Paragliding Training Skills & Drills
L1 Preflight Check
Try to find a routine that you practice to make as quick and efficient as possible.
- Ensure others know where you’re flying
- Flight deck phone / vario
- Action cam
- Water & snacks, wallet, mask, XC sign, etc.
- Knife (if coastal)
- Radio
- Wing and lines
- Riser attachments, speed system
- Helmet
- Clip in – buckles, foot loop, reserve handle, risers, brakes
L1 After flight packing-up
Try to make this as quick and efficient as possible, with access to phone at all time.
L1 Ground handling & Kiting
- Staying in position in gusts
- Moving reverse (cross)
- Moving forward (cross)
- Moving up/down slopes
- Weight shift & riser turns
- Wingtip touches (l & r)
- Kiting up slope (As & vertical)
- Stall > As
- Spin (facing forward) & catch (R&L)
- Flying backwards launch
- Taking off and stalling
L2 Ground handling & Kiting
- Back-fly
- Spin land glider (R & L)
- Ground spin from a few feet in air
L1. Site & Meteo
- Know direction, strength, gusts, cycles, etc. on site
- Know low and top end flyable conditions
- Identify & factor in potential hazards (current and what might evolve over time)
- Identify landing fields
- Predict flying conditions based on meteo (what you see and from weather data/models)
- Factor in legalities/club rules for site
L1 Quick descent(from clouds & to land)
- Big ears & bar
- B-line ears & bar
- Shallow spiral
L2 Quick descent (from clouds & to land)
- Big ears and spiral & exit
L1 Strong wind takeoff
- Judging top end limit
- Run toward wing (flat)
- Lower on hill takeoff
- Catch frontal on slope
- Cross wind launch method
L2 Strong wind takeoff
- Cobra launch
L1 Light wind takeoff
- Forward launch
- Reverse launch and run
L1 Strong wind landings
- Practice trajectories with break and speedbar for spot landings
- Push out to lose height and snake back low
- 8s from behind
- Landing on bar to low
- Flapping
- Creative alternative landings
L2 Strong wind landings
- Pulse stalling
- Low full stall
- Landing on big ears and bar
L1 Light wind / sink landings
- Speed bar in sink
- Speed > brake landing (swoop flair)
- Spot landings practicing trajectories
L1 Slope landings (side, down, up)
- Accelerate and brake flat / downhill
- On hill slope
L2 Slope landings (side, down, up)
- Accelerate and brake uphill slope
L1 Killing the wing in strong wind
- Stall & turn
- B stall
L2 Killing the wing in strong wind
- Asymmetric collapse stall
L1 Hard/emergency landings
- Parachute falls (different angles) – without wing
L2 Hard/emergency landings
- Low stall and parachutal
- Sea landing drills
- Stall after low asymmetric on takeoff
L1. Reserve
- Locating and throwing reserve with gloves
- Packing reserve
L1 Active flying
- General PPP (pressure, pitch, potatoes) flying for level flight in turbulence
- Speed min speed (near stall)
- Speed max speed (full bar)
- Max glide with wind/sink
- Pitch control: Dolphins (light)
- Weightshift wingovers
- Half wingovers – high & close proximity
- Efficient turns – weightshift > brake
- 360 – tight/aggressive and broad/efficient
- B riser flying on bar
- Close proximity flying
- Touch and go drills (fences, posts, ground, etc)
- Eyes closed flying
- Induced asymmetric & recover
L2 Active flying
- Prestall (down to min sink, then 1cm more so it goes slack then up and brake again – pulse stalls – as with landings so up high)
- OTT wing overs – high
- Induced spin & recovery
L3 Active flying
- Back-slide stall
- 2 pump stall > backslide
- Parachutal stall
L1 Flying in rough air
- Coring lift in rough air
- Act on landing criteria for it being too rough (e.g. catching collapses)
L1 Ridge runs
- Identify areas of lift
- Identify areas of heavy sink/rotor
- Working lift lines
- Crossing gaps/gullies
- Using bar and risers efficiently into wind or in sink
- Practice land-out options
L1 Flying in company – rules of the air
- Ridge soaring – passing & overtaking rules
- Thermalling
L2 Flying in company – rules of the air
- Gaggle flying with multiple pilots
L1 Getting away: Thermal hunting & climbing out
- Watching others and birds all the time
- Feeling wind, and watching ground features for cycles and thermal directions
- Identify potential sources and triggers
- Timing launch for thermals
- Patient general height gain for positioning
- Explore out front or head back to hill depending on conditions
- Tracking steep thermals then pushing into wind regularly (leading edge flying)
- Efficient bullet thermal entry
- Right bank for the thermal – tight for small and shallow for big
- Exit and re-enter thermal
- Predict thermals columns angles
- Practice thermalling without vario
L1 XC flying
- Setting realistic distance / course goals that are attained
- Flying as a team with others
- Cloud reading while thermalling/on glide
- Push out front when lost thermal
- Other search patterns for relocating lost thermal
- Finding best glide lines (glide ratio) – downwind, cross-wind and into wind
- Intersect thermals based on markers and sources
- Making decisions based on ground sources/triggers when under 2000 ft
- Balancing focus/effort and rest
- Getting in touch with air traffic control
- Issuing NOTAMS
L2 XC flying
- Racing using speed to fly
L1 Using instruments
- Thermalling based on average lift (e.g. over 20 seconds)
- Tracking altitude both above ground and ASL
- Tracking heading – and how it may change over time and with height (double check with wind force on glide)
- Maximizing glide ratio on transitions: (a) downwind, (b) cross-wind, (c) into wind
- Flying to goal using map (on different scales)
- Flying by multiple turn-points
- Using thermal tracker effectively
- Identifying and avoiding airspace on map and according to altitude
Radio
- Use comfortably in the air – ridge running, climbing and gliding
Phone
- Use emergency contact system
- Use phone in flight
- Check sites in flight (weather, Telegram etc)
L1 Law & regulations
- Use knowledge of different types of airspace and where they are where you fly
- Use knowledge of low flying rules
- Use knowledge of property/trespass laws
- Use knowledge of authorities & penalties & what infringements are taken seriously
- Use knowledge of insurance regulations in case of property damage
L1 Psychology & attitude
- Get in the air early when flyable, and build stamina to wait for get-away thermals – don’t miss the windows!
- Build endurance & patience.
- Motivate through fun, progress & achievements-recognition
- Channel fear into excitement or aggression
- Focus on goals when under stress
- Practice focus/effort & relaxation (conserving energy)
- Use good breathing practices
- Don’t be reckless
- Don’t be reactive through competitiveness
- Always fly with margins
- Try to minimize mistakes (round here!)
Skills and Drills demonstrated here.
About the Author
Mark Ashton Smith What’s national standard for paragliding in Cornwall - among the best you can find in the country? (1) the coastline 🧗🏼♀️ - the most beautiful in the country. We can enjoy it, explore it, and get good at coastal soaring 🏆 (2) the views 👀from up high - all coastlines of the peninsula that everyone comes to visit all in one panorama - absolutely stunning 🏆 (3) technical tor & small hill, inverted, broken-up, and low base flying 💥- really sharpens XC skills - none of this lobbing into house thermals and climbing to 6-7 grand off the bat. If you lose concentration you’re on the ground. If you can learn to fly XC well in gnarly Cornwall you can fly well anywhere in the UK. 🏆(4) the convergence 🌥🌥🌥 - it’s the best in the UK and if we can fly it, it opens up 150km plus flights and even learning to soar sea breezes gets us in league with that lot around Brighton. 🏆 (5) We got instant access to lots of ace coastal sites/beaches to train at within a short drive which gives us more air time, ground handling skills, and wagga skills (call out to Dunc)🏆,and (6) our sites aren’t busy!! You’ll be lucky to find more than 2 people flying at Carn Brea on a perfect day. In Bodmin moor you’ll be with your mate and that’s it. No crowds. 🏆👌Happy to be in one of the best flying areas in the country - just important not to get pulled into the league numbers games which suits other areas but not ours. Gavin McClurg made the same point. Distance is great but there’s loads of other ways to have top flights. Focus on what’s the very best in your home turf! 🏴☠️
