My First days training

Big Collin Mountain near BallyClare

The Thursday after Easter was a lovely sunny day and I was glad I had put my sunscreen on. I phoned Bertie (Chief flying instructor for First Flight Paragliding) about 9.30 am that morning and he asked me to meet him just up the road from where we both live so I could follow him to the training site (as my local geography knowledge is rubbish). I followed him out to the other side of Ballyclare.

When we arrived, there was already another pilot there, it seems they always fly in at least twos because generally paragliding takes place in isolated areas, if you twist an ankle on uneven ground (or something worse befalls you),  you are a good distance away from anyone to help you. After some necessary paperwork, you have to join the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA) for insurance reasons, and you have to sign a form stating that you are not suffering from any heart problems, etc.

We started by putting up wind socks, then Bertie found me a helmet and a pair of gloves, then a glider and harness for my weight range (they look like a large rucksack when packed away). On a gentle slope  We learnt and practiced parachute landing falls (PLFs) Bertie talked me through the process of unpacking the glider and checking the harness, lines and canopy (called a "daily inspection"). This seemed like laborious work, but Bertie soon had my interest by explaining why and recounting the close shaves of others that had let this important part of checking their kit lapse.

Bertie demonstrated a forward (alpine) launch, at this point we were only trying to get the wing up and over our heads and keep it there. This is a lot harder than Bertie made it seem. When it was my turn I made a complete hash of things, but reassured that this is normal I persevered and fortunately so did Bertie. There is initially something alien about trying to control the wing and not looking at it (you must look where you are going, not up otherwise you'll end up with your foot in a rabbit hole). The wind picked up a bit and fortunately so because I simply wasn't getting the hang of the forward launch. So we switched to reverse launches. This involved trying to get the wing above your head while facing it, this allows you to see what is going on and make adjustments to the wing with the inputs (also known as brakes or controls). This sounds easier, but it wasn't for me, I simply could not get the hang of pulling the correct control when facing the wing, it just seemed wrong to pull the control in your left hand when the left side of the wing was going down.

We spent most to the rest of the day ground handling. And then in the late afternoon it was time to have a short hop off the hill, just to get your feet of the ground for a few seconds. You get fitted with a radio so the instructor can give you instructions and while you get the paraglider fully inflated above your head and run down a slope until you get to the bottom, or the wing lifts you off the ground.

On my first attempt I did more or less run down the slope to the bottom and only managed to fly about  15 feet in distance (probably only four feet of the ground). Bertie was on the radio encouraging me to run and then to collapse the canopy once I had landed. Bertie asked if I felt up to having another go a bit higher up the slope. So I gathered up the glider and walked back up the slope. This time I managed maybe 30 feet in distance. When I landed this time there was no mention of flying again over the radio, so I optimistically gathered the glider up again and set off up the hill to a higher position than before. To my delight Bertie directed me even further up the hill facing a slightly different direction. Bertie explained that this will be the last flight of the day because I would be tired both physically and mentally, and that goes against a safe environment.

My last flight of the day was over 100 feet in distance and probably closer to 150 feet. We then went through the process of how to fold a paraglider away.

I left the training site with a stupid grin and that night I dreamt with my feet off the ground :)