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[WoodysGamertag]

You want lessons on saving money? Ask a man with a flip phone. :)

[NBelinski]

"Stoke as currency"
That is an outstanding concept that applies wayy beyond paragliding!

[WaleedWahidi]

About to buy a $500 wing a harness combo, wish my luck boys😂

[Itsallgoodtogo]

You can teach yourself to groundhandle. Groundhandling is 50% of your lessons. Takeoffs and landings are the riskiest part of flying. If you know how to groundhandle ... you understand how your wing works. Flying ... FORGET IT. The moment you want to lift off go to school.

My story:
Personally I did loads of groundhandling on an old EN-D wing from a friend(he explained to me the basics) and I did somewhere around 15 hours of groundhandling by watching youtube videos and looking at the weather forecast to know when the breeze is gonna be just right. After I felt like I had the wing in check even when the wind was a bit stronger 5+ m/s I said to myself ... ok now I wanna fly. And I went straight to my friend again who pointed me in the direction of a good teacher ...
First day of school I went up the hill walking behind my teacher just listening to what he was saying to his pupils over the radio. I didn't touch a wing. I was just observing. All those trials and errors that I was doing on my own, I was now observing on other people, who went straight to school and were still learning the basics ... I didn't get cocky. I just observed everyone and noded when the teacher was explaining stuff to me. It was "too windy" for my first try he said.

Second day I put on the harness and his EN-A school glider. When I pulled on the wing it was nothing like the EN-D glider I had fought for months before. When I pulled on my old wing it rocketed straight up giving me no time to think, so I was already used to pulling on the A lines and breaking the wing when it came overhead. It all happens in a moment.
When I pulled this school wing it was like an old mule I had to pull it hard and wait for it what felt like ages. I didn't even have to break it that much... it did it all by itself or so I was thinking. Its was like going from a sports car to an old tractor. My teacher was doubting me and said "Eh just beginners luck". I let the wing fall back down and repeat the same thing although I had to correct the glider when it was a bit slow on one side. This time he is amazed and compliments that I did everything without even looking at my lines or hands. It was at that point that I realized I already had muscle memory of how to bring up the glider and keep it there without having to think about it.

I was flying down the learner hill the same day. After a few days the teacher said ... you are ready for your height training.

Usually people are trained on the learners hill for at least 10 days(most need more). I was done in 4. I met a woman roughly my age who has been on the training hill for at least 2 weeks and was just moving on to the big mountains when I cam in for the first day of training where I Was just observing and chatting. She was visibly confused when I came to the meetup point under the mountain. I just smiled "It is what it is :) ".

So yeah the point of this: Practice the basics. Watch all the youtube videos you can. Respect mother nature. Shell fu*k you up if you don't :D

Now I'm doing my height training for the last two months, which is allot slower because conditions have to be perfect(even though I feel like I could handle the midday thermals by now).
I hope I'll be done with the school by the end of this year and do my first solo flights next year.
PS: I bought everything used EN-A wing, Vario, Helmet, Reserve. The only thing that is new is the chair. I'm on the taller side and I had to go for a custom XL harness. But you don't change harnesses when you progress. All together it cost me 2k. Amazing how cheap school wings are. But I'm changing to a EN-B wing as soon as I'm done with school. I already experienced the poison that is competition level gliders. I wanna be up there feeling every pull on my risers.

[paulkern]

I’m 55 and want to get into para motoring. Watching a lot of utube for a few months now. I kind of like this guy. I bought the seed a month ago…so hard without wind. I know that because on my third visit to a field I had a little wind and then I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. So exciting when that thing inflated and I started to see that I somewhat was controlling it.

[christopherrobin]

Im in the middle of nowhere... just bought a used setup... im broke now... planning on taking it slow... gonna teach myself..

[cevdetgz]

In Europe/Germany you pay about 4500 € for a full equipment new and about 800-1200 for the lessons.

[SkidzFPV]

I went through Eagle paragliding, Rob and Chris are the rest of the crew there are all amazing! And if you get gear through them it’s actually pretty affordable. Definitely get lessons, I was thinking about teaching myself and I’m so glad I didn’t, upmost respect for my instructors!!

[madsloper]

I spent $11K in order to get in the air with training which included new gear, training, $ tips, two weeks in an Airbnb, gas and food. Granted I didn't buy cheap used gear but I bought what my instructor suggested knowing I was probably going to keep the same gear for at least 5-7 years. Happy flying!

[AndreBandarra]

Really cool video dude! Here in the UK I started flying for 2000£ all up. 1000£ for official training, 500£ for a mojo 1 with only 50 hours (old but in great condition) a 200£ good condition used woody valley harness, 200£ good used reserve and a new 100£ helmet, and after a little while i got a 50£ simple vario and 20£ baofeng!

[roadracer]

I like how you talk. Simple. I am a ski instructor and I often watch other instructors talk too technical with newbies. Just mentioning a vario you said what it does. Some instructors would not do that and assume the student knows what it is. Like a ski instructor talks about the downhill ski vs outside ski. Or the fall line. Often a student won't know what the instructor is talking about and won't ask because they don't want to stand out.

[huepix]

I was so lucky money wise.
Local instructor let me pay off the PG1 lessons.
Then I got some work and could afford to get PG2.
The instructor has all the gear and hires it out, so that was my plan. But then I got some residuals for previous work that was exactly the cost of a midB and harness.
I use the smart phone for altimeter and logging flights and have tracked down an unused 2nd hand reserve (from a pro i trust).
4 years later, im starting to get to be a reasonable pilot.
And a pretty good amateur meteorologist!

[silasmayes]

At 9k I could buy a used ultralight, an SUV, a trailer to bring it to an airfield, and some gas for it. Of course I might not be any good at flying it, but the FAA doesn't require me to get a license.

[catherinespark]

Just realised your name is an anagram of 'air'. This seems serendipitous (or perhaps nominally determinative?)

[Bob_just_Bob]

Great video. I'm a newbie. I'm an American living in China and have been taking lessons from an instructor completely in Chinese. A private instructor because there's no dedicated school here in Beijing. I'm not fluent in Chinese but I've lived here more than 20 years so I can manage. I'm a professional helicopter Pilot with near 40 years under my belt so there's plenty of similarities between the two types of aviation. I appreciate your message. I'm currently stalled waiting for my equipment. Ordered an Advance Alpha 7. Thanks for spreading the safety first message. I've not lived this long as a Pilot without thinking the same. Keep up with the great videos.

[martinfoster]

I can’t fault any of what you say. It’s all good advice. IF you live in the USA or Western Europe. Maybe some other developed countries. But I live in Mongolia. I’m an expat.

I did my training 40 years ago in Southern California and did a solo high altitude flight. However I was young and felt paragliding didn’t have the adrenaline rush I wanted. So I went back into skydiving.

Now I’m older but still want to fly but live in Mongolia. Paragliding hasn’t taken off here. There’s maybe one guy teaching courses and offering tandem flights.

My budget is low. The sport is almost nonexistent here but I’m inspired to try (again). I could sell one of my motocross bikes to get the kit.

[low-costgearbudgettour]

Great advice. I was experienced with skydiving and paragliding about 25-30 years ago. However, I had kids and took a long break. Now the kids are adults, I’m ready to get back into paragliding. I took a course in the 90’s in California (bunny hill through to my first high altitude solo). However, back then I found paragliding a bit boring so I changed to skydiving. Got about 100 jumps under my belt then wife got preggers.

So, now I’m 57 and will soon move to Fetiye, Turkey which has a 7000’ coastal mountain which seems to be quite famous as a take off site. I’ll probably take lessons again, because I can afford it and I’m safety conscious, then buy a used rig. Just have to wait until the pandemic is over. Can’t wait!

[benkanselbaum]

So many things ring true with me in this video. Great advice man!!

[lifeofbassman]

I fell lucky I found a person who was upgrading and did not have room for his beginner wing and with no damage it was sent to the producer and inspected and passed

[SEVEREDxAPPENDAGE]

I am not condoning self teaching but I am self taught, but I have an extensive background in BASE and HALO, but I am self taught on paragliding and paramotoring, I am still overly cautious about when, where, and how I fly.