Leisure
in Mumbai
Paragliding
Established clubs all over the world including The United States Hang Gliding
Association Inc., The Finnish Aeronautical Association, The British Hang Gliding
and Paragliding Association, and the Norsk Aero Klubb sent information, materials
and valuable advice. Edel - Korea the world's largest manufacturers of paragliders
sent an instructor and equipment. The Western Paragliding Association was now
ready to set out on its mission. For people unfamiliar with the sport, a paraglider
can be very simply be described as being a non-porous cloth wing which is inflated
by the air through which it flies via openings in the leading edge of the wing.
The pilot is suspended beneath the wing on a harness and he has the controls
of the paraglider in his hands. Paragliding differs substantially from other
forms of gliding. For one it is less expensive. One can buy a canopy for just
as much as it costs to buy a scooter. Paragliding is the most convenient, affordable
and least difficult way to fly. A paraglider can be folded into a back pack,
carried with ease to the takeoff site and readied for flying in minutes.
It takes about three to five minutes to pack and unpack the paraglider as against
the thirty minutes required to prepare a hang glider. When packed a paraglider
looks like an ordinary back pack and the entire equipment along with the helmet
weighs between ten to twelve kilograms and can be transported with ease. Unlike
hang gliders which are semi rigid in structure, the paraglider canopy has no
solid parts at all. A paraglider is also more manoevreable, flies more slowly,
lands more softly and needs much less space to take off and land than any other
form of gliding.
Like any other air sport paragliding has its own risks. Veterans however feel
that its greatest danger lies in the fact that it is so easy to learn. Most
people make the mistake of learning for four days and then taking their paragliders
out on their own and flying off any site. While people do learn to control the
paraglider in their basic courses, there's a lot more to be learnt before one
flies without any supervision. Critical judgements in reading the weather are
only learnt over a period of time. So if you are flying in India and someone
offers you a four day course with promises of unsupervised flying after that,
Take Care ! Currently paragliding in India is a free sport. There are no regulations
and no licence is required for a paraglider.
Worse still if training is not regulated, which means that unqualified. This
could result in fatalities and kill the sport in its infancy. By adhering to
high training standards, comparable to international levels, the WPA is trying
to ensure flying which is absolutely safe. It is almost impossible to find Indians
with instructor's ratings and consequently all instructors with the WPA are
foreigners.
A Korean instructor and competition pilot, deputed by Edel and an American powered
pilot and paragliding enthusiast have been running courses for the WPA. The
WPA is still in its formative stages and is always looking for new talent in
training. Qualified instructors who have wished to holiday in India might find
this the chance of a lifetime. Facilities are improving by the day and remuneration
is handsome by Indian standards. Paragliding in India, holds a special lure
for the foreign tourist. India is a paraglider's paradise.
There are a wide range of flying conditions and sites that cater for the beginner
through intermediate to advanced pilots. Whether it is the laminar sea breezes
of Goa, to the more thermic flying conditions of the Western Ghats or whether
it is the tiny bumps in the grounds, to the table top land at Panchgani or the
peaks in the Himalayas, they are all here in one country.
Interested
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