Leaning to fly
A few facts to temp you:
Once proficient (after 8 - 10 days tuition) you can fly for hours (the record is 24+) at a mere few hundred feet or many thousands of feet... the choice is yours. (See photo gallery)
Hang gliding is exhilarating and exciting but once professionally trained to fly a modern glider the risks are comparable to horse riding or skiing. The gliders themselves are extremely strong - tested to a minimum of 6G where as a commercial airliner's wings will creak a bit at only 3G (not to worry though unless your pilot decides to complete a loop on your next trip to the Canaries!)
I have personally been flying and teaching since 1978.
So, what is Hang Gliding?
Hang Gliding is unpowered flight where the pilot wears a harness that is attached to the wing - they hang from it.
The pilot controls the aircraft by moving their body weight under the wing thereby altering the speed or banking to produce a turn. It has a natural feel to it - move left and you turn left.
The glider is easily stored and transported in its packed form that weighs about 50lb and is 12ft in length. It takes about 10 minutes to rig and check before it is ready to fly.
Takeoff is achieved by moving forward into the wind until flying speed is reached (10 - 15 mph); the aircraft will then glide forward and down (10:1 - glide angle). Early training flights are made on slopes only just steeper than the glide angle so you don't get too high and the ropes reach.
Later flights can be prolonged by flying from a larger hill and eventually by flying in lifting air where not only will you extend your flight time to hours but also height gains of many thousands of feet are possible. 24hrs, 300 miles and 20,000 feet are the respective world duration, distance and height records.
You fly a hang glider by feel, the wing responding to your body weight - this is as near to flying like a bird as you will ever get.
Fly like a bird with the birds! They often join you in the lifting air.
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Photo Gallery:See the photo gallery here
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Gliders
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All about gliders
The hang glider you will learn on will be a 3rd or 4th generation machine. These are slower and more docile than the higher performance 5th gen. currently in use.
The gliders have two basic parts. The frame and the sail. The job of the frame is to support you and the sail; the frame is braced with wires. The sail is stretched between the exterior tubes of the frame to form the wing. (Along with photo(s).
JUST DO IT
In the beginning there was doubt, a few steps down the hill later there was light and lighter until there was flight - taking off on a hang glider is as easy as that! "Just keep running until your feet leave the ground" are probably the most important words your instructor will say to you on your first day. (First day - mpegs / jpegs story)
The Peak school have taught thousands of doubters (and believers!) to take off since 1974 - landing however is a different matter and although no one is still up there since the seventies it is common for early flights to last for (what seems like… hours.
Your first step is to enroll on a basic course (EP), which will get you to a competent standard to fly curvy / groovy paths down the hill. The second course (CP) gets you soaring and top landing - much more time in the air per flight.
Early flights are made with the instructor right along side you although the poor man will still be puffing along the ground holding one of the tethers as you experience your first low flights. You will be too busy "free" flying to notice him / the rope but suffice to say it is for your own good. Later, once you have mastered the basics (easier than riding a bike), you will have the instructor screaming sweet something's into your ear via a radio - most reassuring.
All the training hills are within the PEAK DISTRICT NATIONAL PARK very picturesque and there is a wide variety of surprisingly reasonable accommodation available.
Have a peek at the Peak.
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