Any paragliders amongst us? I'm planning on taking the whole kiting thing to the next level and start Paragliding. Doing a tandem this weekend and from there a P2 certification if I dig it as much as I KNOW I will. Just curious if there are any others with any experience around these digital parts....

I wish. But that takes both money and free time. Both of which I have very little.

I did a tandem on honeymoon in Interlaken. It was fantastic. I'm sure you'll be hooked.

-Zeke

I`m a hangglider pilot and instructor but some of my friends fly paragliders. I tried a short flight with a paraglider one time but found it to slow and to easy...
Any way, it doesn`t matter what you fly as long as you are up there!

I have done a couple of days, all solo, but only low short flights down small hill sides. I decided not to take it up as an interest, as I quickly got the nickname "The Flying Heffalump" which put me off

My grilfriend of the time took to it staight away, she got the best flights of the weekend, we went back for a full weeks training for her, but due to weather she didn't get too far with it. We broke up shortly after so I am not sure if she has taken the interst further. She was what they would call a natural.

I enjoyed my short adventure into Paragliding. It is a shame I didn't feel I wanted to take it further, it was more the scene that surrounds it rather than the activity itself that put me off. The kit is quite expensive too, and seeing one bloke shatter his ankle and having to drive him to the hospital and then watch him having his ankle boot cut off didn't help either.

Seeing the pros in action was the best bit of the whole thing, I would have loved to go up with them, but I am too heavy for a tandem

I say go for it, it's a great sport if you fit in with the tyoe of people who do it, I just looked stupid.

Cheers

Cris.

Hey 1400 is exactly what I had to pay in in federal

You should get some kind of camera rig like Patrick did for his R/C plane.

Had my 5th and 6th flights today.. and actually got to do some ridge soaring in lift and stayed up 15 minutes each time... only coming down begrudgingly on the instructors instructions to do some landing tasks. SO VERY HOOKED. I can't stop thinking about the feeling of being up there and looking down. It's just unreal... it's dreamlike. I keep wanting to write pages about it but just don't know what else to say. If you've done it I imagine you understand. My face hurt at the end of the day because I couldn't stop smiling.

Oh, and Audun... Lookout man, in the next couple of years I'm going to have to come visit you in Norway for some flying!

I do remember when I was a newbie to flying, and how the joy grew as I learnt more and more. I was hooked right away!

Sure you are welcome to Norway, but you must be warned that we don`t have the best flying weather in the world. Since Norway is located as far north as it is, the weather can be very unstable at times.... But when the weather is good, the weather is good!