Please note: You must have completed an Elementary Pilot and Club Pilot (Tow) Course before you can enrol on a CP (Hill) Course. We do this for three reasons; value for money, the least time it takes you to qualify and most importantly - your safety.

Before you can move on to this stage in your training, you will also need to have purchased your own equipment. It is important that you get used to it and have it all correctly set up before we let you loose to fly on your own (out of the school environment).

The first thing you will need to master is the 'reverse launch' and what we call 'ground handling'. Neither of these are in the Tow Launch syllabus (there's no need for them). Remember - as a ParAvion Tow Club member we will teach you these skills for free (all other schools will charge you).

Once we consider your 'ground handling' skills good enough to keep you safe, we will teach you how to fly in the slightly windier conditions you will need to fly from hills. You will only be charged £100.00 per day instead of the usual £180.00 providing you have completed your training and purchased your equipment from us. Only rarely will it take you more than the one day because you will have learned the hardest part (ground handling) with us already - for FREE.

Most schools will charge you for several days' extra training for this when all you really need is some FREE practice with us as a club member. Nearly all hill flying sites have barbed wire fences and a mix of bushes, trees and rabbit/badger holes (as well as other peoples' kit on the ground). You will need good glider control skills to be able to avoid them.

Important: Trying to fly in windy conditions on a hill without having mastered the necessary 'ground handling' skills first (in a nice safe environment like one of our airfields) is plain stupidity in our opinion because you risk injury to yourself and your equipment.

Equipment Costs

The average cost of new equipment for the beginner is:

• Paraglider - £2,000.00 to £2,300.00
• Harness - £500.00 - £700.00
• Reserve Parachute £450.00 - £750.00

However, we offer a great deal for new pilots - check out our 'Club Pilot Package' deal.

Second-Hand Equipment

If you don't want to buy new, then we can sell you an ex-demonstrator or ex-school wing (we won't sell unknown second-hand wings because we can never 'truly' know their history). If you want to buy second-hand equipment (providing it's from us), you will still be entitled to the same discounted day rate as above.

We buy new school gliders regularly, so there is always a supply of 'almost new' gliders in stock. We only teach on them for around 25 days before we sell them on. This ensures that we have a good supply of used gliders most of the time.

Please note: If you buy or intend to buy second-hand equipment from someone other than us, then that is your choice. However, we will not teach you on it. As stated elsewhere, we will only teach on NEW equipment. We consider this a very serious safety issue and there will be no exceptions.