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cliff soaring paraglider

 

 

Isle of Wight Could not resist putting up these images of Mick soaring over the cliff at the end of our garden. It is January and beautiful. What a lovely day, we got the old Ducati up and running again and had a good jam session later as well!

PYRENEES Holidays always available with our friendly and knowledgable guides. Early Club Pilot thermalling and cross-country courses with Butterfly, francis and Phil are periodically arranged, on demand. Tell me what you would like!

ITALY

Cost from £575 per week

See the pictures here (the full screen slide show, with captions, works properly when viewed in Internet Explorer, but you get a basic idea in Firefox, Safari etc, just click the numbered sidebar).

Paraglider pilots: large open take offs and top landings, uncrowded sites, large landing fields, full SIV facilities available if you want it. The craic/food/wine/accommodation is good and there are plenty of alternative activities for non flying partners and rest days. Suitable for students and pilots of all levels from EP to Pilot. We tailor the flying activities to suit you as an individual, rapidly expanding your horizons and skills within a safety conscious environment.

Lovely, we are delighted to be introducing UK pilots to this fabulous area. We are based around Rovetta. Fly into Bergamo, stay in Clusone, Fly Monte Blum.

The course is run by Dave (Butterfly) Botha CFI, the person who first opened Babadag (Turkey) to paragliding and ran the first SIV courses there back in the late 80s. There will be two BHPA instructors in attendance.

The safety boat on the lake is operated by an Aeroclub Italia SIV instructor, driven by a licensed boat operator, and carries your BHPA Senior Instructor. Every pilot is issued with a life jacket and radio/instrument waterproof case. There is a licensed instructor at launch. We do not expect anyone to enter the (fresh) water during the course, it is there as an emergency precaution. Lakeside landing is normally by the club house and restaurant. (12 hr bottle to throttle rule strictly applies).

A typical six of seven day course will consist of two days of orientation/preparation/coaching from a smooth alpine meadow 1200m to a large landing field in a broad valley near Lake Isola (hosted by an FIVL PG CFI). Then two days over the lake near Como doing assymetric tucks, pitch roll co-ordination (wing overs), front tucks, point of spin appreciation and point of stall appreciation, B-line stall and spiral dive.

The final two days are mountain flying for beginners; thermalling techniques and XC flying.

All paragliding is weather dependent and hazardous, we can only do our best, exercising our judgement based on our experience to offer the appropriate mix of adventure, fun and safety. You are the pilot in charge of your aircraft and all decisions are, ultimately, yours!

All exercises are optional and skills and experience are built up to during the course. There are some evening lectures available and there could also be some local heros speaking. The club scene is typically Italian and welcoming.

Pilot to instructors ratio:8 course pilots max to 2 BHPA (+1AI orFIVL).

Paramotor pilots are most welcome. Come and fly XC over these beautiful hills and lakes with our BHPA Senior Instructor and our friendly local experts. There will be a chance to try some gentle siv manoeuvers (assymetric deflations etc) over the water if you like. It is an empowering and confidence building activity which can contribute significantly to your flight safety, increasing your understanding of how your wing behaves at the edges of the flight envelope and the effects of pilot input.

Non-BHPA pilots (holding valid 2 million Eu Third Party insurance) are welcome to join us with the view to being assessed for a BHPA pilot rating. There is an Aeroclub Italia ULM instructor involved in this aspect of the trip so it is all LEGAL in two jurisdictions.

Depending on interest and take up, we will drive some motors down overland (my hang glider too) to do some pre-Alps paramotoring guided XCs (tour de lago d'Isola and/or Milan to Lago di Como)
There will be another trip in September 09. Details to be announced.

FIVL=Federazione di Italia di Volo Libero (PG governing body) AI= Aeroclub Italia (ULM governing body)

BHPA= British Hang-gliding and Paragliding association (PG,HG and SPHG instructor licensing body in the UK)

 

November 2008. Just returned from a road trip to see Udo and Jen in the Pyrenees. Very impressive set up with great sites for pilots keen to expand their horizons. It is probably best to go for the first time with an instructor, as there is a bit more to mountain flying than ridge soaring, but it is not not over extending or particularly hazardous if you are sensible. Udo is a safe pair of hands very helpful and very knowledgeable but also very clear that he is simply guiding you to the sites, he is not instructing! The area has it all; sea, sun, mountains, fruit, wine, and charming old architecture. Spain is just over the border and if you are unlucky with the wind ( the NE tremontan) it is within reach to go to the other side of the range and fly with the works pilots from Niveuk in the lee of the mountains! There is no substitute for local knowledge... Check out the pix here.

The next European JFDI paramotoring jaunt is to Italy at half term in April 09. Dates around 4th to the 20th.

Based in north Italy it is ideal for for paramotor and paraglider pilots of various levels, with the option addition of an SIV session if enough pilots opt for that.

There may be road haulage for the motors out and back so no problems with airlines. Flying should be simply awesome in the best part of the year and one of the best sites in Europe.

Cost from £550

Phone in NOW 01983 731 611 to have a say in the final set-up details.

Kick start your epic flying season. go on.... pick up the phone.....

Its a completely new form of flying holiday and one we think is going to catch on. Give us a call or drop us an email if you would like to be in the picture.

BASSANO, ITALY, OCTOBER 2007

A great trip, everybody excelled themselves in the air , the weather was pretty good and the company truly excellent!

We pretty much took over the b/b (and the bar). Food and wine is renowned in northern Italy, and once we sorted out the supply of salad it just got better and better.

Bob has taken a lot of footage of the whole adventure and Rob has edited some of it onto dvd. Really good, contact Rob for a copy.

I have fixed the file transfer problem (Wahey yabba dabba boobie!) and now there are pictures on this site.

At the moment it looks like Spain or Morrocco for early airtimers in the new year, but as ever we are at your service and very flexible. Call us on 01983 731 611 and suggest a destination; chances are we can put something together for you at short notice. Another idea bubbling along is for a paramotoring safari to Italy. Load all your motors into our ten-ton tour bus and see you in Feltre for fabulous flying fun following Francis....

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We went to fly Bassano for the week of 22nd October 2007 and had a ball. Sure to go again and would love to have you join us.

Butterfly Paragliding is the original flying holiday destination outfit (formerly known as Wild Adventure) and has been teaching overseas flying for nearly 20 years in New Zealand, America Africa and Europe.

It was another classic mountain tuition courses covering both the theory and practical side of flying mountainous terrain and how to cope with and avoid the hazards that occur in such conditions and how to get the most out of big flying. All pilots on this holiday expanded their personal boundaries, I am sure Scottie will remember for a very long time, looking down across the Dolomites at Austria and then seeing Venice in the other direction as we got him really high for the first time!

Our price for transport, B&B, theory and practical tuition was just £495.

All you have to do is organise your own flight from Stanstead to Verona (Venice) or Trevisso or from Gatwick to Marco Polo (Venice).

You will also need your own flying kit including a reserve and a radio, which can be obtained from us. Probably 2 metre radio will be most effective, So it goes....radios drive me crazy but they are essential really. Most pilots in Europe seem to use 2 metre 144 -145 sets, expanded, discreetly. Helmet kits are useful, let us know if you need one; they can take a while to arrive.We have some speaker mikes in stock. Use mobile phone set to roam for retrieve messaging.

Favourite reserve parachute is the Annular from Independence. We have a couple of unused second hand reserves in the shop, any reserve is better than no reserve, give us a call. Pilot club members get first dibs!

Bring your driving licence ( so you can drive and be on the car hire) and BHPA membership (so you can fly the mountain with a "Flycard" membership of the Grappa club). We will hire the vehicles closer to departure time, at the moment it looks like two or three cars, maybe a minibus van.

Please don’t forget to organise your insurance too. Call Yvonne at Airsports Insurance for the BHPA cover

Bassano is a wonderful flying holiday destination. It offers both rewarding and challenging flying coupled with superb food, Italian scenery and excellent wine, check out the pictures ....

This really is an opportunity not to be missed and places are filling fast. To be in on the trip, please call Miranda immediately to secure your place with a £50 deposit.

Remember – before you embark on flying outside of the UK, you should always think twice, after all your safety is important and our extensive experience might just save you from a nasty knock.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call us on 01983 731 611.

Butterfly

Isle of Wight

We have been running overseas trips safaris and adventures since 1989 and in the journey have gathered a lot of experience. In the light of emeging arguments regarding the proliferation of air travel, we are also pursuing more options for local variations on the free flight theme. We are becoming ever more involved in tow launching and paramotoring as ways of getting you airborne, our tow operation is great fun; on a quiet day recently Richard could just be heard, whooping and hollering as he flew down to a little cloud at 1200 ft! FUN! It is also sf course fabulous for all those club pilot tasks.

Why not consider the Isle of Wight for a bit of Tandem training,winching, paramotoring, speed soaring, kayaking, or kiting for a long weekend instead?

If you insist on going further afield we can help you with contacts and guidance in heaps of fine locations including Spain, France, Madeira, Italy, Crete, Turkey, Greece, New Zealand , Zambia, South Africa, Portugal, Austria, Germany and India.

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