Learning how to Paraglide from Youtube -- Episode 1

This is the first video in my series where I learn to paraglide with no formal training. It is legal to paraglide without a license in the US. You should never fly with other paragliders in the air when you do not have training. I only risk my own safety in the making of these videos.

Please feel free to leave any tips about paragliding or video editing as I am pretty new to both.

Stay tuned for the next video where I learn to ridge soar!

Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

[shaneross]

You say learning paragliding from YouTube is a bad idea but I learned hang gliding from YouTube before I took lessons and the insight was invaluable. It makes you a more competent person if you already know the basics. I actually believe I could have learned hang gliding strictly from videos. It's way easier then controlling a paraglider from what I can see. Thank you for this video.

[anthonyrutten]

Bro I’m right there with ya!! I bought a paramotor wing and I’m at the bunny hop stage and fly bubble is the best!! Thanks for making this video!! Just cause we’re crazy doesn’t mean we’re not smart about it!
Gravity and wind have been my friends for most my life!! Paramotoring is the next step in my evolution 🤙🏼

[gpapier]

Nice video Jacob! I do kitesurfing and I understand exactly wht you mean by not being a good idea to teach yourself these sports. However, watching your video made the sport so much more real to me, as one tends to thinks that you will hook yourself up to the kite and just fly. I´m finding some family resistance, but I hope to one day take up the sport.

It's definetely possible to get into the air just by youtube.
But as an instructor and flying for more than 17 years, i saw so many accidents, which happened with licenced pilots, and the cause was their lack of proper training, or often just not realizing the situation. You will meet new potentially dangerous situations soo much more often then you think! If you didn't get the proper theory following a proper syllabus then sooner or later you will meet a situation when you will make.a wrong decision.
Honestly i would keep teaching.my students forever, because i also keep learning new things nonstop. And i want them to know them too, becazse they have much less experience then me and i want them to be safe.
....and it' s also illegal to even groundhandle without an instructor in most countries.
I really like that saying:
'Remember: all the rules in aviation are written with blood'
Every stupid rule is there because somebody crashed or died because there was no rule to follow so they had to improvise ...and they made the wrong decision.

By the way: i had no accidents ever paragliding. Even my first treelanding happened after 14 years of flying. And i'm thankful for my instructors for teaching me the basic principles. The most important is to respect the air and aviation. Learning from youtube is the opposite of that.
So good luck! (...if you want to count on that mostly...)

[factdesignbr]

Did the same... bought a cheap wing which apparently wasonly used for Ground handling... THEN learnt a loooot on it. Ended up flying it at the ridge/slope... then bought a reserve and started exploring thermals... and THEN bought a vario... ended up cross country that cheap wing lol I still fly it. 💕

[primozbergant]

Amazing. It didn't even occur to me. To even go learn this sport on youtube. Thank God you learned gradually. And yes ground handling is very important, more than flying. And where I live, you need a license for this sport. The people who taught themselves this sport were pioneers.

[carlhutzler]

Well made. I never realized how long it took to get from being dragged across a football field to hopping down that bunny slope. But you eventually figured it out! I liked the video. Well put together. Groovy music :-)

[JS-wuhg]

Nice. I’m currently trying to teach myself and it made me laugh when you said how much of a pain in the ass it actually is. Most of your time is just spent putting the harness on and off after having to reset the wing for another go at launching. I’m hopefully going to get myself to a beach sometime this year for some more kiting practise.

[tubeannouncements]

Great video, very informative.. didn’t realise you could self teach this sport. I’ll do a few beginner classes to speed up the process

[MarkHivosk]

This episode encapsulates my self learning experience so far haha. So grateful I'm over the hardest part

[drmcleanda]

Paragliding is relatively easy to learn the basics but very very hard to master safely. Weather conditions around the flying area must be very carefully assessed, which normally (and should) come from the coach. A lot of accidents (and worse) can and do happen, exacerbated by using some cheaper older gliders (where the rear lines have often shrunk, making the wing less stable).

[dustindeyagher]

YouTube isn't a whole lot different than having an instructor, they just can't critique you making the process a bit longer. I learned to kiteboard from YouTube, maybe soon Paragliding too 🤷‍♂️

[jongabrielminney]

Thanks man! Great vid. Bout to click on part 2 now. This sport looks amazing. I saw flybubble capture a cloud in a bag and now I'm very intrigued

[rikkcrazycanuck]

Love it when I have bad ideas that other have had before me. Off to book a lesson. Thanks for making an informative video!

[shawnwalden]

subbed, have my first class on the 8th, my whole goal was to be able to fly down from some of my hikes.... but looks like there is a ton to learn! heading to the rest of your videos

[DomesticDave]

I did the same as you up to the Bunnyhop stage. Then I when to flying school in the Swiss Alps, bought new gear to use and had my club pilots licence in two weeks.

[JammyBFPV]

bro your content is amazing i subbed how do you only have 800 subscribers, im from the uk obviously no lessons now as its winter but you have inspired me

[giodaddazio]

... Imagine that in the nineties no instructors nor youtube ... Almost all self-taught. But today if you want to become very good at it and stay safe, get the best pilot you can afford ...

[dnorthup]

I think anything can be learned from the internet. Plenty of recorded college classes . . . etc. Taking the information from "digital to analog" must be done methodically like you did. Well done! Baby steps to prove out your interpretation of the information in a controlled and deliberate way is the only way to progress safely. A longer road maybe but still reasonable if done incrementally as you did. Way to go.

[luisalvesdelima]

Great video! Even though I'm definitely getting an instructor, it's always good to hear from a beginner and your experience. Curiosity, what did you do with your old wing?