iParaglide Flight Club - 2011 Grad & Re-union - October 28, 2011,18:00

Pilots 2011 season and grad celebration is coming up fast.  Don't miss out on this one!

All 2011 iP2 paragliding pilot graduates will be getting some very special wings: classified information...

We are also inviting all former grads out as a paragliding re-union.

If you came out and flew and had a good time, or are just plain interested in paragliding, come out as well - and of course, friends are always welcome.    

Paragliding Flight Club is the place to meet flying friends and associates, reflect on the great paragliding season, and plan upcoming adventures and tours. 

Just stumbling distance from skytrain, share a beer or two and relax at the Yaletown Brew Pub at 1111 Mainland Street, knowing getting home will be safe and easy. :)

 

We look forward to seeing you all for this special 2011 paragliding season celebration!

All On My Own

A huge congratulations to the three newest graduates of the iP2 Novice Paragliding program! Ducky, Jim, and Simon were all people we'd been carpooling, kiting, and flying with frequently, so my little personal flying team of Russ, Craig, and I has been hoping to have many adventures with them post-graduation too. To that end, we've been plotting our first supervision-free flights, hopefully for next weekend or the weekend after.

Russ and I have been flying with iParaglide since our graduations, because Russ has been acting as a landing coach every flyable weekend. It has its advantages, not the least of which is an automatic non-flying driver in the form of our teacher, but it means that we don't necessarily feel like fully independent paraglider pilots yet. In order to really feel like we've graduated, we need to fly without our teacher around.

I did take one step towards that feeling recently. I was the last of our group to launch on one of the rounds. As I was setting my paraglider up, our teacher headed down to pick the students back up for the next round. For the first time, I was on my own: I was going to launch without my teacher within sight. To further increase the pressure, there were many experienced pilots on launch, including some tandem pilots and teachers from another paragliding school. Luckily, the conditions were ones I am very comfortable with - low winds for a forward launch - and there was one friendly face on launch: Mark, a pilot I flew with last year when he was finishing his novice paragliding license as I was starting mine.

After we both landed, Mark told me that it was a good launch, but I already knew that. I brought the paraglider up evenly, checked the wing well, and ran down into a smooth flight. I even got a bit of lift as I played around in front of the ridge.

The next step is a new novice flying adventure. Our teacher isn't going to be at the mountain next weekend, so, weather permitting, it'll just be us, with our shiny new Novice Paragliding Pilot certifications, making our own decisions, launching and landing ourselves... and being pilots!

iParaglide SIV Simulation of Flight Incidents Sep.3,4,5/11

Pilots,

We look forward to a great weekend of paragliding towing and throwing it down over Lillooet Lake!

Here are the Paragliding SIV Simulation of Flight Incidents Seminar details: what to bring, where to meet and itinerary.

Please be sure to bring your complete set of paragliding equipment: Reserve parachutes repacked at recent Reserve Seminar; back protection; helmet; life vest; hook knife; TWO FRS RADIOS FULLY CHARGED READY TO GO - BRING CHARGERS and zip log bags & duct tape for possible water landings; gloves; and boots with ankle support. 

For those without hook knives, tow bridals and life jackets these can be rented for $25/day.  Tow bridals may be purchased at the paragliding SIV seminar for $100. 

The beach is remote and has no outhouses etc. so other items to bring: toilet paper; sunny clothes; wind/ towing clothes; change of clothes in case you splash down; sunscreen; water jugs; bug spray; coolers; packed lunches; folding chairs.  

Please also bring digital video cameras and TRIPODS you won't be able to hold the camera steady enough to video the paragliding moves otherwise. Spectators are especially welcome to play cameramen during this spectacular aerial event. 

Homework: please print and bring with you your DHV/CEN test report for your specific paraglider/make/model/size.  Study it! :)

Cyber 2+ L

Cyber 4 L

Cyber 4 S

Force M

Instinct M

Wildcat M

Maverick 2 L 

DHV site:  search for other paraglider reports here.

We are meeting at the Greenwood Inn Friday night 19:00.  We will do some simulator work and watch some paragliding SIV videos so that we can focus on towing and doing the maneuvers during the day.

Saturday/Sunday/Monday mornings we are meeting at 07:30 at the 12 km beach at Lillooet Lake (Google Map here),  it is 45 mins from Pemberton: 

• eastbound on Hwy 99 leaving Pemberton towards Mt.Currie for 6-10 kms until Mt. Currie: just past the town, hwy goes sharp left. Continue on another approx. 10 kms further east staying on Hwy 99. 
• you cross the river and see the lake. 
• watch for small signs on right side of road: Lillooet Lake, Lodge, Lillooet Lk. (In-chuck-ch) Forest Service Rd . (if road starts zig zagging and heading uphill to north, you've gone too far). 
• turn right (east) onto gravel road at cluster of signs.  Zero your odometer.
• drive 12 kms, there are no signs at beach small parking pullout. 
• park and 3 minute walk down to beach.

We look forward to seeing you all and to working a safe and optimized progression to help you prevent, recognize and recover from non-standard paragliding flying attitudes!

iParaglide Paragliding Reserve Parachute Seminar Itinerary August 27

Paraglider Pilots,

We are looking forward to Saturdays Paragliding Reserve Parachute Seminar. It will be held here at iParaglide @ 1238 Seymour (@Davie). Call us at 604-603-4459 on arrival and we'll let you in.   

Please bring a bagged lunch so we can keep the seminar on time. 

The itinerary is as follows:

(10:30-11:00 Set-up Paragliding Simulator (we would appreciate a hand with this))

11:00-12:00 Paragliding Reserve Parachute deploy theory: design brief; pre-flight checks; why throw multimedia display; when to deploy; how to deploy mantra

12:00-14:15 First throws and repacks

14:15-14:30 Break

14:30-15:30 Paragliding Reserve Parachute ride theory: low altitude deploy; high altitude deploy; dangerous landing sites; parachute Landing Fall (PLF); tree extraction for paraglider pilots

15:30-16:00 Tree extraction practicum

16:00-17:30 Throws and paragliding reserve repacks

17:45-18:00 Break

18:00-19:00 Throws and paragliding reserve repacks

We look forward to seeing you all here.

iParaglide Paragliding Reserve Parachute Seminar ($147) August 27, 2011

Our Paragliding Reserve Parachute seminar will prepare pilots for our upcoming SIV course.

Having a reserve parachute installed in your paragliding harness is only half the battle. Understanding the "throw or no-throw" scenario is a complex set of decisions and requires a well-understood decision tree.

The paragliding reserve parachute throw sequence itself requires a precise methodology that can be executed in extreme situations as an autonomous, systematic response.

Having the skills to inspect, maintain and repack your paragliding reserve is essential to being a pilot, especially when traveling in a third world countries.

Course components include: 

• Classroom theory including multi-media displays of paragliding reserve deployments gone well and deployment scenarios gone bad
• Paragliding Reserve Parachute design brief
• Pre-flight checks
• Why to throw, flight attitudes and altitudes that warrant reserve deployment   
• When to deploy
• How to deploy your paraglider reserve parachute: mantra
• Low altitude deploy reserve ride considerations
• High altitude deploy reserve ride considerations
• Dangerous landing sites
• Parachute Landing Fall (PLF) 
• Tree Extraction for paraglider pilots 
• Multiple reserve deployments from a paragliding simulator
• Multiple paragliding reserve repacks in a small group size
• Tree extraction kit for paragliders practicum

Our paragliding reserve parachute seminar is conducted in  small group size so we can throw and repack sufficient times in an un-rushed environment.  The principle is that you will be able to repack on your own in the future provided you stay current and repack every 6 months. 

We look forward to helping pilots thoroughly understand how paragliding reserve parachutes are designed to function; when and how to deploy their reserves; what to do during a reserve ride; and how to repack. Contact us to book here.