Did you ever take it up I'm thinking about it I was going to go with gliders but the cost is lot more then hang gliding essentially the same thing with little more restriction on wind. I saved up about 15k for my PPL glider training I can get trained and buy all new hang glider for about 1/3 of the cost.

Same, but I would prefer a little bit different tool for that

same way for me back in 1997

I certainly am still flying! No where near as much as I'd like to be but I get a few xc flights from home a year and 2 or 3 week long competitons each year.

Harrison Rowntree that’s awesome to hear man, so many people do the AFF, PG, PPG, HG cert to say they skydive or fly but the moment they leave their last stage of the course if the last time they fly, it really saddens me man! I was 17 when I did my AFF course, so 21 years ago now, and the next youngest person above me was forty something, it was a dying sport back in the mid to late ‘90’s, there was a real concern that the sport could have died and left people to work out their own ways of jumping. It was a diverse crew at out DZ, doctors, lawyers, trademan, all walks of life, many professionals were the vets of the sport, and were the ones to really listen to when they spoke to you about flying, give you advice because these are the crazy mother fuckers who were test dummies for the now primitive flying equipment, so they were risking their lives, every skydiver, Paraglider, hang glider, they set the bench mark for us now to have such quality and advanced equipment on the market, because of these people, and I see that arrogance in a lot of cocky young kids these days whether it’s skydiving or Paragliging, they watch some KZfaq videos and are automatically experts over night haha That’s awesome bro, glad to hear you’re still flying my friend 👊🏼

Harrison Rowntree I’ve only done about 20 hours roughly, mostly coastal due to where I live, a few decent over land flights that were just within my skill levels to make it to the actual LZ... I am a 20 skydiving veteran and spend most of my days now Paragliging. I’m pretty lucky I was able to make a career out of it, but we have such an awesome flying community up here man,so many good people to help those who want to come and fly some of our many fly sites up here... If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you dude? You guys looked pretty young in that group photo at the end. Just stoked to see some young dudes not only go and get proper training, but have continued to persue that path and turn t into a lifestyle!.. huge respect brother 👊🏼

@@patrickswayze2596 I've got a bit over 500 hours - most of which was in the first 5 years of flying. I haven't done much the last few years since I stopped being a uni student with heaps of time haha. I learned when I was 19 and am 27 now so 8 years flying. There's about 5 people my age across Australia that fly which is good fun when we can get together at a competition. Thanks for all the support!

How long does it take before you can call yourself proficient?

bluto212 Being proficient isn't something that happens at the same speed for everyone. It's a sport where you're forever learning new things every time you fly. At the end of this 9 day course, I knew how to set up, soar and land. That's just the beginning. Reading the weather, assessing conditions and cross country flying all came through other pilots in the later years.

snogumz south downs hang Gliding in the UK, and join British hangies facebook page!

This course I did with Rohan was about $3000 at the time which included on site accommodation and a basic breakfast. There is more information and updated pricing on his website, dynamicflight.com.au

Yep, we have a car. In a lock out we can pull a release on our end to drop the ripe but if that should fail, the car can also drop the rope.

I’m not in Australia

Do you start hang gliding session at 7:00 am or 8:00 am or 9:00 am or 10:00 am or 11:00 am then finish at 1:00 pm or 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm is it a 3, 4, 5 hour session for each of the 9 days?

Hi im looking into it as well. Have a look at Dynamic flights website, the course takes 9 days and i think is around 3k including accomadation and continental breakfast. Hope this helps :)

He is in Victoria, Australia

(I began flying hang gliders in 1972)

No wind launch mountain site, crappy technique, don't try this at home: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hMeXedp5tKfYoH0.html

I think there is a wing adapted for all the weight. Maybe 120 kg? dont know

The course lasts for 9 days but that teaches you how to set up, fly and land a glider in simple conditions. There is much more to learn but you come home with the basics. Your first few months of flying should be supervised by an experienced pilot until you're ready to fly alone. Flying is quite easy. Deciding when and where to fly and land is usually what catches people out and that's where the experienced pilot is very beneficial.

Depending on how much time you can dedicate: a number of weekends-usually a couple months until you can fly a 500' hill unsupervised. Very roughly 3-6 months of supervised flying until you are flying 'altitude' from a mountain site, but it highly depends on time availability, funds, ability, instructor and program, equipment and weather. Most people can fly from a 100' training hill in the first couple weeks. There is a LOT to learn from setting up equipment, to ground handling, to landing skills, to launch technique, to weather, advanced skills, like flying prone, setting up landing patterns, working in traffic, evaluating conditions while flying, turbulence, micrometeorology, auto mechanics, camping, finding drivers, FAR's/FAA, thermalling, map reading, navigation, camera setup and operation, hiking out of the back country, and restaurant selection.

Nah, in Victoria, Australia.

The towing at the school is the safest towing system I've ever used. A reserve parachute is actually not a nice way to land. It's just better than dying. You still hit the ground as if you just jumped from about 5m high. The instructor didn't want students to have them in case they panicked and threw it which is likely to cause more damage than if they flew the floater into the ground. On my course, one pilot freaked out when he first got towed to about 200ft and hugged an upright all the way to the ground. The glider gently spiralled into the ground and both he and the glider were fine. If he threw a chute, he would have been worse off.

After you come to me.. :)

Good..and after you come to me.. :)

Yeah the sped up flying was not pleasant.