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FreeFly Paraglidig - Frequently Asked Paragliding Questions
Is that where you jump of a cliff?
Is that where you run off a mountain with a parachute?
What's the difference between paragliding and hang gliding?
Can you go paragliding in Ireland?
Do you need to be very fit for paragliding?
How high do you fly when paragliding?
How long can you stay up while paragliding?
How far can you fly while paragliding?
What if the wind stops blowing when you're high in the sky on a paraglider? Do you fall?
Do you carry a reserve parachute while paragliding, just in case?
What if you get too tired to hold on while paragliding?
Do you need a licence / training to paraglide or hang glide in Ireland?
How or where can I try paragliding? Where can I learn to paraglide?
Q: Is paragliding that thing where you're tied to a power-boat on a really long rope and pulled high up into the air?
A: No. That's parascending. Paragliding is free-flying; that's flying with no engine, no ropes and no idiot driving a boat! Just you and your wing gliding through the air.
Q: Is that where you jump of a cliff?
A: No. That's base-jumping. My wing is always "flying" before I leave the ground. I don't rely on a chute to open once I'm air-borne.
Q: Is that where you run off a mountain with a parachute?
A: Almost, but not quite. A parachute is used while free-falling to slow your decent rate. A paraglider is used while free-flying to glide and actually gain height. Paraglider wings evolved from ram-air parachutes so the fundamental design is similar.
Q: What's the difference between paragliding and hang gliding?
A: Same sport, different wings. Paragliders are flexible wings that use air-pressure to maintain the shape of the aerofoil while hang gliders are rigid, with a solid metal or carbon-fibre frame supporting the fabric. Paragliders can turn sharper and tighter in thermal cores but hang gliders fly faster and tend to have a better glide ratio. A full paragliding kit fits into a ruck sack and can be carried as normal baggage on planes and on your back up a mountain while hang gliders are big, bulky and relatively heavy - which limits the choice of launch sites etc. 6 in one hand, and half a dozen in the other...
Q: Can you do paragliding in Ireland?
A: Yes, Ireland is a great country for it. Sure, the weather is quite variable, our mountains are pretty small and we don't get quite as much sun as we'd like but we live in a beautiful country with a broad range of flying sites in breathtakingly scenic locations throughout the island.
A: There are risks inherent in all forms of aviation and adventure sports alike. However, modern training is extensive in both breath and depth, covering both theory and practice to a high standard. Modern wings are designed, manufactured and tested to very high specifications in terms of both predictability and reliability. A lack of knowledge and respect for the fundamental laws of nature and for the limitations of both equipment and personal ability can lead to an increased risk of serious injury or even death. Knowledge and ability is very important. But attitude is even more important. A wise pilot will always maintain a reasonable safety margin in every aspect of his or her flight. I value my health and well being and I wouldn't paraglide if I thought there was a risk that would outweigh the awesome experience that is free-flying.
Consider this; an average person will be charged approximately 45% more for Life Assurance if they declare themselves as smokers. A person declaring himself to be a trained paraglider pilot will be charged 2% extra at most... Modern society sometimes skews our perception of risk.
A: It's all relative. The average family car costs €25,000. The average house costs €220,000. FreeFlying is not an average pastime - it is truly living a dream. You could learn from between €1,000 - €2,000 (depending what country you do it in) and you could buy your kit from €2,000 upwards. I have roughly around €6,000 worth of kit. That's over 1000 pints of Heineken. I guess it's about priorities.
A: That depends on what level you take it to. Soaring off a gentle slope into a calm breeze which rolls in from the sea is not too hard and in these conditions it's relatively easy to glide around locally for hours. However, taking-off on a craggy mountain edge and venturing into the valley in search of invisible thermals that will suck you towards the heavens and power your cross-country flight o'er hill and vale is a whole lot more demanding, physically and mentally.
As free flight, paragliding requires the significant skill and training required for aircraft control, including aeronautical theory, meteorological knowledge and forecasting, personal/emotional safety considerations, adherence to applicable national aviation regulations, and knowledge of equipment care and maintenance. Several of my fellow free-flying pilots also fly passenger and / or military jets. Every one of them was taken back by the challenges and complexities of cross-country free-flying.
Q: Do you need to be very fit to take up paragliding?
A: Not exceptionally. For simple soaring all you need is to be able to carry your kit (weighing approximately 16kg) to the take-off and then fit enough to run 5-20 feet taking some of the force of the wing with you as you launch. However, Cross-country flying demands serious physical and mental stamina.
For all types of free-flying patience is an essential virtue. The window of suitable weather is narrow in Ireland; so to travel to a launch site, wait for an hour or two and then go home without flying is not very unusual. If this would upset you - I suggest you take up soccer or snooker where the conditions are much less variable.
Q: Do you need to be a certain kind of person for paragliding? I don't think I'd be able for 'that sort of thing'.
A: I've flown with all sorts of people; guys and girls, rich and poor, shy and confident, skinny and fat, strong and weak... As an example of the significance of attitude over typical physical prowess, one of the best pilots I know took up flying after he lost his hand through a work accident. Another gent I met recently took to the sky following a work accident that caused him paralysis from the waist down. An a lighter note on the same point; I'm too scared to go up a ladder for fear of falling. Yet, I have learnt enough over the years to be confident in myself, my equipment and my judgment to launch from a craggy mountain and fly to the clouds. If you've no interest in trying something like paragliding then don't - just please don't make excuses.
Q: How high can you fly while paragliding?
A: That depends on the location and type of flying we're doing. One of my local sites, Skerries, is a low, coastal site where we often soar at around 50m (115 ft high) for hours. My highest flight maxed out at just over 3,000m (10,000 ft / 3 Kilometers!) in Greece. Flights at heights between 4-5,500m are regularly flown in parts of the world where the weather conditions create a high cloudbase. If we went much higher than that the air would be getting pretty thin and we'd run short of breath without oxygen. It would also get very, very cold beyond that.
Q: How long can you stay up while paragliding?
A: My longest single flight lasted 4 hours 23 minutes. I'm not exactly sure of the world record longest flight but its somewhere in excess of 10 hours (and yes, that is flying around the sky without an engine for over 10 hours!)
Q: How far can you fly while paragliding What's the paragliding distance record?
A: My longest flight was a 60 kilometers straight-line cross-country distance (yes, that's 60 kilometers non-stop, through the sky with no engine :)). Nevil Hullet recently set a new world paragliding distance record in Africa, flying over 500km! The world hang gliding record is held by Manfred Ruhmer who flew an amazing 700km in the USA!
Q: Can you steer a paraglider?
A: Yes. When flying we hold a control line in each hand, which is used to change the profile of the side of the wing that you want to turn, increasing the drag on that side of the wing and inducing a turn. By shifting our weight to one side we can increase the efficiency of a turn or even turn without controls if we want.
Q: What if the wind stops blowing when you're high in the sky while paragliding? Do you fall?
A: Thankfully, we don't need wind to fly. A paraglider or hang glider wing will create its own 'lift' once it is traveling forwards through the air, regardless of whether that air is moving along as wind or not. We do need to avoid situations where the wind strength picks up so much that the air is blowing faster than we can fly through it, otherwise we'd end up flying backwards relative to the ground! Weather forecasts, attentive observation and decent safety margin will prevent this.
Q: Do you carry a reserve parachute while paragliding, just in case?
A: Yes. I don't ever expect to use mine but it would nice to have that option should something catastrophic occur. .
Q: What if you get too tired to hold on while paragliding?
A: While flying as a pilot or as a passenger on a tandem wing, there is absolutely no need to hang-on to anything. Modern harnesses are very secure and surprisingly comfortable. While in the air we can use cameras, apply sun-cream, eat sandwiches etc. I even have a friend who likes to smoke cigarettes while flying out from under a cloud towards his next thermal (and he's the gent with only one hand)! But I don't recommend that! Of course, it's always an option to hold on tight, as a comfort factor!
Q: Do you need a license / training to paraglide or hang glide in Ireland?
A: It would be very, very easy to have a major accident without even leaving the ground while trying to launch a paraglider or hang glider without proper training. Only through professional instruction, keen learning and diligent practice can we master the skills to enter the sky safely. Also, most Irish flying sites are restricted to qualified pilots with adequate 3rd party insurance.
Q: How and where can I learn to paraglide?
A: If you seriously would like to taste free-flight, that which has been dreamt of for millennia, then I suggest you seek a qualified tandem pilot who will take you as a passenger. You'll get a very good taste of free flight without the need to commit a lot of time and money to the training. More importantly - you'll have a whole lot of fun! I'm a qualified tandem pilot and will happily introduce you to the sky if we can arrange a time and place that suits both us and the Irish Weather Gods! I have years of experience and training, use top-class equipment and a have a great attitude to safety. But don't forget that paragliding is an adventure sport and you undertake adventure sports at your own risk.
Parascending / parasailing - lame! |
BASE (Building, Antennae, Span, Earth) Jumping - Respect! |
Parachute Jumping - Free-Falling not Free-Flying |
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Launching my paraglider - my wing is already flying above my head BEFORE I leave the hill |
Launching my tandem in St Andre, France |
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