Gliding vs Paragliding

Hi All,

I spent a summer a few years back jumping out of planes, I loved every second of it but unfortunately in skydiving those seconds are few and far between. I'm eager to get into some kind of aerial sport again and I'm looking at Gliding or Paragliding, both of which have local clubs here in SE England..

I was just wondering if anyone here has done both and can give a good comparison on pros and cons i.e. costs, flyable conditions, learning etc...

Any advice would be appreciated.

On 15/06/15 14:04, Adam Dullage wrote:
Hi All,

I spent a summer a few years back jumping out of planes, I loved every second of it but unfortunately in skydiving those seconds are few and far between. I'm eager to get into some kind of aerial sport again and I'm looking at Gliding or Paragliding, both of which have local clubs here in SE England.

I was just wondering if anyone here has done both and can give a good comparison on pros and cons i.e. costs, flyable conditions, learning etc...

Any advice would be appreciated.

I had half a dozen static line jumps 30 years ago. OK, but the
sixth jump was the same as the second, and I had no desire to
hold hands with people at 100mph and 10000ft

Gliding continues to be far more interesting and challenging.

One question you might care to answer: do you want to use
your legs (i.e. bones muscles and tendons) as undercarriage.
All become brittle with age

Costs are in time rather than money, since people help you get
in the air and you help them get in the air - so expect to
spend the whole day at a club helping out.

Cost: look at the club's website. In the SW it is ~£400/year
membership and £25/hour including tuition. There is often
a "fixed price to solo" scheme.

Flying is possible provided cloud base is 2000ft, wind
is 15mph, and it isn't raining (showers can be dodged).
That means flying is possible more often than you might
think possible.

I have no comments about any of the para-* sports.

Go and look at several nearby clubs to get a feel for the
terrain and personalities. Book a trial lesson, and/or a one
day or one week course.

I flew hang-gliders for quite a few years before switching to sailplanes and I have one paraglider flight logged.

I would say that hang-gliding and paragliding give you more the direct personal experience of flying than sailplanes and will be less costly overall. In Europe, there are many sites available for foot-launch equipment on mountains served by ski lifts and in Britain you have lots of opportunity to work ridge lift. The equipment is portable and there are many clubs. However, be aware that a paraglider is an inflatable wing - which means deflatable too! Your undercarriage is also not very crash-resistant.

Sailplanes open up the possibilities of really long cross-country flights, an experience that many of us find to be a great challenge.

I recommend trying both - it's hard to know what you will find the best challenge.

Mike

Kind of a biased crowd. Done plenty of all three. Soaring in anything is a weather dependent bipolar hobby. Nice thing about paragliding is it would be fairly cheap to chase weather in Europe and bring your flying machine. Sailplanes are going to get more out of the marginal days so if you don't fancy travel that might be a better choice. Cost is an issue if you don't have sailplane money, sharing club gliders can be miserable as to time spent standing around vs flying. Some clubs are much better then others. Time to learn if you go to a sunny European training site learning to fly paragliders you can get well on the way to being a solo pilot in a week or two.. Sailplane training in England is through clubs, and it is the nature of the beast that most places it can take a year or more of weekends to be a self actualized sailplane pilot. Not due to difficulty but due to limited resources. Try both, more importantly visit local sailplane and paraglider clubs and decide who you'd rather drink beer with then choose your flying machine accordingly.

Thank you all for the comments, I expected a fairly biased response given the group but I think the advice given is balanced and sensible.

I have a trial sailplane lesson booked for a few weeks time and I'll look to have a go at PG so I can weigh up which is best for me.

Again, many thanks for the responses. Much appreciated.

Flying a paraglider, you're out in the open with the wind in your face.
Flying a modern glider, you're usually in an enclosed cockpit. If
paragliding is like riding a mountain bike, then gliding is like driving a
racing car. It's a personal preference.

Paraglider pilots operate more independently than glider pilots. A
paraglider is an aircraft in your rucksack that you can carry up a mountain
and launch on your own. Gliders require an airfield and other people to
help launch. As a glider pilot you need other people's help, you have to
get on with them, and you have to reciprocate.

The UK weather is not ideal for paragliding. There is a much smaller window
of conditions suitable for paragliding (especially for novices) than for
gliding. Paraglider pilots spend a lot of time - often enjoyable time -
sitting around on top of windy hills and not flying. Glider pilots also
spend a lot of time sitting around drinking tea on an airfield, but the
available flying hours are considerably greater.

The average age of paraglider pilots is younger than glider pilots, though
there are plenty of aging paraglider pilots and young glider pilots. All
flying is addictive, and divorce rates in both fields are consequentially
high!

There is a general conception that gliding is considerably more expensive
than paragliding, but it doesn't have to be. You can fly a glider by hiring
the kit from your club, and get free training. Paragliding instruction -
essential for all but the insane - is a commercial operation.

Once you've completed your training, a new paraglider is about half the
cost of an entry level used glider, but the paragliding kit will wear out
after a few years and need to be replaced. Whereas the old glider has had
all the depreciation knocked out of it and will be worth the same ten years
later. Even if you borrow the money for the glider, and take into account
the membership fees of your gliding club, you're no worse off financially
than the paraglider pilot after ten years. And you will have flown many,
many more hours.

Happy flying!

At 21:51 15 June 2015, wrote:
Kind of a biased crowd. Done plenty of all three. Soaring in anything
is
=
a weather dependent bipolar hobby. Nice thing about paragliding is it
woul=
d be fairly cheap to chase weather in Europe and bring your flying
machine.=
Sailplanes are going to get more out of the marginal days so if you
don't=
fancy travel that might be a better choice. Cost is an issue if you
don'=
t have sailplane money, sharing club gliders can be miserable as to time
sp=
ent standing around vs flying. Some clubs are much better then others.
Ti=
me to learn if you go to a sunny European training site learning to fly
par=
agliders you can get well on the way to being a solo pilot in a week or
two=
.. Sailplane training in England is through clubs, and it is the nature
of
=
the beast that most places it can take a year or more of weekends to be a
s=
elf actualized sailplane pilot. Not due to difficulty but due to limited
r=
esources. Try both, more importantly visit local sailplane and
paraglider
=
clubs and decide who you'd rather drink beer with then choose your flying
m=
achine accordingly.