A good question! In Japan, you will find old people serenely
gliding across dormant volcano slopes. Through the Alps in France, you might spot daring young men pushing the limits of their skills and their paragliders while flying cross-country in challenging conditions.
Have you never flown in a
paraglider, either alone or in a tandem wing? Are you hankering to just 'give it a try', but not yet sure whether you actually want to take it up as a sport? If the answer to both questions is 'yes', then this article is for you.
Well, the second bit is totally true, the first bit might be glossing over the occasional twisted ankle or bruise from beginners attempting their very first landings. But under ideal tourist-flying conditions, yes, it's pretty safe and secure! And of course, you can't go wrong if you are under a
tandem wing with an instructor doing all the flying.
Paragliding As Aviation
Now of course, every sport has its risks. Also, aviation in general has it's risks. So
Paragliding, being both an adventure sport and a form of aviation, also has a degree of risk. When it comes to safety though, the aviation side of paragliding is all-important. All pilots are trained to operate their aircraft safely, by minimizing potential risks. In some cases it's a matter of pure judgement such as during an approach and landing. Or it might mean sticking rigidly to a check list while preparing to leave the ground. The joy of flying, year after year after year, is the reward for doing it right.
It has been said that
paragliding is as safe or as dangerous as the pilot makes it. There's a lot of truth in this, from at least a couple of angles. Firstly, pilot's choose what conditions to fly in. Secondly, they choose how far to stretch their piloting skills. Let's make an analogy with driving a motor vehicle now.
A learner driver can choose to drive around the back blocks for a while, or head straight out onto the freeway at rush hour. That's choosing driving
conditions.
Secondly, he or she can choose to observe the speed limits and traffic signs, or push the pedal to the metal while running red lights and overtaking everyone in the way. That's choosing how far driving
skills are pushed!
Just for a moment, let's consider what the
most dangerous thing about paragliding might be. Many years of experience have led some instructors to believe that this is in fact
the ease with which people can learn paragliding! After picking up the basics quite quickly, some novices can start to think that they know a lot more about flying than they really do. This can lead to over-confidence and increased risk-taking. The only way to get really good and fly safely in more challenging conditions is to
fly frequently, over a long period of time.
Paragliding Statistics
For some reason, people who have a passing interest in
paragliding also have an interest in the
statistics of the sport. Particularly the fatalities count. Fair enough, I guess we all instinctively try to assess our risk of dying when trying something new and exciting! So let's get the death-and-gloom out of the way first. The figures are actually quite reassuring, given the many, many thousands of people flying and the flight hours they are accumulating.
The stats for horse-riding and paragliding make for an interesting comparison. And... you guessed it, more people die from being thrown off a horse than crashing a
paraglider!
In a similar vein, I came across an insurance report that listed paragliding fatalities
per participant to be less than motorcycle riding. Now that doesn't surprise me, I've never trusted those things! ;-) Motorbikes that is.
Another outdoor activity which compares with paragliding in terms of injury rate
per participant is snowmobiling. Of which I know
nothing, coming from The Great Dry Flat Land, Australia. :-)
Despite there being quite a few
thousand active paraglider pilots in the U.S. during 2005, only 3 people died in
paraglider accidents. This continued a trend towards
fewer paragliding fatalities each year in the U.S.
Now, to be accurate and truthful, the situation in
Europe has been much worse in recent years, in terms of total fatalities. But in Europe, there are
many times as many active pilots as there are in the U.S. And a big percentage of them are 'pushing the envelope' by flying in challenging weather over very challenging terrain. The Alps, no less! As a beginner, you will
not fit that category, hence those particular stats need not worry you.
Enough of death and dying, I'll just touch on a couple of U.S. stats now. In 2005, only 50 accident reports relating to paragliding were received, which was a 5 year low. Also in 2005 in the U.S., 32 pilots or passengers suffered paragliding injuries. 15 of these people required an overnight stay in hospital.
Browsing through some material the other day I came across a tandem
pilot who has flown many passengers over the years. In all his 350+ hours of tandem flying, he has never had a passenger injured. This should give you a good feeling, since a great way to 'just try' paragliding is to go for a flight in a tandem paraglider! The pilot is behind, the passenger hangs in front. Air in your hair, and views to die for.. ooops.. I mean really
really great views!
You may have heard many great stuff about a motorized paraglider from aircraft enthusiasts. If you've never flown an aircraft before, you may have just given the idea a shrug thinking that paragliding alone is too hard to learn and only daredevils would like to try it. This article aims to banish that misconception and give you an idea about the joys of flying this aircraft.If you've had experience with flying already and seek to add a little more adventure in this field then getting a motorized paraglider is the first step. Powered paragliding offers a great opportunity to see and observe the lansdcape from the top.
Flying on a commercial airline may be an option but it flies so fast that you only get a fleeting chance to view one portion through a tiny window.If you are a photographer then this is your chance to take breathtaking landscape photos. With a motorized paraglider, you can move closer to an area of interest and spend much longer time getting the best aerial view, as opposed to flying on an airplane where altitude and speed is high and give you awkward shooting angles.But if you're not really interested in aerial photography, you can simply fly and enjoy the view! It's not everyday that we are given this opportunity and in fact there are so many people in the world who would want to fly but just have very little knowledge or resources to do so.
