interested in paragliding

I never owned an hang glider or any type of flying machine and I am interested in the sport of paragliding and I was wondering if you can just find a big hill and go flying for a couple of hours. or is it a sport that you need very specific wind speeds,certain drops and other stuff. are there alot of restrictions on where and how you have to fly them. any info would be appreciated

It's normally a quite restrictive sport due to weather and regulations, but varies a lot upon where you are.

Hang gliders have a wider envelope of safe operation than paragliders. If that is your primary concern, perhaps you should consider HG. Both depend upon weather and terrain to soar and some locales are more consistent than others. If you want consistency, fly commercial.

Well, the major restriction is that you have to learn how to fly a glider. (hang or para, doesn't matter) The beauty of that is that you will also get all the answers to your questions during your training. If you give us some information on where you live, no doubt someone can point you to a good school in you vicinity.

Greetings, Eelco

I live in New York about 1 hour north of the city. if any one knows a good school in this area it would be greatly appricated

Hey the good news is you live in primo location to learn HG or PG, and the better news (sorry I've got no bad news for ya) is you have a choice of a few good schools. If you want to hear what I have to say about your choices we should probably talk on the phone.

See http://www.ushga.org for PG instructors or schools such as in Ellenville NY, or as far as Morningside NH.

In the northeast the weather is so fickle, it may be best not to commit to a particular day of prepaid classes but just 'show up' for a scheduled class and join if the weather is OK. There are so many trees at their sites that the wind may have to be just the right (uphill) direction and speed to let you launch past the obstructions. I hate those class days where the weather is marginal, and they do busywork to justify class fees.

I recommend you to surf right over to http://www.USHGA.org and get a list of all the local schools/instructors in your area. Give them a call and go check out their operations. Talk to the instructors. It is very important that you feel comfortable with the instructor and like his/her training techniques/styles. www.BigAirParaGliding.com also has lots of information for new pilots.

Cheers, Kinsley Play Hard, Go Big, Live Xtreme http://XtremeBigAir.com ParaGliding - KiteSurfing - Wind Surfing - SkyDiving