There's a few on here. Eli and Heliboy I know for sure do. I'm in the "gonna get to it one of these days" camp. It's solidly on the list just $$ in
the way. Oh, and time
Used to...but then got in a bad crash...airvac'd to UCLA, etc. Wanted to continue but wife basically gave me an ultimatum...her or the paraglide.
After careful consideration :P I decided to keep the wife.
I still think about paragliding (now that I know so much more about the wind), but it would probably been limited to ocean breezes on a nice small
beach slope.
Good news is...I lived and I found kiting
Surfing is still my favorite though
Flexifoil Blurr 2.5, Ozone Cult 3.5, Nasa Star 3 4.0 Ozone Yakuza 4.0, PL Reactor 4.9, JoJo RM+ 5.0, Ozone Method 5.0, Ozone Yakuza 6.0, Flexifoil
Blade IV 6.5, Nasa Star 3 7.0, PL Vapor 7.8, JoJo RX 8.0 (in route), Flexifoil Blade VIP 8.5, PL Vapor 9.4, Ozone Yakuza 10.0, PL Reactor II 10.8, PL
Vapor 16.1, PL Venom II 13, PL Charger 15, 19, Flysurfer Unity 12, Flysurfer Pulse 2 14, Flysurfer Speed 2 SA 19, Flysurfer Speed 3 21, MBS Comp 95
landboard, PL Folding buggy, PL XR+ buggy, Slingshot LFT, Lots of surfboards
I paraglide. Started in 2007 and flew quite a bit for a while. Lots get addicted to it - have seen lots of broken relationships and or injuries. For
me it never took me to that place. I still have my gear but I haven't flown since getting into kiting. For me kiting is 100x more interesting.
Although I am quite cautious - so aside from some wicked thermal flights getting several thousand over launch and 2+hours in the harness I never
attempted any crazy maneuvers or any amazing cross country stuff.
I'll do a flight again eventually but it will be limited to something like lunchbox's thoughts where the conditions are very mellow.
Hey Lunchbox, that happened to me to. Ive paraglided around 10 years. mostly coastal flying. but around 2 years ago, I had a bad fall. i stalled the
wing from around 40 feet up and crashed down and backward. I broke my wrist and felt like my entire body came apart. I could bairly walk for a couple
of weeks. i made myself fly since then because I didnt want to end it on that note. but ever since that fall, i felt like "the thrill is gone". so i
even made this little video with that BB King song. It just summed it up.:
i do paraglide and i am still excited (or addicted?) !
if kitesurfing / snowkiting already captured your spirit, then paragliding is like kiting to the third power. kiting is a fantastic flow-sport in 2
dimensions. paragliding is in 3 dimension, surfing the air and ties you to nature like no other sport i came across.
but you have to be also careful^3 ! any accident in paragliding is to 99.9% human error. so learn with a professional paragliding school, take small
steps, learn slowly.
you have to fill you bucket of experience, before your bucket of luck runs empty. dont give way to the common group pressure - just
ignore the pea#@%$#!s !("what? you are still flying a beginner wing ? haha - look at my shiny new high-aspect-ratio race-wing that will blow you
away!")
luckily, to date (i am paragliding since mai 2010) i had no mentionable accident. i once was blown backwards because the wind was too strong during a
coastal soaring session - that scared the hell out of me but i managed to land before getting into the lee-side. but it was absolutely clear in the
afterthought that it was 100% human error (and a slow wing).
therefore, i now try to fly only in conditions that i judge to be 110% safe. and i have no urge to "upgrade" to a better-faster-stronger wing. i will
only upgrade my old 2007 swing arcus wing if there is a new one with better safety and similar or better handling.
choose your conditions - and you will love the sport.
do a safety training over water - and you can have the excitement of 3D flying in a safe environment. feel the adrenaline pumping if you experience
the G-forces during wing-overs or deep spirals. that makes you feel alive again !
there was a new wing developed for maximum safety - the Nova Super Simple:
start with that (or alternatively with the UP Ascent 3 ) and obay to every word of your flight teacher. dont even think about upgrading until you have
>4 years of intensive flying experience and at least one safety training !
than you can enjoy the wonder of human flight in a safe way !
give it a shot and keep it safe. you wont regret it.
just some more videos that show the fascination of paragliding (although probably we normal paragliders will never reach that level.. and thats
totally ok - even "just" normal paragliding is a mircacle and endless joy)
Don't want to offend anyone but in my 7 years of paragliding and 3 years of kiting I have experienced the following.....
my local paragliding pilot community is way more infiltrated with d-bags then power kiting....like 100 to 1 ratio .
There are very cool people in both sports but paragliding I've encountered some serious a-holes. herc has advice I'd 2nd-fly safe and I too still use
a DHV 1/2 wing. Seen way too many very experienced pilots get spanked. My two cents
Made a video of my flying in February. It's been very good flying weather, but a bit concerning how mild this winter has been. It's like the kiting
addiction I use to have, only with a bigger wing this time!
Pansh Ace 2m
HQ Beamer TSR 3.6m
RIP: Pansh Ace 5m, Blade III 10.5m, Phantom 12m, Naish Torch 10m, 12m, North Rebel 14m
I really enjoyed that. Thanks for posting. Beautiful sights - made it feel like I was there. For a second I was feeling worried I was going to land
in a bunch of brushes.
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