G'day Craig,
I was down at back beach last weekend with a few friends but was too windy to fly. Met a new guy, Luke who lives in Bunbury aswell booked in to do his license with Mike Duffy who is the only instructor in WA at Leading Edge Hang Gliding. Doing his early next year and there are some other local pilots down there who you may see when it's blowing around 15 to 25 knots straight onshore.
Cost; Usually looking at $2000 to $2500 for a license which is a legal requirement since we are effectively pilots who are regulated by the HGFA and CASSA. This will cover all equipment during the course which can be 10 days or over a few weekends. A new glider starts at around $5000 but there a perfectly good S/H ones around for about $2000.
It's not just jumping off a coastal cliff, there's also inland hills and mountains, being towed up behind a car, plane, boat, even scooter tows and powered harnesses. Then you can ridge soar, thermal fly, cross country XC or cruise under power and sled rides. On top of that there's single surface gliders (beginners), double surface (intermediate) and top of the line topless and rigid gliders (advanced).
Most hangies here are on the Western Soarers website and you may want to check out the HGFA site,
www.hanggliding.org/?sid=0e5e9c6f4d14f9fe99393829ca5eebcb and the OzReport.
Let us know if you want any more info, happy to help, here's a fun clip from Albany where a lot of us go over new years;
