Paragliding Club Pilot Course

Club Pilot trainee practices flying with others

The Club Pilot course involves the kind of flying that trainees really aspire to make. You will have spent a lot of your Elementary Pilot course walking up then flying down the hills. With this course you learn to ridge soar, fly above take-off and land back at the top of the hill. We aim to provide you with the information you need to become a safe, thinking pilot. Whilst the Club Pilot course involves a lot of flying, we spend part of the course revisiting ground handling techniques as we firmly believe that good glider control on the ground makes you into a safer pilot - a pilot who can adjust and trim the glider in turbulent air, to fly as safely as possible.

It is possible to complete your tasks in five or six days in good conditions. In this period you will get to know the local club flyers and steadily integrate into the local club environment. After qualifying as a Club Pilot with us, you may wish to join the 'Derbyshire Soaring Club' who have their own Peak District sites and BHPA registered 'Club Coaches' who provide guidance and useful advice to newly qualified pilots.

We will be using video analysis of your launches and will also record elements of your flying to look at ways in which to improve your technique.

You will be practicing many flight exercises on our simulator before making them in the air. We try and run simulator training and theory lectures on bad weather days so that we don’t miss out on good weather!

As part of the Club Pilot course we include sections that are additional to the BHPA syllabus, specifically forward and reverse launch technique variations, strong wind emergency landing rehearsal, and we will introduce you to the main local club sites.

We put great emphasis on pre-flight checks, flight planning and awareness of potentially hazardous situations, and we aim to instill awareness of these aspects of flight into every one of our pilots.

BHPA PIILOT RATING SCHEME (Self launch only)

Each exercise will be signed off in the pilot's Student Training Record.

Club Pilot (Novice) course exercises.

Phase 6
Pre-soaring		 21 Pre-soaring: Theory of soaring flight; more developed knowledge on weather assessment, site assessment, flight planning, rules of the air.
  22 180 degree turns: The student will demonstrate competence at unassisted launches and turns up to and beyond 180 degrees.
  23 Planned Approaches: The student will demonstrate competence at controlled landings in different conditions and using different techniques, within a designated area.
Phase 7
Soaring 		24 Soaring flight: Utilizing ridge lift to maintain and gain height.
  25 Top Landings: Learning safe and controlled top landings on at least two sites in different conditions..
  26 Flying with others: Putting the Rules of the Air into practice in the company of other aircraft.
Phase 8
Improving Skills 		27 Exploring the speed range: Speed to fly concept; fast and slow flight
.
  28 Accelerator Systems: Learning to use the speed bar and trim setting devices.
  29 Forward Launching: Further development of forward launching skills, preparation for forward launching on Alpine sites, etc.
  30 Reverse Launching: Further practice of reverse launching; honing reverse launch techniques.
  31 Weight-shift and pitch-roll co-ordination in turns: Steering the glider with weight-shift harness inputs.
  32 Cross-wind and slope landings: Practice of various landing techniques; potential hazards involved.
Phase 9
Instability & Emergencies		 33 Theory: Tree and water landing procedures; PLF refresher; emergency parachute systems; alternative control systems; instability and turbulence.
  34 Active flying: Flying in turbulent air – techniques.
  35 Rapid descent techniques: The use of 'big ears' descent technique.
  36 Dealing with an asymmetric tuck: Practicing how to deal effectively with small tucks.
Phase 10
Theory & Exam		 37-40 Theory: Meteorology, Principles of flight, Rules of the Air and Airlaw, General Airmanship knowledge.
Final Assessment 41 Where you get to prove that you are ready to fly outside the supervision of a school. You are now qualified as a Club Pilot!

Cost £750 (excluding BHPA membership).

What Happens Next?

When you get your Club Pilot qualification you have effectively passed your ‘driving test’ for paragliders and you can now go and fly by yourself, without the supervision of a school, whenever you want. However, learning doesn’t stop here, though! If you drive a car or ride a motorbike, you will have no doubt heard the old adage ‘you pass your test, then learning really starts’, and this is equally true for paragliding. Our aim at Peak Airsports is to equip you with the knowledge to make the correct decisions that in turn make you into a safe pilot. It will ultimately be you that makes the decision “shall I take off or not take off…”

When you pass your Club Pilot qualification and you want to continue flying in the Peak District, then you would typically join the local club called The Derbyshire Soaring Club. They control a lot of the large sites in the Peak District and negotiate with farmers and the National Trust on your behalf for takeoff and landing areas. There are many such clubs around the country, in all the best flying spots, and a complete list can be found at the BHPA’s website. The club membership is between £10 and £30 a year. There is nothing to stop you from negotiating your own flying sites with a landowner, but as paragliding has such a tremendous social scene attached to it, most pilots are members of one or more clubs.

Many pilots decide to take a paragliding trip abroad after getting their CP licence to experiance flying in alpine conditions. Please refer to our holiday pages for more information.

Additional Information

It is important to have realistic expectations when learning to paraglide. Paragliding is a weather-dependant sport, and it can be frustrating at times when the weather is unsuitable for flying. If you are patient, and you persevere the rewards can be fulfilling and life-changing! If you are not a patient person, we most respectfully suggest that you consider another pastime. It is possible that some days you book have to be cancelled because the weather in not suitable for flying. Our primary aim is to make you a competent and safe pilot, and consequently we are very selective about the conditions we let you fly in.

What Happens if the Weather is Unsuitable?

We ask you to call the school (between 6:00pm and 7:00 pm) the evening before your course date, to establish if the forecast is suitable for flying. We take forecasts from many sources; the Duty Instructor’s decision about whether to run the course or not is final.

If the weather forecast is unsuitable, you are able to re-book the day at a later date. We will try and fit you in as soon as possible after your cancelled day, but we may be booked-up already on the day you choose and we shall suggest the nearest available date.

If the weather deteriorates during your training day, we look at the hours training you have already done that day, and credit the remaining hours to another day.

Cancellations

Seven days notice is required for cancellation of booked dates. Whilst no refund will be made, the deposit/ fee already paid will be credited against a rebooking. In the event that a course is wholly or partially unable to take place due to weather conditions, a proportionate credit will be allowed against a future date to be apportioned at the Duty Instructor’s discretion depending on circumstances.

Clothing

Bear in mind that courses take place in the outdoors, on exposed windy hillsides. Paragliding is a low activity sport so make sure you have enough warm, wind-proof clothing and gloves. You are not likely to be near convenient shelter so bring a waterproof jacket and trousers. Lastly, a sturdy lightweight pair of walking boots is strongly advisable. If you have your own climbing helmet you may prefer to bring this along.

Food

If weather permits you will be on the hill all day. We eat on the hill so ensure you bring lunch with you.

Meeting Point

The Woodbine Café is known locally as the spot where all flyers congregate, and this is where we meet at 9:30am for a 10:00am start. The Woodbine Cafe is situated next to the Petrol Station in Hope on the main Hope Valley Road (A625). We will normally be back at the cars for 5pm. If traveling by train this rendezvous is a quarter of a mile east of Hope Station.

Weather Check

Telephone us between 6:00pm and 7:00pm the evening before your course commences to check weather conditions.