AmericanParagliding

Welcome to the 2021 USPPA Powered Paragliding Instructor's Clinic at the Endless Foot Drag!

I am looking forward to seeing you all at the Endless Foot Drag and our Instructor's Clinic! Your Administrators will be Chad Bastian and Paul Cooley. The Clinic is due to start on September 21st at 8:00 am at a location we will send to you.

Here is our Itinerary for the Clinic, a basic outline of what we expect to cover at the event. 

Please have a look at the Solo & Instructor Ratings Program, specifically: the PPG Instructor section. The Full PPG 1-3 Syllabus and Wheel Launch Syllabus are good things to become familiar with. Also, look at the Instructor Commitment.

Look over the Instructor Clinic Syllabus before you arrive. Please do not share the Instructor Clinic Syllabus with anyone else; it is for your use only.

Please print these documents and bring them with you to the clinic.

Preparation:

1. Apprentice: We are requesting that each attendee work as an apprentice with an Instructor for at least 8-20 hours before the Clinic (2-5 days). This is time spent being with an Instructor, watching, assisting and learning. You do not need to be teaching on these days, just observing and absorbing. Preferably done during the first day or two of a student's training. We know that this apprenticeship is very important, and with our USHPA Instructors, this is required in addition to the Clinic and Exam. It allows the prospective instructor to become proficient at the nuances of working with actual students. Please use the Apprentice Form and email us a photo or PDF when it is completed.

Requirements:

1. PPG Wheeled Ratings: Pilots wishing to be able to teach Wheeled Launch techniques must first get their PPG1, 2 & 3 ratings for Wheeled Launch. There is not enough time at the Instructor's clinic to do these ratings. This becomes especially important if the pilot is continuing on to the Tandem Trainee Clinic and wishing to do Wheeled Launches. Without these ratings, we will not be able to permit attendees to perform the necessary flights for the administrators to witness.


2. First Aid/CPR: This is required by all USPPA Certified Instructors. When you have completed this, please email us a copy of your current card.


3. Experience & Minimums: As shown in the Ratings Program, there are certain requirements needed to proceed to the Instructor Rating. While some of these can be completed post-clinic, we recommend getting as much of this done before attending. To verify the requirements, we would like each participant to send us a screen shot or photo of the first and last page of their logbook. Flight log should contain Date, Flight(s), Duration & Location as a minimum, and can include Max Distance, Max Altitude, Total Distance, Altitude Gain, Motor, Glider, Weather Observations and any notes desired. There are free online logbooks like ParaglidingLogbook and others.


4. Instructor Commitment: Review the Instructor Commitment prior to the clinic. We will be reviewing it during session as well.

 
Assignments:

1. Your Own Syllabus: Prepare (in writing) an outline of your own first day syllabus of what you would expect to do with a first day student - all the way from greeting them to wrapping up for the day. Plan on having enough material to spend about 4-6 hours with this new pilot trainee, making this the most awesome day they have ever had! Remember - you are teaching them to fly! Keep your day focused as far as goals and keep realistic expectations, with feedback and kudos for their accomplishments. Make a copy of this and email it to us or bring it to the clinic for us. Keep it to one page or less.


2. Ground School: Each attendee shall prepare some Ground School presentations of about 5-15 minutes each. From the subjects below, pick 3 topics you can present to the group and email me your choices so we do not duplicate. Also, please be ready to present any of these subjects, as we may continue presentations during the clinic and ask you to teach another one. Please keep in mind that these presentations are geared to the new student - you do not want to be an expert and present every detailed aspect of the particular subject. On the contrary, we want to see you present the information as you would to a new pilot so that you do not overwhelm them. Keep it simple, concise and to the point. Give them something that they can take away and remember.


3. Real Practice: You may also be called upon to present topics to actual PPG2 Rating Attendees during their evaluation on the last day of this Clinic (real practice!). This could include Airspace as well, so be ready to present any of these topics.


4. FOI Test: To satisfy the requirement for testing for the Fundamentals Of Instructing, go to King Schools Free Test page and choose 30 questions, then select the FOI only (deselect everything else). When finished and a passing score is achieved, save the results page as a PDF and email it to us (use PRINT to find the PDF option).

 
Please note that there is a newly posted USSPA Instructor Syllabus: Instructor Clinic Syllabus. Please do not share this syllabus with anyone, it is for your eyes only! Please print this Syllabus and bring it to the clinic so we can initial our completed columns as we go through it.

Ground School Subjects:

Here are the Ground School Subjects and the person that will be presenting:

1. USPPA Syllabus Overview - Michael Haas
2. Wheeled Syllabus - Rick Davies
3. FAR 103 Highlights - Matt Zagula
4. Waivers & Ethics for Your School
5. Safety & Limitations
6. Judgment & Attitude - Tyler Webber
7. Wing Care - Michael Haas
8. Radio Communications
9. Reserve Parachutes - John Ripa
10. Torque
11. Basic Flight Maneuvers - Matt Zagula
12. Flying Ettiquite: For the Public, Cameras, with Fellow Pilots, Fly-Ins - Tyler Webber
13. Extreme Maneuvers & Aerobatics - John Ripa
14. Emergencies
15. Flying near Water - Rick Davies
16. Solo Briefing
17. Starting Your Motor Safely - Jerry Deavers
18. Weather Overview - Brian Garceau
19. Wind Gusts, Thermals, Gradients, Rotor - Brian Garceau
20. Prop Wash & Wingtip Vortices - Rick Davies
21. Aerodynamics -Tyler Webber
22. Safety & Limitations - Lawrence Roberts
23. Risk & Reward - Rick Davies
24. Site Evaluation - Matt Zagula
25. Equipment - Glider - Dustin Ohara
26. Equipment - Motor - Lawrence Roberts
27. Equipment - Propeller - John Ripa
28. Throttle Considerations - Brian Garceau
29. Best Glide & Wind Effects - Michael Haas
30. Wing Certifications - Lawrence Roberts
31. Airspace - Tyler Webber
32. Long Distance XC
33. Setup and Preflight - Dustin Ohara
34. Hooking In - Jerry Deavers
35. Inflations, Forward & Reverse - Dustin Ohara
36. Kiting the Glider - Michael Haas
37. High Winds
38. Launching - Jerry Deavers
39. Landing - Brian Garceau