Second Attempt: Lanzarote

Hi All,

I posted a message a little while ago saying that I needed info on learning to hang glide, that I would need to travel to where I was going to learn, and that Europe was a possibility. After a less than overwhelming response I'm here again to ask a question. Please ! Anyone that can help me achieve this life-long ambition just respond to my message.

I've heard on this group that Lanzarote is a great place to hang-glide. Can you also learn here to ?

Because of the inclement weather in the UK I would have thought that going somewhere a little warmer would be better to learn to fly. I can easily get a package deal down to Lanzarote for a couple of weeks but is this a good idea ?

Can I just turn up, find a club, pay my money and learn ?

If anyone can help I would /REALLY/ appreciate it before I end up spending two weeks in Lanzarote on my own twiddling my thumbs.

Lee Wallace

Try Lejair in Norfolk. They do tow training - very efficient setup who apparently get you qualified double quick.

Hi Steve,

My location is Guernsey in the Channel Islands! This is why I have to travel to learn to fly u c.

writes

There is an excellent guide and helper to pilots on Lanzarote by the name of Ray Cooper - who also does B & B - his number's in the back of Skywings - however, as far as I know, he does NOT teach novices from scratch. NO UK BHPA school is ALLOWED to teach overseas from scratch - all ab initio training must be done in the UK.

You mention a 'club' - assuming, I believe, that clubs teach people to fly. They don't. Commercial schools teach people to fly (in the UK). Clubs are loose (VERY loose, sometimes) associations of QUALIFIED pilots who band together to pay site fees to farmers, and to drink together in pubs, lamenting the crap British weather.

They help each other, sure, but no formal teaching goes on in clubs - and clubs, by and large, do not own, or hire out, equipment to members. Each member has to own his own equipment, which he normally buys after qualifying out of school.

I have to say that a tow school, such as Lejair, or Airways, would offer you the best chance of qualifying rapidly - then a hill conversion is quick & cheap. With that done, Lanzarote is the ideal place to REALLY get some flying in. We took my 16-year old daughter there some years ago, with 2 hours logged, and she came back after two weeks with 20+ hours flight time - and a grin from ear to ear that a mortician couldn't remove!
http://www.bhpa.co.uk

- Rod Buck

Hello Lee,

I'm sorry your having such a hard time finding out about the sport, as Rod said in the last reply the BHPA web site has a complete listing of UK schools at www.bhpa.co.uk

I did a hill launch course to get my E.P. in which I started around this time last year at a school called Icarus in Yorkshire. With a little persistence I qualified with my E.P. in January when I booked on a Holiday (still with Icarus) to Lanzarote with the intention of carrying on for my C.P. I think I managed to qualify for C.P in the first week and carry on to get many more hours soaring in the second. Normally you would be using the school's equipment for your E.P. training and then would be expected to get your own kit for C.P. The hill launch course can be quite frustrating at times I must admit and can take a while to get qualified (depending on weather) but I have not done any tow so I can't really comment - You would have to do a hill launch conversion course if you got qualified on tow but I think this is either one or two more days.

I think I will be going out to Lanzarote next January since the weather here is constantly bad - it's a nice place to fly - with big landing areas which is a bonus to newly qualified pilots.

Good Luck,

Andy