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One of the most serene and simple ways of achieving flight is by flying a paraglider. Jogging down a gentle slope you simple take off and glide away from the mountain. No jumping involved and both landing and launching are smooth transitions from air to land. The whole paragliding experience is a quiet and peaceful experience.
The sensation of falling is not experienced in paragliding, and even people who have a fear of heights can still enjoy it. A lot of people start off with a tandem paragliding experience, before moving onto a solo lesson which requires a little more mental and physical effort.
SA Paragliding Adventures
Finding a hawk or eagle flying alongside you on the evening currents whilst watching the sunset can be one of the most enjoyable moments under a paraglider.
Paraglider pilots use a foot launched, non motorized inflatable wing that is easy to launch, transport and land. The paraglider pilot wears a harness and is suspended from the canopy by risers and suspension lines made from Kevlar. Brake cords are used to give directional control and speed and carabineers are used to connect the harness and risers together. The harness is designed so that the pilot is sitting comfortably upright.
Paragliders are easy to launch from most mountains and hills and use thermals and currents to stay aloft. Due to specific characteristics, the wing of a paraglider catch thermals and currents, allowing you to stay in the air for a long time, 3 hours or even more, climbing to altitudes of 15,000ft to navigate over the countryside.
Cloudbase Paragliding
The record for longest amount of time is over 11 hours, and the maximam distance covered under a paraglider is about 300 kilometres. Paragliders are also able to turn more precisely and this enables them to stay aloft when the lift is light when a hang glider would be unable to.
Paragliding, like most adventure sports, can be made as safe or dangerous as you want. Mother Nature is unpredictable -- weather is always a big consideration. The primary safety factors are personal judgment and attitude. You must be willing to learn gradually and use good judgment and have an appropriate attitude. If you don’t, then you can get injured or killed; if you do, then you can paraglide.
Para-Taxi Tandem Paragliding
How to get started?
One of the best ways to experience paragliding for the first time is with a tandem flight. You can then start tuition, and will be communicating with your instructor by radio whilst flying solo from a training hill. As your skills progress, you will be able to move up to higher flights in as little as two days of instruction.
To be able to fly on your own without supervision, you will need to take the Novice Certification Course which will teach you all of the basic skills. Throughout the course, you will complete ground training, flights and lessons on high altitude flying, advanced manoeuvres and reserve parachute deployment
