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

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Once you have mastered controlling the glider on the ground, which isn't as easy as it looks, you will be taught to take off and land correctly. Your first flights will be in a straight line only a few feet above the ground. If you are learning to fly a hang glider, these initial flights will be tethered with the instructor able to control the glider through his tether rope. BHPA Registered Schools will train you at a rate of progress that is suitable for you. They are monitored for safety, the quality of the training they offer, and the equipment they use, and their instructors are licensed by the Association. 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. Ed is a founder member of the BHPA registered Yorkshire Owls Paramotor Club in which he holds the Finance Officer post, and has recently been appointed as a club coach. He is also a new member of the Sir George Cayley Sailwing Club and is busy learning the intricacies of unpowered flight. An occasional competition pilot, Ed is also on the PPG Comps advisory panel. As you near the end of your initial training with one of our registered schools, it's important to start looking for suitable recreational club to join. Obtaining your Club Pilot rating marks the end of your formal instruction and qualifies you to leave the school and fly within a BHPA recreational club.

Welcome to the fascinating world of free flight. Free flight is a catch-all term that has come to define the closely related sports of: Once airborne, the paramotor can be used to motor along and watch the world go by beneath you or, if conditions permit, soared in thermal lift to make long cross-country flights. No CAA licence is required to fly a paramotor – but you still have to know and obey the rules and regulations applying to UK Airspace – of which there are many! The UK is a small island, and much of the airspace above it is reserved for commercial air traffic, bird sanctuaries, weapons testing etc..Whilst a hard copy of your membership card will continue to be issued for the foreseeable future, it's also available via the BHPA membership app. Once this is mastered your instructor will turn to the power unit, and you will learn how to assemble and disassemble it (this is for easy transport, not a major stripdown!), start the paramotor, control the throttle, and undertake basic routine maintenance. Your instructor will also explain torque and thrust effects, and discuss safety issues.

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. Brett has been a BHPA member since the mid 90's and has been an active pilot throughout that time. He previously spent three terms on Exec, and after several years away, has re-joined to help shape the future of competitions within the sport. Hang gliders can also be launched by being towed into the air behind a microlight aircraft. This particular technique allows the line to be released at much higher altitudes. Modern hang gliders and paragliders are sophisticated high-tech wings that have turned the dream of Icarus into reality.

Although the standard which you will be expected to reach will be the same in every school, the actual training programme and methods may vary, as they are determined by the type of wing you learn to fly, the launch method, and the prevailing weather on the day.