Paragliding
faq

This is simply the most exciting thing to happen in the hills and mountains for years. You can back-pack a paraglider, weighing only a few pounds, to a suitable mountain or ridge and experience the exhilaration of walking on air. You can learn to ride the thermal currents; thermalling, and take in the breath taking scenery from alititude...

Developed in the mountains of the Alps, the sport of paragliding has grown rapidly over the past ten years as thousands of people have discovered the freedom and sheer fun of these simplest of flying machines. Advances in design and modern materials make flights of many hours and covering considerable distances a reality with modern paragliding equipment....

Click on the following links for more information and the answers to frequently asked questions...

Should you have any more questions about paragliding you feel you'd like answers to please don't hesitate to contact us through our enquiry form.

A paraglider may look vaguely like a parachute because this is where it has evolved from. Paragliding is now at a very exciting stage in its development, from being just a fun method of decent from hills, paragliding now offers the pilot the sensation of true free flight for hours upon hours. Using modern high strength materials a canopy only weighs about 7kg and packs neatly into a rucksack. This makes this "aeroplane in a bag" totally portable and can complement other sports such as skiing and mountaineering.

The paraglider wing is an inflatable structure. It consists of a row of tubes open at the front and closed at the back joined together side by side. The wing moving through the air keeps these tubes (or cells, to give their correct name) inflated. The air goes in the front but can't get out the back. These cells are cut into the same cross sectional shape as an aeroplane wing and it is this "aerofoil" section that provides the lift to our wings. The pilot is supported underneath the wing from a web of lines, each one with the strength to support the pilot alone. These lines are then attached to risers, a strap like device that is then itself attached to the pilots harness.

The harnesses we use for training are very simple but the ones used by the experienced pilots can look like a bucket seat taken from a racing car. These incredibly comfortable harnesses can come with airbag back protection systems to protect the pilot from unplanned hard landings, built in reserve parachute systems and all sorts of electronic instrumentation ranging from digital altimeters to global positioning systems. Cross-country flyers can look more like astronauts than paraglider pilots! The pilot holds a control handle on each side to steer the glider into turns. The control lines run to the rear of the canopy from these handles and by pulling smoothly down on one line at a time, one side of the wing slows down there-by turning the glider. With these controls you can perform anything from a gentle turn, to a screaming spiral dive, slow the wing down for landing and damp out turbulent air.

Paragliding is predominantly seasonal in Britain, the best of the season is from April/May to September. There have been exceptional years and if you are persistent there are occasional windows over winter when you can get some really lovely crisp soarable days. We don't fly in rain and need a maximum wind speed on the hill of at most 15mph for training. We also fly in no wind at all as we can provide our own inertia to inflate the canopy simply by running. For those pilots looking to fly a little more over then they tend to head south to Spain or the Canaries.

You can do many different things with a paraglider. You can hike up a large mountain and use the paraglider to fly back down again but soaring ridges is the most common form of paragliding in Britain and the rest of the world. When the wind blows directly onto a ridge or hill, the air is diverted over the top creating a "wave" of lift. We can soar or surf this "wave" to stay airborne for hours. After your flight you simply land back on the top of the hill where you took off from. Flight times can be anything between 5 minutes and how long one can hold their bladder!

Flying is a tremendously personal thing, for some soaring around on a beautiful coastal site while abroad on holiday with the family or a green British hillside is divine, others like to thermal with the birds and see how high they can get before the sun sets. The ultimate challenge for some pilots is to fly cross- country using rising thermals of hot air to climb to "cloud base" covering great distances. The current world record is over 400km and in Britain, just over 180k from North Wales to Luton…avoiding the airport!

Thermalling is flying around in circles to stay in the areas of best lift exactly the same way as the birds, like kites & buzzards or Griffin Vultures (which you see in this country all year round). Average good climb rates in Britain during the summer are around 400 feet per minute although 900 to 1000 feet per minute is not unheard off.

There is nothing to compare to the buzz you get from banking a glider onto it's wing tip and rising skywards in a strong, smooth thermal, ground features getting smaller with every turn. One student on his first trip abroad said to me following his first thermic flight "I am so glad that I’ve not gone through my entire life without experiencing that incredible flight". All this and more is open to you in the world of paragliding and it is one of the few adventure sports where women can compete on equal terms with men as physical strength or body weight is not an issue.

Don’t think for a minute that paragliding is a specialist Sport. Britain has a comparatively small number of flyers, around 7- 8,000, of which Paragliding pilots make up 4- 5,000 the rest are hang glider pilots. However between the French and Germans alone there are around 60,000 pilots, the Swiss boast another 20,000. These figures are based on registered flyers. It’s difficult to say precisely how many Americans, Canadians. Kiwi’s and Australian pilots there are plus the Japanese…. Basically you can fly virtually everywhere in the world. The simple fact is that massive amounts of people are and have tuned into one of the most pleasurable experiences you can do…that is free flight!

Potentially anywhere there is a hill or mountain. Britain is quite exceptional in that it has a very sociable and positive community of flyers, regional clubs and schools. The BHPA (Governing Organisation) will happily give you a list of local clubs in and around Britain. Most local clubs encourage new or visiting pilots to make contact and join as members for a very acceptable amount of cash. In exchange you meet club coaches and receive a site map of the area showing a local contact for the sites, access, and subtleties and sensitivities of each hill or mountain. If you are flying abroad for the first time then the safest way is with a local guide or school who know the area and conditions well. The BHPA may be able to help here but generally look in the Association magazines or on the net and find what you are looking for.

Paragliders come in all sizes catering for both light and heavy weights apiece. Thankfully for most of the instructors I know, you don’t need to be an athlete. Generally as long as you can put one foot in front of another and break into a gentle jog you can safely learn how to fly. Early in your course you will be expected to walk up a few gentle slopes but for the remainder you will be driven. We aim to teach you at your own pace, but if you have any queries concerning some aspect of your health do speak to us regarding them.

If you are learning to fly with us all equipment will be provided from a basic safety helmet to glider, reserve & harness within the course price. We also use Radios on bigger hill flights for certain tasks like soaring and Big Ears manoeuvres.

The gliders you fly on the later half of your course and when you leave the school tend to be a little different from the training gliders you first go out on.

Some students prefer to buy their own equipment from the outset & learn to fly using that. Others choose to buy new or used equipment half way through the course so that by the end of the course they are "au fait" and comfortable with their new kit in the company and familiar surroundings of their instructors.

Our recommendation is to try and hold off buying equipment until you have completed two or three days of the course, by then you will be familiar with what is on the market and what you might like. The choice is huge and depending on what your intentions, not all equipment is suitable. If climbing and paragliding is an ambition then you will want very specialist light weight equipment, like wise, if you commute with your business a lot and you need something more portable. It just allows you a chance to look around and see what gliders and harnesses are available. Regardless if you are on the inclusive glider-training package and have bought your kit new, there won’t be any pressure on you to select the first thing that’s put in front of you.

In the very unlikely event of loosing a whole week’s flying we will give you credit towards another course in the future. Any half days during the week lost to bad weather will be used for either lectures or exams.

All are welcome. Of course there will be an accommodation supplement for partners and children. Algodonales is a stunningly beautiful area. There are massive amounts to keep everyone busy while you are flying. Reflexology to Homeopathy, horse riding to kitesurfing. picnics & canoeing on the lake, stunning restaurants, charming bars and beautiful white hillside villages of Andalucia, everything is out there to do and explore.

Yes there will be two multiple-choice papers. You don’t need to know any rocket science to learn to fly a paraglider but there is a need to know and have a basic comprehension of how gliders fly and the rules of the road. Knowledge of the weather is part and parcel of making good safe flying decisions and getting the best out of your flying. Lectures will be given on all aspects of the exam and more.

Some basic background reading can be very useful, for good and easily comprehensible literature that would ease you into the sport try any of these titles;

BHPA Pilot Handbook by Mark Dale: a superb book, very readable and highly informative.

Touching Cloudbase by Ian Currer: Bit of a paragliding bible, not as gripping to read but guides you from the very basics to novice pilot level in a nice logical order.

Understanding the Sky - Dennis Pagen; Brilliant book on the weather, really easy to absorb and understand, not too fiendishly technical.

Other books about paragliding and our other sports are available in our library.

On successful completion of the course you will receive an Elementary Pilot or Novice Club pilot.

Sadly no flying machine can offer complete impassive security. Whether it is a charter flight, balloon, jet fighter, latest aeronautical invention, there is a perceived and appreciable risk with everything you do. Paragliders and hang gliders are not power driven so there is no risk from engine fire or malfunction. If you maintain what little equipment one carries there should never be any reason for structural failure. However, you must be aware that there are potentially inherent dangers in Paragliding. By nature of it being a semi-rigid structure, flying the glider in rough or turbulent conditions beyond ones experience can lead to canopy instability. Paragliding can be as safe as you make it, fly in marginal or rough thermic conditions beyond your experience or on high performance gliders beyond your own perceived ability and you redefine the margin of safe and risk taking.

A good pilot is not just someone who has learnt the basics of flying in a progressive manner but still continues to practice and pursue their flying with a cautious and open mind. Current regular flyers make safe and confident flyers, glider control courses are aimed to build confidence and a certain amount of predictability of the glider’s behaviour. Only fly if you are comfortable to do so, remember paragliding should be a pleasure not a competition with ones nerve or pride. Strive to do the basics well and confidently and you can fly late into life incident free.

Learn to fly courses are run through February, March & April and September and October so as to coincide with the most ideal conditions in which to teach. Any later in the summer and conditions in Algodonales tend to favour the more experienced pilot looking for more thermic and cross country flying. Pilot thermalling and cross country courses run from Middle March through to early October.

Well, seeing as you are on holiday, whatever you need, although you can generally buy anything you are missing in the village at very reasonable prices. Clothes for two weeks including any fleece type layers for higher altitude flights. It can be cooler at the top of a mountain, even when it is very warm in the valley. Bring a swimming costume, as there is a beautiful freshwater reservoir that you can canoe or swim in at the end of a day’s flying. Sun block is essential even over winter.

Stout boots, ideally walking boots or similar like Timberlands, or our shop has a selection of the best Gortex paragliding boots on offer.

You will need to have a current E111 (from any UK Post office) and medical and repatriation insurance for your time here. Our tried and tested recommendation is Airsports Insurance. It is essential that you have both these items, as without them you will be unable to undertake the course. We are supported with an almost negligible liability. So we strongly recommend that you also have a personal accident policy, its worth having if your employment doesn’t cover sickness cover, in the event of any possible injuries and your families peace of mind (Generally available from your bank or most financial advisors).

Euros. There are cash machines everywhere, which are very useful and only charge, a nominal amount for transactions.

Ideally you need to fly into the main Airport in Malaga, it is the largest and busiest airport in the south of Spain therefore offering many flights at extremely reasonable prices. There are many companies offering very low cost flights over the Internet, these are the most popular ones; Easy Jet, Last Call Flights, Flight Line.

Malaga to Algodonales takes approx. one and a half hours and gives you the opportunity to see some of the stunning sights of Andalucia. Alternatively, you can fly to either Jerez or Cadiz, approximately an hour and a half from Algodonales but there will be a more limited offer on flight times. Companies offering flights to these destinations include Cheap Flights and BMI Baby.

We will provide free airport transfers for groups between 4-7 persons, otherwise there will be a charge of 60 Euros per journey. Alternatives are Car hire (which is reasonably inexpensive, budget between 70 –120 Euros) or Bus which takes about 2.5 hours, which you catch from Malaga central (very easy), it costs at most 10 Euros and will drop you off in either Ronda or preferably Algodonales. Contact us for any further details.

Transport will be provided to flying sites and for retrieve. You may wish to hire a car for the evenings, this would allow you to independently explore the many beautiful sights of the surrounding area. The cheapest we have found on the net is Car Jet or Holiday Autos.

Visit the BHPA web site being the governing body and font of knowledge on Paragliding in Britian. Has helpful information and links to flying in and around the UK.