Powered Paragliding training - day one
With the spring finally here, four new recruits are put through their paces
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| (Powered Paragliding Ontario) |
So you want to learn to powered paraglide? Get ready for 4 hours of ground school, and 7 hours of wrestling with a paraglider in the wind. By the end of day one you`ll be ready to have a wash, a good sleep and prepare for your first flight.
Ground school began at 8am. Francois, Steve, Tim and Cindy attended. Steve was first to arrive, and he was raring to go. With a couple of tandem paraglider flights and some towing experience under his belt, he was already familiar with the equipment and already had his own wing and harness. |
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| After listening to me for a couple of hours it was clear that everyone needed a break, so we all headed down into the climbing gymn to rig up the `simulator`. This consists of a paramotor suspended from the ceiling with Andre behind making engine noises! Only joking, Andre actually moves the students to simulate the motion of the paramotor under different thrust levels and in turns. |
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| Everyone got a feel for the machine as we ran through the procedure for landing. Getting in and out of the harness, without using hands was tried out, as was getting that landing gear ready for a landing. The various adjustments to the balance point were noted for each trainee pilot and we then did a quick check of the weather before breaking for lunch and heading out to the field. |
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| Having learned some of the theory it was time to get dirty. The field was a bit on the damp side and after a useful demonstration of how to untangle the lines and connect the wing to the harness, students were let loose to play with the wing. Steve was very soon covered in mud and demonstrated some excellent face plant techniques as he wrestled to get his wing under control. Conditions were challenging but soon everyone was making good progress |
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By late early evening the wind was dying down a little, but too strong to allow students to experience a tandem flight. Andre took the opportunity to demonstrate what not to do as a powered paraglider pilot, ie take off close to the fence (one of his favourite tricks). Day one was a succes. Everyone was achy and tired, but real progress was made and all were keen to put their new skills to the test, but that would have to wait until Sunday - day two.
More to follow...
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