The BHPA Pilot Handbook: The Complete Guide to Paraglider and Hang Glider Training and Advancement

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BHPA pilots holding a Club Pilot (Novice) rating can fly unsupervised in the club environment. The BHPA strongly recommends that all Club Pilots undertake training to obtain the full "Pilot" rating. "Pilot" rated pilots are seen as being fully qualified, and therefore able to plan and execute cross country flight with the necessary skills and knowledge.

If you do, you'll also find that the level of support and camaraderie amongst pilots is one of the many great strengths of the sport. Modern hang gliders and paragliders can be launched by running off a hill, or by being towed into the air on a line attached to a winch on the ground.

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Flying opportunities limited by work and single parenting, Jenny is simply content to get off the ground by HG or PG whenever the planets align. Happiest flying at Perranporth, Bradwell Edge or the Alps and always with a smile. As your accumulated airtime increases and your flying skills improve, you will probably start to think about your long term goals and aspirations, and working towards your Pilot Rating, the next rung on the PRS ladder. Club coaches can offer advice and support with the flying tasks that need to be completed, and the theory exam you will need to sit. From its head office in Leicester the BHPA supports a country-wide network of recreational clubs and registered schools, and provides the infrastructure within which hang gliding and paragliding in the United Kingdom (UK) thrive. Theoretical knowledge, gained through reading and lectures, is demonstrated via the BHPA Pilot exam. This exam is a multiple choice paper containing questions on airlaw and navigation, meteorology, principles of flight and general airmanship. Pilots flying with a motor (paramotors and self-propelled hang gliders) usually sit the Pilot (Power) paper, and those free flying (without a motor) sit the Generic Pilot paper. These are usually invigilated by Club Coaches. Your instructor will explain how the canopy is laid out, inflated and controlled by its brake lines. You'll then take it in turns with other members of your group to have your first short training hops down a gentle slope.

The following table lists BHPA fees that may be incurred by individual members from 1st April 2023. Brett has been a BHPA member since the mid 90's and has been an active pilot throughout that time. He previously spent three terms on Exec, and after several years away, has re-joined to help shape the future of competitions within the sport. Additionally, other badges can be earned, which include: the Club Coach badge (gained by going on a weekend training course to learn how to 'coach' and advise those new pilots just out of school); the Senior Club Coach badge (usually a very experienced club pilot who can oversee certain types of post-school coaching); the Tandem badge (awarded after a short training course to learn how to fly a tandem—pilot and passenger—paraglider).Parascending pilots use a vehicle to tow their wing up, and then descend onto a chosen spot, displaying incredible skill in regularly landing within centimeters of their target. As an Air Cadet, having completed a solo gliding course in 1975 and his PPL through a flying scholarship 1976, he first started flying hang gliders in November 1977 at Swansea University. For people wanting to learn to fly speed gliders, whether existing paraglider pilots, those with previous experience of air sports or those with no previous flying experience at all, proper training at a BHPA school is essential to understand the particular risks in speed flying.