Paragliding training & SIV courses
Are you hesitating to take the plunge and become a professional paraglider pilot ? You think that it is a status reserved for the best? Think again! Paragliding training is really accessible to everyone and promises hours of great sensations and freedom! The FFVL passport is a good tool to help you understand what skills a paraglider pilot needs to acquire. Most paragliding schools use it to measure your progress throughout your free flight training.
Let's go for an overview of the courses and training that you can follow to reach autonomy in paragliding and in all conditions!
Introduction to paragliding
First of all, you will need to have a good basic knowledge of parag liding before you can start flying on the highest peaks. The first paragliding training courses last between 3 and 5 days depending on the objectives you wish to achieve.
What will you learn in an introductory paragliding course? During the first 3 days of your course, you will work on a school slope. You will learn the basics of aerology to understand how to position yourself for take-off according to the wind. The paragliding instructors will accompany you at all times and teach you how to set up your equipment, wing and harness.
At the beginning, you don't take off at all, you just inflate the glider above your head and land it gently without getting carried away. Of course, you work on the exercises in calm aerological conditions to promote safe practice. The main objective is that you adopt a good ground handling. As you go along, you trot a little longer and start to jump a few meters. If you are really comfortable, at the end of the first day, you can make your first big solo flight, in radio contact with your paragliding instructors who guide you and help you in your manoeuvres all the way!
Most of the time, you really start to practice big flights from the fourth day of training. You spend a lot of time in the air to test your piloting skills and manoeuvres. Controls, gestures, position in the harness... You experience your sensations and begin to appreciate the freedom of paragliding. Of course, you continue to practice the static inflation of your wing (inflating the wing at take-off without moving).
In parallel to your training, you begin to study the theory necessary to practice paragliding. You will be introduced to aerology and the topographical study of the paragliding site.
What are the pre-requisites to follow this course? You must obtain a FFVL licence, often offered on site by paragliding schools. No specific technical or theoretical pre-requisites for the introductory course, you are here to learn! If you have never done your first paragliding flight or tandem flight, don't panic, it doesn't change anything, you are learning to paraglide solo.
At the end of the 3-day course, you will have almost no autonomy. After 5 days, you are not autonomous in flight but you can take off and land with the help of your paragliding instructors by radio.
The initiation course corresponds to the white, yellow and orange levels of the FFVL progression passport.
The main points that allow you to validate the White Level - Basic analysis of the flight conditions: wind, terrain, safety - Preparation of the equipment: facing the wind, mounting the wing and the harness (harness tower), setting up for take-off - Practice: managing the take-off of the wing, its direction, following the course and braking to make the paraglider fall - Theory: having knowledge of the insurance requirements or flight authorisations relating to the practice of paragliding
The objective for the participants is to master the preparation and piloting of the wing while remaining on the ground.
The main points that allow you to validate the Yellow Level - Analysis of the flight conditions: wind intensity and orientation, find the best point and time for take-off - Take-off and fly for a few meters: respect of the inflation phases, controls and decision, take speed, fly straight, make a change of course if necessary - Landing after a short flight: prepare the landing (speed reserve, stability in roll), adopt the right position - Theory: know the procedures, understand the instructions in flight
The objective is for participants to successfully complete a simple flight on a training slope. The Yellow Level will allow you to approach the big flights with confidence. The instructors may take you on a tandem flight to familiarise you with the manoeuvres.
The main points that allow you to validate the Orange Level - Analysis of the flight conditions: topography of the take-off and landing areas, aerology - Take-off and adapt your flight to the area: take into account the relief and maintain the course, adopt a good position for piloting, succeed in simple manoeuvres - Land in good conditions by respecting the procedures - Theory: know the regulations of the paragliding sites and the principles of priority in flight
The objective for the participants is to make a long flight with the assistance of the paragliding instructors by radio.Progression course
You have completed your introduction to paragliding and want more? Have you got a taste for freedom on your first big flights? Well, you're done, you're probably already hooked and you just have to continue your training to become an autonomous pilot!
What will you learn in a paragliding progression course? The progression course evolves according to your knowledge. You start by going back to the basics of parag liding that you have seen in the introductory course before moving on to intense practice in big flight and thermals.
The practical training is adapted by your paragliding instructors according to the level of each one with always in mind the objective to make you autonomous. The piloting exercises cover all aspects of paragliding from static take-off in a strong wind to thermalling and landing on different terrains that are more or less easy to handle.
You stay on known paragliding sites which you analyse beforehand with the help of your instructors. Gradually, however, you will have to learn to recognise your own terrain without any outside help. The terrain of the spot should become very familiar to you and, at the end of the course, you should be able to define your own flight plan according to the terrain and the winds.
To help you become more comfortable with the study of paragliding sites, you will be given theoretical courses on topology and aerology.
The progression courses prepare you for the initial pilot's licence and the pilot's licence.
What are the prerequisites to follow this course? You must already have practiced paragliding in solo and have made your first big flights of course. You don't need to have an advanced ability, you are still learning and the paragliding instructors will accompany you for a more autonomous practice.
What level of autonomy can you reach? The progression course corresponds, according to the time spent and your objective, to the green or blue levels of the FFVL progression passport.
At the end of the progression courses, whether you have reached the level of the initial licence or the pilot's licence, you will have real autonomy in long-distance flight. The difference will be mainly in the paragliding sites you will be able to visit. With a Green level, you will be autonomous on known and identified sites, in calm flight conditions. With a Blue level, on the other hand, you can fly in complex aerological conditions and on a not very accessible ground. The initial certificate is already synonymous with autonomy in paragliding flight but if you want to travel the world with your wing above your head, prolong your training courses and pass the pilot's certificate!
The main points that allow you to validate the Green Level - Analysis of the flight conditions: make a complete pre-flight analysis and be autonomous in the decision to take off in the best conditions, start debriefing each major flight.
- Flying a paraglider in autonomy: flight plan, piloting the wing (pitch, roll, control positions), regulating adequately according to the wind, adapting the trajectory - Flying and landing with several people: adapting the approach in autonomy, controlling the wing on the ground (static or slump) - Theory: preparation for the initial pilot's licence
The objective for the participants is to succeed in flying autonomously in calm conditions and on a known paragliding site.
The main points that allow you to validate the Blue Level - Complete analysis of the flight site and weather conditions, plan your flight independently. - Take off using different techniques, from the front or the back or with a side wind.
- Piloting techniques: operate the controls and the harness, control the effects (pitching, pendulum...) during 360° turns, adapt your reactions in frontal and asymmetrical closure situations, exploit dynamic and thermal lift, always be aware of others in flight and of the - Landing on varied terrain and conditions: Theory: know the different types of paragliding flight, know the collective actions of paragliding pilots and the participation in the development of the activity, know how to maintain and install your equipment
The objective for the participants is to be able to fly autonomously on different paragliding sites and in various weather conditions by adapting their flight plan to the situation.
Paragliding training course
As its name indicates, this course does not aim to make you autonomous in the practice of paragliding, you are already, but to improve your technique to fly in all circumstances.
What will you learn on a paragliding course? The paragliding course will build on what you have learnt and allow you to improve your technique and control of your wing. The objective is to give you a real understanding of parag liding in all situations, on any site and in respect of the rules of free flight.
Paragliding is subject to restrictions or specific regulations at certain flying sites and you will need to be aware of the regulations and the attitude to adopt in each situation. During your course, you will learn to adapt to the conditions on site and to study the topography accurately enough to make your flight plans safely.
In terms of technique, you will learn to analyse the conditions and terrain during your flights to always adapt your reactions and orient your wing to find the updrafts and thermals around you. Your paragliding instructors will also teach you to react more specifically to your flying equipment. The practice and the degree of precision are really pushed to the extreme during these courses.
The advanced courses prepare you for the advanced pilot's licence.
What are the prerequisites to follow this course? You must have validated your pilot's license beforehand and have a satisfactory level of solo paragliding experience. Having followed an SIV course is not mandatory to follow this course but it can help you to approach flights in all conditions with more serenity.
What level of autonomy can you achieve? Absolute autonomy awaits you at the end of this course. You will have the level of a professional paraglider and will have access to competition if that is what you are interested in. It is nice to say that, but in reality, this freedom is gained in the respect of the safety rules and the respect of the other practitioners. You will be able to fly, in principle anywhere and in any conditions, but you will also know that you cannot fly everywhere. This training completes your knowledge of the sport by the acquisition of a mentality and a psychology in close connection with the practice of free flight in paragliding.
The main points that allow you to validate the Brown Level - Precise analysis of the weather conditions over a whole day, observe the sector for off-site paragliding by defining the take-off and landing zones, plan your flight precisely - Precise and reactive piloting that uses both the controls and the harness, dosage of amplitude, be able to locate and use thermals, use different flight techniques and know how to manoeuvre in certain turbulent conditions.
- Precise adjustment of the equipment according to one's own flying technique, maintenance and monitoring of the ageing of the wing (lines, seams, cables, etc.) - Theory: to know the different accesses to competition in paragliding and to follow the evolution of the practice as well as the equipment.
The objective is for participants to be autonomous in all conditions and to be able to fly in competition.
Flight Incident Simulation CourseA must for your paragliding pilot training. Although this course is not compulsory, it can be particularly useful if you intend to practice paragliding in very variable conditions and all over the world.
Indeed, the aim of the course is to teach you, in a few days, to react with a cool head in a complex flight situation.
What will you learn on an SIV course? SIV courses usually last between 2 and 3 days. You will learn emergency manoeuvres based on incidents you may encounter in flight.Equipment failure, flight situations that change and become dangerous, forced landings in complex areas (e.g. over water) are the main themes of an SIV course.
During your course, the instructors will teach you the theory of how to deal with incidents in flight, but you will also have practice time in the air to get familiar with the gestures and reflexes. You will learn how to handle rapid descents as well as understand the reactions of your paraglider in turbulence. Once you have this knowledge, you will be less stressed by the rapidly changing weather conditions of the mountains. You will learn how to deal with roll, pitch and pendulum effects caused by wind or a wrong turn. Depending on the location of the paragliding school, you will be able to practice landing in real conditions... A refreshing experience that can be very useful!
Incidents in flight are often due to human error in piloting or aerological shear, so learn to deal with the hazards with calm and intelligence. Your paragliding instructors make you work on manoeuvring but are also there to instil a certain modesty in relation to the elements. You flirt with your limits and become aware of your margin of progress. A Flight Incident Simulation course is as much technical as mental work.
What are the prerequisites for this course? You will need to have a certain level of paragliding experience. You must have at least passed your initial pilot's license (green level of the FFVL progression passport). Most of the time, schools ask you to bring your own paragliding equipment. It is best to work with paragliding equipment that you are familiar with so as not to add difficulty to the exercises. Of course, if you don't have your own equipment, you can approach your instructors beforehand for advice on hiring it for the course.
What level of autonomy can you achieve? In terms of autonomy in flight, an SIV course is a good progression. You will become more confident and calm in the air, and you will be able to react effectively to complex situations that you may encounter during your paragliding flights.
Other specific training?
Depending on your paragliding background and preferences, you can also train in specific paragliding disciplines.
Whether you are a cross-country, freestyle or aerobaticpilot, there is something for everyone. Some schools organise training courses for a few days.
In any case, there is no better way to learn than by practising with paragliding professionals who will help you to improve your flying technique. Take advantage of opportunities to fly abroad to see what is being done elsewhere and to exchange views on paragliding around the world with other paragliders.
Paragliding is freedom and open-mindedness, go for it with your eyes closed!
And why not take a look at the paragliding spots we have found for you-> in Europe-> in Africa