizations, usually comprised of a few friends. They have a desire to fly and teach others how to do it for a bit of coin, all with the necessary experience and certificates. Some of them eventually move onto "White" clubs. But it is difficult, because even if someone self-proclaims themselves an "instructor", the reality is that a good pilot doesn't always make a good instructor. Many are stuck in a state of lack of professionalism.

"Black" individuals and organizations usually spit on all the rules and they are not recognized in the flying world at all. Monstrous violations, like not having a helmet on their heads is a sure sign. The prices are from dumping low to high. Their victims are often uninformed people who want to save money.

If you decide to go through the proper course of primary schooling, you should be ready in the first few days to walk around with the glider on the ground more than flying it. It is about learning to control the wing on the ground, not flying in the sky.
"Hold the dome" will be your main exercise. Then you wait for flights at altitudes of up to 30m from the slopes of the mountain. Gradually, you will learn the turns and how to land on a target. After you take flight, in about 4-6 days you will master the basic techniques of starting and controlling the glider. And, of course, on the theoretical lessons you will get a list of comprehensive information on paragliding and various engineering terms so you can consciously choose your wing.

After the initial course, you will receive a certificate, and you will join as a club logbook pilot. Now you can fly on your own, but only in simplest terms, and from top to bottom. But it is better to continue to learn, because this does not necessarily mean that you know how to fly.

If you really want to learn to soar like a bird, go through advanced training. This involves flying at an altitude of 200-300 meters or more. It is flying in the updraft, lasting many minutes and even hours. It follows a course with a trip to the mountains, usually in the summer. Only after that, after flying for about 8-10 hours, you are finally considered a real pilot.