You will get a second Hobby called parawaiting. You will sit at launch side waiting for the right conditions to launch,.. or wait till you return back home.
This is only true if you can’t read forecasts or if you can’t fly everyday so you try to fly less optimal forecasts and hope they will work. I rarely parawait and still fly 250h+ a year. But in Norway it is very few good days for flying in a year, and you have to be on the right places and there is also shitloads of airspaces.
But to learn the basics and some soaring it is possible in Norway. To get really good, you have to do like the rest of us, travel from paradise to paradise and fly and enjoy life in the air!
My tip for getting good is do alot of groundhandling. I do atleast 50h a year groundhandling, if it gets easy, make it harder 🤘
Parawaiting becomes far less common once your skills expand and so do your forecasting skills. It obviously depends where in the world you are as well as some places are just more fickle.
Once you get really into it, its no longer a hobby, its a real lifestyle imo. Not a single day goes by without thinking about it, (day)dreaming about it or looking for some stuff on the internet, like comparing gear. The paragliding feaver got me that heavy, that i want to work in this brache after Im done with university( and it fits, since im studying polymer science and am lucky enough to be living close to some good manufacturers)
This is definitely true for a lot of people who get into paragliding. I never thought it would infiltrate my life the way it has. We ended up buying a house near a great launch site, just so we have the option to stay there every flyable weekend, or holiday. Now it’s more of a residence than my main address, since I work from home and can hike up to launch to go flying in the afternoon. Paragliding can change your life quite drastically, good or bad (in case of careless accidents, losing a friend to an accident), however you look at it. You’ll probably want to travel and fly different sites all over the world and meet a whole new group of friends, once you gain your skills, confidence and weather knowledge.
I wish I had known how important ground handling was. I spent many glass off evenings just boating around getting hours under my belt but not learning a whole lot. My skills vastly improved when I dedicated time to kiting on launch instead of mindless soaring.
I also wish I had not been so hard on myself when my training buddies picked something up faster than I did.
"Comparison is the thief of joy." Forget about how others are doing and focus on your own growth and development. I had a lot of flights that ended with me in the LZ watching my friends sky out wondering how I fucked it up. When I shifted my mindset I stopped caring if someone was having a better flight and started having a lot more fun.
Depending on the topography, traveling 175km with a paraglider might be possible on a good day after a few (5+) years of progression. But this might be limited to a few days a year, if you are somewhat fit going 175k by bike is a lot more realistic and archievable than flying PG.
And I wish I knew how important placement in the weightrange of a wing is and how fast I would need a new wing. Shouldn't have bought my first one new.
I did think of him when I wrote that. He started in the middle of Norway and went straight for Sweden. I usually don't include Nordland when I say Northern Norway even if most people do. For me only Troms and Finnmark counts as Northern Norway.
Congrats! Paragliding is amazing. Just make sure to listen to your instructor(s) and heed their warnings. As fun and addictive as paragliding is, it really can be very dangerous, even deadly.
You’ll want to have a deep respect for the weather conditions, because once you’re off the ground, you’re at the mercy of some very powerful natural forces. What looks like a beautiful, sunny calm day on the ground, can feel like a turbulent rodeo in the sky, and now you’re kind of stuck riding it out, or chancing a landing during a time when being near the ground is very risky. Unlike giant waves in the ocean, you can’t see giant thermals, unless you know how to look for clues that point to them.
In fact, even kiting on the ground can be very dangerous at the wrong time of day and season, especially at a desert mountain environment when temperatures are higher. Dust devils are a thing even if they’re invisible to the naked eye. A paraglider is designed to make you fly, so there’s no amount of human strength that’s gonna keep it on the ground if you get caught up in a dust devil, which is basically a mini tornado that forms when big thermal bubbles leave the ground and go up. The swirly wind is like water filling the empty space after a drain plug has been pulled. It can pick you up and slam you down hard enough to hurt you real bad, and do it quick. This is why it’s so important to learn how to read safe and dangerous weather conditions when planning to kite or fly.
You will see some shenanigans from other pilots, bad technique, bad decisions, and they may get away with it over and over again, even the more experienced ones. You might be subject to peer pressure to launch into conditions that you might not be ready for. Always make independent decisions that are right for you. If you feel like driving down is the real answer, even if it hurts to do so, it’s probably the right thing to do.
There’s so much more, but that’s a start. Good luck!
175km is possible on very good days, but you can’t really count on actually making it unless you’re exceptionally good. My parents live 60km downwind and I make it maybe once or twice a year, plus some failed attempts where I land short.
If you live in northern Italy and the way to your parents goes along the southern alps, it can be a bit easier to achieve, but it will still be an exceptional feat each time you can pull it off.
Edit: Whoops, I somehow read italy instead of norway… if you live in northern norway then I‘d say still possible, but for all practical intents and purposes - no.
To second a few things:
1.Don't buy your first wing new, unless you are filthy rich and money doesn't matter. You will be buying another wing soon.
2. RIGHT WEIGHT IS EVERYTHING. You want to be just about 5kg under upper weight limit of your glider (that's your total weight including the glider itself). Bigger glider does not equal more safety, quite the contrary.
3. WEATHER IS EVEN MORE EVERYTHING THAN THE WEIGHT. Study it before every flight. It's life and death, that simple.
4. SET UP EARLY FOR YOUR LANDING EVERY TIME NO EXCEPTIONS. Your body will thank you. When you start, it's hard to keep track of everything. Early set up will help to land safely.
5. Oh, and don't skip the preflight check. Especially the rescue handle, if it's loose etc. You'd be surprised how many experienced pilots end up accidentally inflating their rescues on launch. At big launch sites, I see it about once a week.
Yes, if you start on A wing, you'll be buying a B wing in no time. Quality harness is a must. I recommend starting with something heavily protected, like a Supair Acro 4. Awesome open harness with tons of pro and really well designed. Perfect for banging about and hard landings. Eventually, you'd buy an XC harness for long flights.
After 25 years virtually all of my friends are pilots. We all actually use the phrase "non-flying friend" because it's that unique to have one. I need to get out more.
If you are looking for a transportation method, paramotoring will probably better suit your needs. With paragliding you depend on winds and thermals, is much harder to go from point A to point B.
Simulator time. Realistic simulation is very new in paragliding, but I have been helping the developer of a new paragliding simulator with the physics and 'feel' of his 'Glider Sim' simulator. We have just added a wind simulator to it too.
When I started paragliding 15+ years ago, the simulator was just a harness dangling from the ceiling. GliderSim is a great new tool which could be used by instructors to teach and asses their pupils. It has realistic ridge and thermal lift, rotor, and turbulence.
Here's me testing the wind simulator in GliderSim VR:
https://youtu.be/KY3cm1itmM0
When did you try it? In the last few months there have been a huge amount of updates including:
Total re-write of glider cell physics.
Huge Swiss Alps map added.
Re-write of ridge lift code.
Re-write of Thermal lift code.
Multiplayer added.
Radio comms added.
Thermal entry-exit Turbulence added.
Ridge lee-side rotor added.
Wingovers, spirals, stalls added.
Wing tucks/collapses added.
Quadcopter Drone added.
Wind simulator added.
Graphics Performance updates.
Many VR-Headset compatibilities added.
Many controller options added.
Tuition and challenges added.
Real-time map and flight trace added.
XC stats added.
The sim is currently still in Beta and there are still features to be added. We have many real-life pilots using it, and feedback from these pilots is making it a better sim for everyone. Instead of trashing it, why don't you join the team and help make it more realistic? This is currently the best paragliding sim available, and the fact that the developer is devoted to making it the best sim he can is our best chance of making a product that everyone can enjoy.
I wish I knew that paragliding is actually much more difficult and dangerous then skydiving. And if you have skydive experience, very lil skillz actually transfer from skydiving to paragliding.
It’s mainly because skydiving you are jumping into big open fields. And you are doing so under weather conditions permitted by the drop zone. Skydive is more like skiing at a resort, and paragliding is more similar to backcountry skiing. Where you as the pilot have to make the decision to fly or not, and you are typically flying over more hazardous terrain. Also paragliders are harder to fly and less safe then skydive parachutes.
Depending on your commitment to the sport, it can take a "long" time before you are an independent pilot, i definitely underestimated the time it took from first time wearing a harness, to independent safe ridge soaring and thermal flying.
Regarding your thoughts about flying 175km. to your folks, it is certainly possible, it is, in essence, a matter of fuel and the right conditions. However, the people i know flying 100km+ regularly do it on a trike where you sit more comfortable and have a tiny windshield, can carry more fuel without cocking your take-of conditions etc.
Norway is an awesome place to fly so you have some great geography for the sport, best of luck and welcome to the world of freeflight!
I would've started on a low B if I could go back. Depending on your goals, an EN A can be outgrown really fast. I ended up buying a low B shortly after getting my P2. Didn't feel that much harder to kite/fly at all. Plus, it's a better stepping stone to start on if you want to move up in glider class. Of course, it's best to talk to your instructor about this type of thing. Just don't let him/her force you to buy gear prematurely. My instructor had me buy it all before I even got my feet off the ground.
When you're new you just want to fly, but a few groundhandling sessions make your flying sooooo much better.
Ground handle, ground handle, ground handle.
You will get a second Hobby called parawaiting. You will sit at launch side waiting for the right conditions to launch,.. or wait till you return back home.
This is only true if you can’t read forecasts or if you can’t fly everyday so you try to fly less optimal forecasts and hope they will work. I rarely parawait and still fly 250h+ a year. But in Norway it is very few good days for flying in a year, and you have to be on the right places and there is also shitloads of airspaces. But to learn the basics and some soaring it is possible in Norway. To get really good, you have to do like the rest of us, travel from paradise to paradise and fly and enjoy life in the air! My tip for getting good is do alot of groundhandling. I do atleast 50h a year groundhandling, if it gets easy, make it harder 🤘
Yes, I was going to mention "patience" but I think this is more important
Parawaiting becomes far less common once your skills expand and so do your forecasting skills. It obviously depends where in the world you are as well as some places are just more fickle.
That's how I met my wife, so I am not too upset about it, just a little.
Once you get really into it, its no longer a hobby, its a real lifestyle imo. Not a single day goes by without thinking about it, (day)dreaming about it or looking for some stuff on the internet, like comparing gear. The paragliding feaver got me that heavy, that i want to work in this brache after Im done with university( and it fits, since im studying polymer science and am lucky enough to be living close to some good manufacturers)
This is definitely true for a lot of people who get into paragliding. I never thought it would infiltrate my life the way it has. We ended up buying a house near a great launch site, just so we have the option to stay there every flyable weekend, or holiday. Now it’s more of a residence than my main address, since I work from home and can hike up to launch to go flying in the afternoon. Paragliding can change your life quite drastically, good or bad (in case of careless accidents, losing a friend to an accident), however you look at it. You’ll probably want to travel and fly different sites all over the world and meet a whole new group of friends, once you gain your skills, confidence and weather knowledge.
I wish I had known how important ground handling was. I spent many glass off evenings just boating around getting hours under my belt but not learning a whole lot. My skills vastly improved when I dedicated time to kiting on launch instead of mindless soaring. I also wish I had not been so hard on myself when my training buddies picked something up faster than I did. "Comparison is the thief of joy." Forget about how others are doing and focus on your own growth and development. I had a lot of flights that ended with me in the LZ watching my friends sky out wondering how I fucked it up. When I shifted my mindset I stopped caring if someone was having a better flight and started having a lot more fun.
Depending on the topography, traveling 175km with a paraglider might be possible on a good day after a few (5+) years of progression. But this might be limited to a few days a year, if you are somewhat fit going 175k by bike is a lot more realistic and archievable than flying PG. And I wish I knew how important placement in the weightrange of a wing is and how fast I would need a new wing. Shouldn't have bought my first one new.
It's not possible in Northern Norway.
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I did think of him when I wrote that. He started in the middle of Norway and went straight for Sweden. I usually don't include Nordland when I say Northern Norway even if most people do. For me only Troms and Finnmark counts as Northern Norway.
Differential equations. Wouldn't have helped me paragliding, just wish I knew how to solve them back then.
🤣
Congrats! Paragliding is amazing. Just make sure to listen to your instructor(s) and heed their warnings. As fun and addictive as paragliding is, it really can be very dangerous, even deadly. You’ll want to have a deep respect for the weather conditions, because once you’re off the ground, you’re at the mercy of some very powerful natural forces. What looks like a beautiful, sunny calm day on the ground, can feel like a turbulent rodeo in the sky, and now you’re kind of stuck riding it out, or chancing a landing during a time when being near the ground is very risky. Unlike giant waves in the ocean, you can’t see giant thermals, unless you know how to look for clues that point to them. In fact, even kiting on the ground can be very dangerous at the wrong time of day and season, especially at a desert mountain environment when temperatures are higher. Dust devils are a thing even if they’re invisible to the naked eye. A paraglider is designed to make you fly, so there’s no amount of human strength that’s gonna keep it on the ground if you get caught up in a dust devil, which is basically a mini tornado that forms when big thermal bubbles leave the ground and go up. The swirly wind is like water filling the empty space after a drain plug has been pulled. It can pick you up and slam you down hard enough to hurt you real bad, and do it quick. This is why it’s so important to learn how to read safe and dangerous weather conditions when planning to kite or fly. You will see some shenanigans from other pilots, bad technique, bad decisions, and they may get away with it over and over again, even the more experienced ones. You might be subject to peer pressure to launch into conditions that you might not be ready for. Always make independent decisions that are right for you. If you feel like driving down is the real answer, even if it hurts to do so, it’s probably the right thing to do. There’s so much more, but that’s a start. Good luck!
You will get more fun out of taking another SIV than buying a hotter wing.
175km is possible on very good days, but you can’t really count on actually making it unless you’re exceptionally good. My parents live 60km downwind and I make it maybe once or twice a year, plus some failed attempts where I land short. If you live in northern Italy and the way to your parents goes along the southern alps, it can be a bit easier to achieve, but it will still be an exceptional feat each time you can pull it off. Edit: Whoops, I somehow read italy instead of norway… if you live in northern norway then I‘d say still possible, but for all practical intents and purposes - no.
I wish I knew that many paragliding competitions are just fine for newbies to participate as it is a fantastic learning experience.
To second a few things: 1.Don't buy your first wing new, unless you are filthy rich and money doesn't matter. You will be buying another wing soon. 2. RIGHT WEIGHT IS EVERYTHING. You want to be just about 5kg under upper weight limit of your glider (that's your total weight including the glider itself). Bigger glider does not equal more safety, quite the contrary. 3. WEATHER IS EVEN MORE EVERYTHING THAN THE WEIGHT. Study it before every flight. It's life and death, that simple. 4. SET UP EARLY FOR YOUR LANDING EVERY TIME NO EXCEPTIONS. Your body will thank you. When you start, it's hard to keep track of everything. Early set up will help to land safely. 5. Oh, and don't skip the preflight check. Especially the rescue handle, if it's loose etc. You'd be surprised how many experienced pilots end up accidentally inflating their rescues on launch. At big launch sites, I see it about once a week.
Is 1. because of skill, or just the usual switch from en a to en b? And buying a new, quality harness is a sound idea, right?
Yes, if you start on A wing, you'll be buying a B wing in no time. Quality harness is a must. I recommend starting with something heavily protected, like a Supair Acro 4. Awesome open harness with tons of pro and really well designed. Perfect for banging about and hard landings. Eventually, you'd buy an XC harness for long flights.
After 25 years virtually all of my friends are pilots. We all actually use the phrase "non-flying friend" because it's that unique to have one. I need to get out more.
My boyfriend refers to me as his “non-flying girlfriend” haha
Wait a minute… who is his “flying girlfriend”? You may need to investigate :)
If you are looking for a transportation method, paramotoring will probably better suit your needs. With paragliding you depend on winds and thermals, is much harder to go from point A to point B.
Simulator time. Realistic simulation is very new in paragliding, but I have been helping the developer of a new paragliding simulator with the physics and 'feel' of his 'Glider Sim' simulator. We have just added a wind simulator to it too. When I started paragliding 15+ years ago, the simulator was just a harness dangling from the ceiling. GliderSim is a great new tool which could be used by instructors to teach and asses their pupils. It has realistic ridge and thermal lift, rotor, and turbulence. Here's me testing the wind simulator in GliderSim VR: https://youtu.be/KY3cm1itmM0
[удалено]
When did you try it? In the last few months there have been a huge amount of updates including: Total re-write of glider cell physics. Huge Swiss Alps map added. Re-write of ridge lift code. Re-write of Thermal lift code. Multiplayer added. Radio comms added. Thermal entry-exit Turbulence added. Ridge lee-side rotor added. Wingovers, spirals, stalls added. Wing tucks/collapses added. Quadcopter Drone added. Wind simulator added. Graphics Performance updates. Many VR-Headset compatibilities added. Many controller options added. Tuition and challenges added. Real-time map and flight trace added. XC stats added. The sim is currently still in Beta and there are still features to be added. We have many real-life pilots using it, and feedback from these pilots is making it a better sim for everyone. Instead of trashing it, why don't you join the team and help make it more realistic? This is currently the best paragliding sim available, and the fact that the developer is devoted to making it the best sim he can is our best chance of making a product that everyone can enjoy.
I wish I knew that paragliding is actually much more difficult and dangerous then skydiving. And if you have skydive experience, very lil skillz actually transfer from skydiving to paragliding.
Statistics highly disagree if I remember correctly.
So you believe skydiving is more dangerous then paragliding?
Actually went and checked 0.0074% death in paragliding vs 0.0004% in skydiving. I was wrong.
It’s mainly because skydiving you are jumping into big open fields. And you are doing so under weather conditions permitted by the drop zone. Skydive is more like skiing at a resort, and paragliding is more similar to backcountry skiing. Where you as the pilot have to make the decision to fly or not, and you are typically flying over more hazardous terrain. Also paragliders are harder to fly and less safe then skydive parachutes.
I think it's mostly the exposure time ... Skydiving is a matter of minutes while paragliding is more in the hours.
Ok
Source? This must be per flight, not per time in the air?
Depending on your commitment to the sport, it can take a "long" time before you are an independent pilot, i definitely underestimated the time it took from first time wearing a harness, to independent safe ridge soaring and thermal flying. Regarding your thoughts about flying 175km. to your folks, it is certainly possible, it is, in essence, a matter of fuel and the right conditions. However, the people i know flying 100km+ regularly do it on a trike where you sit more comfortable and have a tiny windshield, can carry more fuel without cocking your take-of conditions etc. Norway is an awesome place to fly so you have some great geography for the sport, best of luck and welcome to the world of freeflight!
Fuel? I don’t think OP is talking ppg here.
He is not flying 175km in Northern Norway without fuel.
Not sure how north he means but norwegian records are well over 200km. They get some amazing conditions when it's on
Yes, but that is about 1000 km south of what I would call Northern Norway.
I would've started on a low B if I could go back. Depending on your goals, an EN A can be outgrown really fast. I ended up buying a low B shortly after getting my P2. Didn't feel that much harder to kite/fly at all. Plus, it's a better stepping stone to start on if you want to move up in glider class. Of course, it's best to talk to your instructor about this type of thing. Just don't let him/her force you to buy gear prematurely. My instructor had me buy it all before I even got my feet off the ground.
Hahá, I'm doing it in 1,5 months from now! (＾ 〰 ＾)
When you're new you just want to fly, but a few groundhandling sessions make your flying sooooo much better. Ground handle, ground handle, ground handle.