"Once you have tasted flight,
you will forever walk the earth
with your eyes turned skyward,
for there you have been,
and there you will always long to return."
-Leonardo da Vinci
|
Our Recommendation: 
Certified Training for:  
|
A good flight training program uses Certified USHPA and/or USPPA Instructors following the best syllabus programs available anywhere.
You will start with just the glider and harness and learn the techniques of inflation, kiting, launching, flying, approach and landing as well as gathering and caring for the wing and much, much more.
A Full Certification Course for New Pilots runs from $2000 - $3000 and can include up to 10 days of instruction, ground school and practice to make you a competent and confident Novice Pilot.
We recommend Fly Above All in Santa Barbara for Paragliding Lessons. They have been in business now since 1974, starting back then teaching Hang Gliding and introducing Paragliding instruction around 1989. They can teach you the basics of flying a Paraglider safely, giving you the skills that have the foundation of skills for Paramotoring (Powered Paragliding).
Your first day will often have you flying from the top of the incredible training hill here in Santa Barbara, giving you a true "Taste of Flight"!
The school will provide all of the equipment during most of the training up until they introduce the motor.
In Santa Barbara, they start the program at the Paragliding training hill where you will practice and fly for 7-10 days without power to master the kiting and flying skills. During this time, you will be shown Gliders and Paramotors that will be appropriate for your weight, skill and flying style.
For your first motor flight, the school will put together a complete package that fits your needs and it will be your gear that you fly for your first Motor flight.
Chad Bastian - Learning to Fly
For me, learning to fly a paraglider in 1993 was a profound experience. I have always been athletic and into sports that gave me access to the "free ride" that sports like surfing, skateboarding, skimboarding, windsurfing, kite buggying and land sailing had to offer. However, flying a paraglider (whether powered or not) gave me even more access to the third dimensional freedom that surface-based sports aspire to (jumping waves, etc).
Flying allowed me to start at the top of the hill, and if I played it right, I could find lift, climb up, and end up right where I took off or sometimes many, many miles away! Powered Paragliding gives the pilot even more reliable access to flying as high and far as you like and then returning to the point of takeoff. Kind of like a motorcycle in the sky! There's really nothing like it, and the feeling of your knees in the breeze is kind of unexplainable to folks that have not experienced it.
In the first year after I learned to fly, I logged over 900 hours of airtime! You could say it kind of took over my consciousness. I went on to become a competition pilot, then an Instructor where we built one of the largest Paragliding schools in the country. I then went on to becoming a Tandem Pilot and Instructor Administrator. Teaching and coaching the Instructors is really challenging and rewarding for me, especially so with the popularity of Paramotoring.
I understand the need for a good comprehensive training program with a syllabus and lots of real world practice for new pilots to become successful at flying. Many Instructors have put a good amount of energy and expertise into the existing USPPA program, and it is constantly being improved. This gives anyone getting into the sport the best and latest, most updated techniques and methods for learning to fly!
Should I Become Certified?
Many student pilots ask us this, and really, it is up to you. There is no "License Required" to fly a Powered Paraglider, but certainly learning the fundamental skill to operate safely is very important! Certification takes you to the next level in competence and confidence in flying our unique aircraft, but some prefer to just learn to fly without going for the certification. Some of the best Fly-Ins in the country where pilots gather to fly together require the pilots to be certified.
Learning to fly can take as little as 3-5 days for some, for others it will take longer to become proficient. Certification requires a minimum number of days and flights, plus attending some hours of Ground School and finally testing for the rating. The USHGA and USPPA have been instrumental in creating an outstanding syllabus materials and standards that is the distillation of years of work by the contributing instructors - making sure all the necessary components are present for what they feel is necessary for a Novice or PPG-2 Pilot that can fly on their own without the direct supervision of an instructor.
