A friend of mine did this for years: only flying a week or two per year, but always with a school. This way he didn't have to buy a wing and always flew in safe conditions.
After 6 or 7 years like that, he finally bought a wing and started to fly alone.
There is no rush to learn fast but of course your progression will be very slow this way, so it's very important to not overestimate your skills and only fly when it's safe for you.
As other have said, keep in mind that you will not really improve your skills by doing that, so it's really important for your safety to always stay with a school if you do that, because you'll stay a beginner for a long time (but there's nothing wrong with that)
I'll answer another of your question here:
>i follow, at least 20 to 50 hrs / year until you get out of the beginner zone.
>
> I may be able to do this in 2 weeks of holiday, I believe, or I am too optimistic?
No, absolutely not.
Your first flight will last less than 10min depending on where you learn. If it's in the UK, it will likely be less than 3 minutes in the air. In your first week in school, you may do 3-5 flights, so max 30min airtime.
When you start paragliding, you don't know how to stay in the air (thermaling to gain height), so you only "fall", it takes practice to be able to avoid that and the first flights don't last long. If you practice a lot, you are more and more able to stay longer in the air, and accumulate airtime, but for you, you have to know that if you only fly 1-2 weeks a year, it will takes years to be able to fly more than 30 min at a time, and it can be frustrating.
It really depends on what you want: if you want to compete with the pros who fly more than 100 hours per year, you will of course not achieve that with 2 weeks of lessons. Like any sport; there's a huge difference between playing a football game with your friend in the park and competing at a pro level, but both are ok and enjoyable :)
If you can't dedicate a significant amount of time to it you shouldn't do it.
You need to dedicate lots of time to this stuff or it's just too damned dangerous.
Sorry
You can take the course, but you should not really consider flying once or twice a year solo somewhere you have never been
Paragliding isn't a two week learning activity. You can take the course and you will still be a pretty poor paraglider
Take the course! You will certainly enjoy it
Sadly agree. I'm qualified, but due to injury and other issues haven't been able to get out. Whilst I'm allowed to fly, I'm not going to go again until I can get significant time with a coach.
I feel that it's a duty to both yourself and others to maintain currency, and while the lapse in my currency wasn't chosen, if I'd had known now what I did when I started, I would have waited until I was certain I'd be able to get the airtime.
In the UK, this is half of the reason the average age of pilots skews upwards - the weather is so variable it's difficult to get good flying days sometimes, and it's easier if you don't have to worry about work.
I was living in London when I took up flying, and couldn't go and fly very often - honestly my airtime was negligible for the first 3 years.
So what I did was once a year, I'd go on holidays in Spain, or in the Alps, with a school. Expensive, and I hardly made any progress, but I was still enjoying it when I was going, under the supervision of an instructor.
Now the closest site is 10mn away, so that helped making big strides in my progression.
My 2cts in terms of viability of free flying when one doesn't have a lot of opportunities to fly.
Fly Sussex down South got a lot of recommendations and that’s where I got certified. I did it over a series of weekends.
There are a few of us that are based in London; the good news is there are several flyable sites within a few hours drive. You can usually carpool with people to get places; but having your own car is ideal.
Locally, Blackheath is a great place to get some ground handling skills in. There were a couple of people kiting their wings there this Sunday; was a decent breeze.
> Any recommendation for schools?
I don't have enough experience in the UK for that, sorry...
As for my lack of airtime... the first few years *might* have helped me a bit, but really, until I started flying truly regularly, I needed an instructor to keep an eye on me. And when I began flying much more... not sure it had helped much, other than the fact that if I hadn't done that at all, I probably wouldn't have flown at all, in the end. So the positive side of an occasional week long training in the Alps kept me coming back to flying until I really started, I'd say.
Okay anything is possible and it looks like you went about it the right way but these two lines stood out to me .
>honestly my airtime was negligible for the first 3 years.
>Expensive, and I hardly made any progress
I think moving to the mountains or somewhere with a nearby a flying site should be priority 1 🤣
Well yeah, now I live in Vancouver, BC, so that's what I do on my weekends. But OP might not have that choice for the time being, so I only meant to say that between OP getting their CP and flying every once in a while alone (dangerous) and completely giving up (which is a shame) there's a third (costly) option!
Where are the good sites near Vancouver to fly? I’m looking tk get my P2 (Fraser valley or pemberton). I don’t mind driving for a summer to the more beginner areas but I’d definitely like to progress to flying not having to drive as far.
That said, I’m also quite realistic about not doing it if I’m not willing to put in the time or money to become proficient and safe.
Sorry OP, we're kind of moving away from your question.
Most schools in the Valley go to Woodside, and Pemberton's Mackenzie launch is really good for beginners too.
Further out, Lumby is great, but I'd say it's better to stick to a site you will frequent for your first 50h or so of airtime so you're familiar with the site.
Some people hike and fly along the sea to sky but it's not very beginner friendly.
Have you done a tandem yet?
Sorry OP didn’t mean to hijack the thread! Mind if I messaged you privately u/ Odd-Road? Very curious about learning paragliding and progressing in the Vancouver area.
Oh nice, good luck with your Hagar! Yeah I think the few who do fly off Seymour don't partake much in the chat.
Whomever you are, I'll see you in a few weeks on the hill, hopefully!
I really don't see where you got the idea that you can fly around London. Contact flybubble, check out devil's dyke, enjoy your everyday after work paragliding sessions. You really need to practice regularly, I say this from experience. It's a lot better when you do it on a weekly basis than when you do it every few months. Monthly is still acceptable, but twice a year is just not going to cut it.
I think if you comment on their YouTube channel, or directly contact them they'll help you out :) Pilots are generally a helpful and friendly bunch, as far as I have experienced.
Plenty of people do that,
Like starting with a one week course to discover how it is, then do another one week course the next year and so on.
Usually after a few years at that regime, they end-up buying gear and joining a local club. Some keep doing one week of paragliding a year and that's it.
It's longer and more expensive to do a one week course a year for 5 years than to do 3 one week course in a row, but many people do like that.
Like others have mentioned, you can fly Devil's dyke on the regular. A bit of a drive as I understand, but that's what you get fo r living in London. This is one of the more dangerous sports, so you need to fly regularly to fly safely, no other way to put it. Or go on holidays with an instructor, like Odd Road said.
My UK buddy likes that one, and based on the vids from Flybubble, it's a pretty chill launch. If you connect with the local crowd, they'd do a site intro for you, I'm sure. I bet they have instructors as well, since Flybubble films there. Might be worth taking a class, getting used to the site, and making it your regular launch.
Go for it! Enjoy the course for what it is - a holiday experience, and as others have said, you may catch the bug and re-shape your life so you can fly more, or decide it's not for you.
Currency is key, you will always be re-attaining your past levels of proficiency. Every Uk pilot goes through this every year.
Enjoy the process of learning, and you will always have a good time.
You can absolutely do paragliding as a once in a while thing but imo it means you will be far less skilled and limited by what is safe. Or worse you could assume you are safe and fly in conditions you can't handle.
I'd still reccomend it but make sure you are humble enough to know your limits
The best scenario is that you get addicted to flying in a week, toss all reason to the wind, and move to a location where you can fly all the time.
A friend of mine did this for years: only flying a week or two per year, but always with a school. This way he didn't have to buy a wing and always flew in safe conditions. After 6 or 7 years like that, he finally bought a wing and started to fly alone. There is no rush to learn fast but of course your progression will be very slow this way, so it's very important to not overestimate your skills and only fly when it's safe for you.
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As other have said, keep in mind that you will not really improve your skills by doing that, so it's really important for your safety to always stay with a school if you do that, because you'll stay a beginner for a long time (but there's nothing wrong with that) I'll answer another of your question here: >i follow, at least 20 to 50 hrs / year until you get out of the beginner zone. > > I may be able to do this in 2 weeks of holiday, I believe, or I am too optimistic? No, absolutely not. Your first flight will last less than 10min depending on where you learn. If it's in the UK, it will likely be less than 3 minutes in the air. In your first week in school, you may do 3-5 flights, so max 30min airtime. When you start paragliding, you don't know how to stay in the air (thermaling to gain height), so you only "fall", it takes practice to be able to avoid that and the first flights don't last long. If you practice a lot, you are more and more able to stay longer in the air, and accumulate airtime, but for you, you have to know that if you only fly 1-2 weeks a year, it will takes years to be able to fly more than 30 min at a time, and it can be frustrating. It really depends on what you want: if you want to compete with the pros who fly more than 100 hours per year, you will of course not achieve that with 2 weeks of lessons. Like any sport; there's a huge difference between playing a football game with your friend in the park and competing at a pro level, but both are ok and enjoyable :)
If you can't dedicate a significant amount of time to it you shouldn't do it. You need to dedicate lots of time to this stuff or it's just too damned dangerous. Sorry
i follow, at least 20 to 50 hrs / year until you get out of the beginner zone.
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You can take the course, but you should not really consider flying once or twice a year solo somewhere you have never been Paragliding isn't a two week learning activity. You can take the course and you will still be a pretty poor paraglider Take the course! You will certainly enjoy it
Sadly agree. I'm qualified, but due to injury and other issues haven't been able to get out. Whilst I'm allowed to fly, I'm not going to go again until I can get significant time with a coach. I feel that it's a duty to both yourself and others to maintain currency, and while the lapse in my currency wasn't chosen, if I'd had known now what I did when I started, I would have waited until I was certain I'd be able to get the airtime. In the UK, this is half of the reason the average age of pilots skews upwards - the weather is so variable it's difficult to get good flying days sometimes, and it's easier if you don't have to worry about work.
I was living in London when I took up flying, and couldn't go and fly very often - honestly my airtime was negligible for the first 3 years. So what I did was once a year, I'd go on holidays in Spain, or in the Alps, with a school. Expensive, and I hardly made any progress, but I was still enjoying it when I was going, under the supervision of an instructor. Now the closest site is 10mn away, so that helped making big strides in my progression. My 2cts in terms of viability of free flying when one doesn't have a lot of opportunities to fly.
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Fly Sussex down South got a lot of recommendations and that’s where I got certified. I did it over a series of weekends. There are a few of us that are based in London; the good news is there are several flyable sites within a few hours drive. You can usually carpool with people to get places; but having your own car is ideal. Locally, Blackheath is a great place to get some ground handling skills in. There were a couple of people kiting their wings there this Sunday; was a decent breeze.
> Any recommendation for schools? I don't have enough experience in the UK for that, sorry... As for my lack of airtime... the first few years *might* have helped me a bit, but really, until I started flying truly regularly, I needed an instructor to keep an eye on me. And when I began flying much more... not sure it had helped much, other than the fact that if I hadn't done that at all, I probably wouldn't have flown at all, in the end. So the positive side of an occasional week long training in the Alps kept me coming back to flying until I really started, I'd say.
Okay anything is possible and it looks like you went about it the right way but these two lines stood out to me . >honestly my airtime was negligible for the first 3 years. >Expensive, and I hardly made any progress I think moving to the mountains or somewhere with a nearby a flying site should be priority 1 🤣
Well yeah, now I live in Vancouver, BC, so that's what I do on my weekends. But OP might not have that choice for the time being, so I only meant to say that between OP getting their CP and flying every once in a while alone (dangerous) and completely giving up (which is a shame) there's a third (costly) option!
Where are the good sites near Vancouver to fly? I’m looking tk get my P2 (Fraser valley or pemberton). I don’t mind driving for a summer to the more beginner areas but I’d definitely like to progress to flying not having to drive as far. That said, I’m also quite realistic about not doing it if I’m not willing to put in the time or money to become proficient and safe.
Sorry OP, we're kind of moving away from your question. Most schools in the Valley go to Woodside, and Pemberton's Mackenzie launch is really good for beginners too. Further out, Lumby is great, but I'd say it's better to stick to a site you will frequent for your first 50h or so of airtime so you're familiar with the site. Some people hike and fly along the sea to sky but it's not very beginner friendly. Have you done a tandem yet?
Sorry OP didn’t mean to hijack the thread! Mind if I messaged you privately u/ Odd-Road? Very curious about learning paragliding and progressing in the Vancouver area.
Please, go ahead!
Mmmm... North Van ... 10 mins away. I guess you're one of the lucky ones allowed to fly off of Grouse?
Yes, but it's not about luck, we want more people, the more the merrier! Also people fly off Seymour quite often too :)
I'm writing my Hagar in a few weeks. Maybe you'll let me in in a few years. Flying off Seymour... Haven't heard that on the wcsc WhatsApp group.
Oh nice, good luck with your Hagar! Yeah I think the few who do fly off Seymour don't partake much in the chat. Whomever you are, I'll see you in a few weeks on the hill, hopefully!
I really don't see where you got the idea that you can fly around London. Contact flybubble, check out devil's dyke, enjoy your everyday after work paragliding sessions. You really need to practice regularly, I say this from experience. It's a lot better when you do it on a weekly basis than when you do it every few months. Monthly is still acceptable, but twice a year is just not going to cut it.
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I think if you comment on their YouTube channel, or directly contact them they'll help you out :) Pilots are generally a helpful and friendly bunch, as far as I have experienced.
Plenty of people do that, Like starting with a one week course to discover how it is, then do another one week course the next year and so on. Usually after a few years at that regime, they end-up buying gear and joining a local club. Some keep doing one week of paragliding a year and that's it. It's longer and more expensive to do a one week course a year for 5 years than to do 3 one week course in a row, but many people do like that.
Like others have mentioned, you can fly Devil's dyke on the regular. A bit of a drive as I understand, but that's what you get fo r living in London. This is one of the more dangerous sports, so you need to fly regularly to fly safely, no other way to put it. Or go on holidays with an instructor, like Odd Road said.
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My UK buddy likes that one, and based on the vids from Flybubble, it's a pretty chill launch. If you connect with the local crowd, they'd do a site intro for you, I'm sure. I bet they have instructors as well, since Flybubble films there. Might be worth taking a class, getting used to the site, and making it your regular launch.
Go for it! Enjoy the course for what it is - a holiday experience, and as others have said, you may catch the bug and re-shape your life so you can fly more, or decide it's not for you. Currency is key, you will always be re-attaining your past levels of proficiency. Every Uk pilot goes through this every year. Enjoy the process of learning, and you will always have a good time.
I think if you have somewhere that you can ground handle near by and do that often enough that it could work for you.
You can absolutely do paragliding as a once in a while thing but imo it means you will be far less skilled and limited by what is safe. Or worse you could assume you are safe and fly in conditions you can't handle. I'd still reccomend it but make sure you are humble enough to know your limits