The BHPA Pilot Handbook: The Complete Guide to Paraglider and Hang Glider Training and Advancement

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Theoretical knowledge, gained through reading and lectures, is demonstrated via the BHPA Pilot exam. This exam is a multiple choice paper containing questions on airlaw and navigation, meteorology, principles of flight and general airmanship. Pilots flying with a motor (paramotors and self-propelled hang gliders) usually sit the Pilot (Power) paper, and those free flying (without a motor) sit the Generic Pilot paper. These are usually invigilated by Club Coaches. There are two strands to Pilot rating: demonstrating skills attained through practical flying tasks, and demonstrating theoretical knowledge. The flying tasks are completed in the club environment, being guided by Coaches or Instructors. It normally takes around ten days of flyable weather to train a would-be pilot to Club Pilot level, the minimum standard required to fly unsupervised with a recreational club. Full size paragliders undergo rigorous testing of their flight safety characteristics by an independent test house, and are given a rating to an EN Standard. There are very few speed flying wings that are tested to this standard and therefore very little independent data of speed wings' flight safety characteristics. A flight safety standard for speed wings may be developed in the future, but for the present most speed flying wings are classed as uncertified.

There is no real upper age limit provided you are reasonably fit, but by law you must be at least 14 years old before you can attempt solo flight. BHPA schools will often set their own higher age limit, often around 16. Learning to fly a hang glider or paraglider can be great fun, and isn't as daunting as you might think, provided you receive professional instruction at a BHPA registered school. If you do, you'll also find that the level of support and camaraderie amongst pilots is one of the many great strengths of the sport. The British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA) is a not for profit company limited by guarantee, and is the recognised governing body for hang gliding and paragliding in the UK. The Association is managed by an elected Executive Council. Outside BHPA business, Martin is a full-time solicitor based in Peterborough working in the healthcare sector with particular interest in litigation and inquest handling.

Various powered flight guides are available from online retailers, for example the Microlight Pilot’s Handbook (Cosgrove)

An aircraft that in expert hands can climb up to three miles high, and cover distances in excess of 260km, with no power save the movement of the atmosphere itself.Many people may think that flying hang gliders and paragliders is impossible for people with disabilities. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the course of one training day you'll have periods of intense activity - and sometimes you'll sit and wish! You may also have to contend with the chill factor of the prevailing wind, so it makes sense to go properly prepared. Online and in person training delivered by our training partners on a variety of park-based topics on the parks themselves Traditionally the BHPA's exams have always been paper-based, and we plan to keep these available. Making an online system for exams is part of a general move for the Association towards making the best use of technology available to us.

Your instructor will sign off your EP and CP tasks as your training progresses, and will explain how Club Coaches will carry on this function once you have gained your Club Pilot rating, left the school, and joined your local BHPA recreational club. Paul took up hang gliding in 1989 and joined the SE Wales club. Five years later he was elected to the club committee and took over as magazine editor. Before retiring from the club committee in 2016, he served in a variety of capacities including membership secretary, club secretary, and finally club chairman. BHPA recreational clubs also provide the supportive flying and social environment that is so important for newly qualified pilots when they leave the familiar school environment for the first time.

Parascending

As your accumulated airtime increases and your flying skills improve, you will probably start to think about your long term goals and aspirations, and working towards your Pilot Rating, the next rung on the PRS ladder. Club coaches can offer advice and support with the flying tasks that need to be completed, and the theory exam you will need to sit. As a director of Parajet Tom has had an opportunity to get to know and understand the concerns, needs, likes and frustrations of pilots from all over the world. As well as dealing with enquiries, concerns and complaints from the non-flying community. He has a good relationship with major manufacturers within the industry and actively contributes and drives for improvements in quality, safety and pilot support.

After a few minutes spent inspecting your equipment you put on your helmet and harness, look around, allow the wind to raise the canopy of your glider and launch off into space. This is paragliding!

Learn to fly

A powered hang glider consists of a light weight motor driving a propeller that is fitted to a specially designed hang glider harness, in which the pilot is suspended under a hang gliding wing. He has a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and worked for a while with a small Scottish hang glider manufacturer, as well as being a part-time Instructor. In 1979 he made his first hang glider flight, and has been a member of the Lanarkshire and Lothian Soaring Club since then. He has flown throughout the UK and Europe and in many competitions at home and abroad, including the World Championships at Fiesch, Switzerland, in 1989. Developed from parachuting canopies, modern paragliders can be soared effortlessly on windward slopes, and flown across country in good conditions. He competed in the Hang Gliding League throughout the 1980s and managed on one occasion to be selected as a member of the British Hang Gliding Team.