I don’t know about you guys but after 5 weeks of no Kitesurfing with the winds gone to crap and the temps a bit cool , I got stir crazy AAAHHHHH and started to annoy the hell out of the wife, so last week I decided I needed to do something and thought – what the hell I’ll jump off the side of a cliff...

I gave Paragliding a try, started the course on the weekend and got my first solo jump in. I reckon it’s an excellent sport to alternate with kitesurfing as we were paragliding in about 10’ish knots so my thoughts are to paraglide in the kitesurfing off season or the days when there’s light winds during the on season.

It’s obviously a totally different feeling gliding through the air than kiting through the water but the way the glider is controlled and the feel is similar to a kite. Before somebody tells me “this is a kitesurfing forum not a paragliding forum” I’m only saying- if the wind is too low to kitesurf and your starting to piss your partner off paragliding might be a good alternative...

Ahh this be wreck point. I'm keen to give it a try

I like your theory, except that you have picked an alternate sport that is also completely at the mercy of the weather. Your a sucker for punishment. I like the idea of paragliding too, but one weather dependent passion is enough frustration for me. My alternate sport (mtb)can be done in hot/cold/wet /dry/light /dark conditions or when ever I please. IMO that is the perfect counterpart of a weather dependent passtime.

How often do the courses run here? I'm planning on doing one in the next 3 weeks

I have licenses for both but prefer hang gliding - no canopy collapses, more wind range and I have "the need for speed" :-)

PG are definitely more convenient and there are many sites where you can only fly PG but for me it's all about the flying.

Phoney I think Albion Park is the closest location you can fly a paramotor.

kiter77 said...
How often do the courses run here? I'm planning on doing one in the next 3 weeks

Kiter the course I’m doing is 8 days at Yeppoon May – August and the rest of the year it’s at Rainbow beach. The $’s are paid as you go @ $250 1st day and $220 each for the rest. I’m spreading the lessons over a few months so they coincide with my rostered blocks off – so it’s all pretty flexibly. There is a bit of aviation theory involved but that’s ok, it’ll get the brain working again and maybe hold off the onset of alzheimer’s www.paraglidingrainbow.com/

Looks like a fun way to get flying, anyone know if there is a school between rocky and cairns

Gorgo said...
The hang glider vs paraglider discussion is almost exactly the same as windsurfer vs kitesurfer.

Hang gliders are superior aircraft, but the practical advantages of paragliders means you end up doing vastly more flying and often end up having much better quality flying.

Be very careful about considering paramotoring. It's not as easy as it looks. The weather window is very close to that of a paraglider, and there are all sorts of restrictions about where you can, and cannot fly. You can't just set up at the local football ground and go for a fly. If you live in the country and you have some acres then you can launch and land off that, but you need to make sure your flight path does not bother the local residents.

Gorgo you’d have to say kitesurfing is a more superior sport than windsurfing wouldn’t you?? Most of the comments I read on this forum reckon the poley’s are jealous of us kiters or have I misread the threads

Smithy said...
What sort of $ are you looking at to get set up? Not sure I can afford another sport.....

ianyoung you might be better answering this one... obviously it ranges but I think a decent new kit is around the 4k mark but the positive is there’s less or no need for a quiver of gliders. I also believe they have a longer life expectancy than kites but hey don’t take anything I say as gospel, I’m a newbie and that’s even overselling myself... you can check out some prices on the link I posted earlier...

A quickie @ Rainbow Beach…

I flew hang gliders for many years and even tried para gliding, both really good fun! This video shows that a para glider could be used for kite surfing, BUT don't drop it in the water!!

That's bloody awesome gorgo! Looks like you would have been getting some good thermals off those mountains. Where is that - Italian alps? Rocky's? And whats with the beeping - is that a stall warning alarm or something else?

My biggest fear I reckon would be stalling and having the wing fold up and me dropping like a stone. Stalling on a hang glider with lack of height would be just as deadly too..

Phoney said...
That's bloody awesome gorgo! Looks like you would have been getting some good thermals off those mountains. Where is that - Italian alps? Rocky's? And whats with the beeping - is that a stall warning alarm or something else?

My biggest fear I reckon would be stalling and having the wing fold up and me dropping like a stone. Stalling on a hang glider with lack of height would be just as deadly too..

The mountains are the Dhauladars, which is one end of the Himalayan range. The place is called Bir. Hang gliders discovered it, but paragliders have truly exploited it. The portability of the gliders means you can take off. Fly somewhere. Land and spend the night at a hotel, or camp. Walk to a launch site and take off the next day.

The beeping is an instrument called a vario. It tells you whether you are going up or down, and how fast. Beep, beep, beep is good (going up). Boop, boop, boop is bad (going down). Bipbipbipbipbipbipbipbipbipbip!!!!! is scary, but good (going up like a rocket). Booooooooooop! is scary (going down fast), but can also be good if you want to get down fast.

Stalling is easily avoided, and not compulsory.

Frontal collapses can be a bit scary and are relatively easily controlled.

Tip collapses are designed into the wings and are a good thing. It allows the wing to "shrug off" turbulence. If the wing were too solid it would resist collapsing, but could collapse catastrophically when it finally did go.

BTW that video is "cool". We were at 5200m and it was -15C.

More BTW. I am just a weekend paraglider pilot. That video is shot on a tour I go on each year. There are far more brave and far more extreme pilots than me.

PS. You can have a "quiver" of paragliders. It is not unusual for people to have a full size glider for general flying and cross country flights, and a "mini-wing". A smaller glider (usually lighter than a full-size one) for stronger winds, or for walking up hills and flying down.

Paragliding can mesh well with kitesurfing, but they can also get in the way of each other. In Melbourne you get light winds in the south end of the bay, and strong winds in the north. In that context you have to choose one or the other. I have managed to fly early then kite late but it is a bit of a rush to get it all in.

On the coast it is possible to fly early in the day at the start of a sea breeze, then kite in the afternoon when the sea breeze pushes in stronger.

A large kite and a raceboard can get going in similar winds to a paraglider so it can often be easier to do that instead of lugging a paraglider around.

Did my 2nd lesson today...check out my progress

Hey Paragliding guys: Can you by chance recommend any travel insurance companies which cover Paragliding as an activity?