Top Gun Flight School

At iParaglide Top Gun Flight School, we take pride in having taught over 1900 paragliding students in our 26 years of operation.

We are the the longest running school based in Metro Vancouver. Due to our central location, we are the only school that flies all of the relevant kiting parks, training hills and mountains within a 3 hour radius of Vancouver.  This empowers pilots to get to know the key training and flying spots early, optimizes and accelerates learning, and allows them to grow into great future pilots.  

We have the reputation of being an industry leader with an emphasis on engineered safety systems, quality instruction, the finest equipment and a positive learning environment for fun and empowering flying.

We offer the highest level of accreditation, with Senior HPAC and Advanced USHPA paragliding instructors, who coach from first flight to expert paraglider pilots and teach and qualify new paragliding instructors.

Top Gun References

We recently graduated a CF-18 Hornet Pilot from our Top Gun iP2 Novice Paragliding Pilot program.  Read about his impressions of iParaglide.

Social Links

iParaglide Location

Located at 962 - 51st Street Tsawwassen, near Vancouver, BC, Canada, for all your paragliding needs. We are ideally situated just minutes away from the finest training hill at Diefenbaker Park.

iParaglide Flying Sites

We are central to paragliding sites in the Vancouver, Chilliwack, Pemberton, Whistler, Bellingham and Seattle area so students enjoy maximum variety and we can work with weather to optimize selection of the best location each day.

Right Stuff Equipment

We regularly test fly the latest paragliding gear and select only the very finest for our iParaglide Right Stuff Paragliding Equipment Store. This ensures our paraglider pilots enjoy a state of the art performance and safety advantage to accelerate their learning curve.

Paragliding Webcams/Wind Stations

Vancouver Paragliding Webcams - get a view of cloud base to plan your paragliding cross country flight adventure.

Woodside Mtn Webcam

Woodside Wind Station

Bridal Webcam

Bridal Wind Station

Chilliwack Webcam

Hope Webcam 

Pemberton Webcam

Tsawwassen Webcam

Bellingham Bay Webcam

Tiger Mtn Webcam 

Friday
Jul132012

iParaglide Right Site Weather: July 13

Paragliding weather forecast for Vancouver, Chilliwack, Bellingham, Seattle, Whistler & Pemberton areas. Mostly sunny skies with risk of thunderstorms late in the day, due to low pressure immediately south. Vancouver Paragliding - valley winds west to 10km/hr and gusting to 80 km/hr in isolated areas near thunderstorms. 3000ft winds aloft light and variable and becoming west to 17 km/hr as the day progresses. Seattle Paragliding - valley winds light and variable and increasing to southwest to 16 km/hr as the day progresses. 3000 ft winds aloft light and variable and becoming northeast to 10 km/hr post 13:00. Pemberton, Vancouver and Chilliwack good in morning for paragliding today, but watch for potential over development (OD) and risk of thunderstorms later on.    

iParaglide Right Site Ranking:

1. Pemberton Paragliding: lapse rate -2.5C/1000ft: P3 intermediate paragliding. Mackenzie upper & lower 09:00-12:00 & 18:00-20:00 P2 novice paragliders. P3 intermediate paragliding 12:00-18:00. Watch for OD potential in afternoon. Chances 90:10 early, 70:30 late.

2. Vancouver Paragliding: lapse rate -1.2C/1000ft: P2 novice paragliders.  Grouse 10:00-20:00 P4 advanced Grouse Mountain Flying Team paragliding pilots only. Watch summit for cap cloud and potential OD. Chances 80:20. 

3. Chilliwack Paragliding: lapse rate -1.7C/1000ft: novice P2 paragliding. Caution: lapse rate may increase dramatically locally if OD conditions establish. Watch for signs of developing clouds and increased localized winds, potentially gusting to 80 km/hr. Chilliwack calling for potential thunderstorms and hail in afternoon. Woodside (08:00-12:00) & Bridal (10:00-12:00) for P2 novice paraglider pilots. P4 advanced pilots 12:00-20:00 at Woodside & Bridal. Chances 70:30 early, 50:50 later on. 

4. Whistler Paragliding: lapse rate: >-3.0C/1000ft: XXX advanced P4 paragliding. Whistler team paragliders only 09:00-20:00. Watch for strong conditions and potential OD late in the day.  Chances 70:30 early, 40:60 late. 

5. Paragliding Bellingham: lapse rate -1.9C/1000ft: novice P2 paragliders. Caution: lapse rate my increase dramatically with potential for afternoon thunderstorms. Blanchard 10:00-13:00 P2 novice paragliders. 13:00-20:00 P3 intermediate paragliding. Chances 60:40, 30:70 late.  

6. Seattle Paragliding: lapse rate -1.9C/1000ft: P2 novice paraglider pilots. Caution: lapse rate my increase dramatically with potential for afternoon thunderstorms. Morning low clouds Tiger Mtn. 09:00-13:00 P2 novice paragliders. 13:00-20:00 P3 intermediate paragliding. Chances 50:50. 

 

Sunday
Jul082012

iParaglide Right Site Weather: July 8

Vancouver, Chilliwack, Bellingham, Seattle, Whistler & Pemberton area paragliding weather forecasts. Sunny skies and reduced winds due to high pressure. Paragliding in Vancouver- valley winds west to 10km/hr with light and variable winds aloft at 3000 ft. Paragliding in Seattle - valley winds north west to 15 km/hr with north winds aloft at 3000ft increasing to 19 km/hr. Pemberton and Chilliwack excellent for paragliding today.   

iParaglide Right Site Ranking:

1. Pemberton Paragliding: lapse rate -2.5C/1000ft: P3 intermediate paragliding. Mackenzie upper & lower 09:00-12:00 & 18:00-20:00 P2 novice paragliders. P3 intermediate paragliding 12:00-18:00. Light and variable winds aloft yield smooth conditions. Chances 90:10.

2. Chiliwack Paragliding: lapse rate -2.2C/1000ft: novice P2 paragliding. Woodside (08:00-13:00 & 18:00-20:30) & Bridal (11:00-13:00 & 18:00-20:30) for P2 novice paraglider pilots. P3 intermediate pilots 12:00-18:00 at woodside & Bridal. Chances 90:10.

3. Vancouver Paragliding: lapse rate -1.3C/1000ft: P2 novice paragliders.  Grouse 10:00-20:00 P4 advanced GMFT paragliding pilots only. Chances 90:10.

4. Whistler Paragliding: lapse rate: -3.0C/1000ft: advanced P4 paragliding. Whistler team paragliders only 09:00-21:00. Chances 90:10.

5. Seattle Paragliding: lapse rate -1.3C/1000ft: P2 novice paraglider pilots. Tiger Mtn. 09:00-13:00 & 18:00-20:30 P2 novice paragliders.  13:00-18:00 P3 intermediate paragliding. Chances 90:10. 

6. Paragliding Bellingham: lapse rate -1.3C/1000ft: novice P2 paragliders. Blanchard 10:00-14:00 & 17:00-20:00 P2 novice paragliders. 14:00-17:00 P3 intermediate paragliding. Wait for anabatic conditions to establish. Chances 80:20.

Saturday
Jul072012

iParaglide Right Site Weather: July 7

Paragliding weather forecasts for Vancouver, Chilliwack, Bellingham, Seattle, Whistler, Pemberton area. High pressure and sunny skies. Vancouver Paragliding - valley winds west to 10km/hr with 3000 ft winds aloft light and viarable. Seattle Paragliding - valley winds north to 15 km/hr with winds aloft at 3000ft northeast to 14 km/hr becoming north to 12 km/hr post 16:00. Great day for paragliding in Chillwiack and Pemberton.  

iParaglide Right Site Ranking:

1. Pemberton Paragliding: lapse rate -3.2C/1000ft: P4 advanced paragliding. Mackenzie upper & lower 09:00-11:00 & 18:00-20:00 P2 novice paragliders. P4 advanced paragliding 11:00-18:00. Epic day due to light and variable winds aloft.  Should be catabatic conditions all ridge liens and strong lapse rate. Chances 90:10.

2. Chiliwack Paragliding: lapse rate -2.8C/1000ft: advanced P4 paragliding pilots. Woodside (08:00-12:00 & 18:00-20:30) & Bridal (11:00-13:00 & 18;00-20:30) for P2 novice paraglider pilots. P4 advanced pilots 12:00-18:00 at woodside & Bridal. Chances 90:10.

3. Vancouver Paragliding: lapse rate -2.3C/1000ft: P2 novice paragliders.  Grouse 10:00-20:00 P4 advanced GMFT paragliding pilots only. Chances 90:10.

4. Whistler Paragliding: lapse rate: -3.5C/1000ft: XXX advanced P4 paragliding. Whistler team paragliders only 09:00-21:00. Strong lapse rate, for an epic day: careful out there. Chances 80:20.

5. Seattle Paragliding: lapse rate -1.8C/1000ft: P2 novice paraglider pilots. Tiger Mtn. 09:00-13:00 & 18:00-20:30 P2 novice paragliders.  13:00-18:00 P3 intermediate paragliding. Chances 80:20. 

6. Paragliding Bellingham: lapse rate -1.3C/1000ft: novice P2 paragliders. Blanchard 10:00-13:00 & 17:00-20:00 P2 novice paragliders. 13:00-17:00 P3 intermediate paragliding. Wait for norht wind and/or outflow and anabatic conditons to subside and seabreeze to establish. Chances 80:20.

Monday
Jul022012

iParaglide Right Site Weather: July 2

Paragliding weather forecast for Vancouver, Chilliwack, Whistler, Pemberton, Bellingham & Seattle area. Low pressure to northwest and jet stream near overhead brings rain and low cloudbase throughout. Vancouver Paragliding: west valley winds to 20 km/hr with 3000ft winds aloft 26 km/hr southeast and subsiding to 17 km/hr mid-day. Seattle Paragliding: valley winds southwest to 24 km/hr with 3000ft winds southwest 13 km/hr and increasing to 37 km/hr as the day progresses. Paragliding not recommended in the Seattle-Vancouver-Chilliwack-Pemberton corridor today.

Sunday
Jul012012

iParaglide Right Site Weather: July 1

Vancouver, Chilliwack, Whistler, Pemberton, Bellingham & Seattle area weather forecast for paraglider pilots. Rain and low cloudbase throughout due to low pressure. Paragliding in the Vancouver area: west valley winds to 10 km/hr with winds aloft at 3000ft southeast to 13 kmh/r. Paragliding in the Seattle area: south valley winds to 16 km/hr with winds aloft at 3000ft southwest to 16 km/hr and becoming light and variable post 16:00. Seattle-Vancouver-Chilliwack-Pemberton corridors not good for paragliding today.