FLYING START :: Southern Spain :: March 2010

06 Mar, 2010
by Carlo Borsattino

Learn to fly in the sunny skies of the magnificent Griffon Vulture...

FLYING START :: Learn To Fly & Get Quali-Fly'd!
These courses abroad are aimed at paragliding students wanting to learn to paraglide to a high standard with expert BHPA instructors and get their BHPA Club Pilot rating (FAI internationally recognised, IPPI level 3).

Dates: Saturday 13th to Sunday 21st March 2010*
*If you can't do this whole period (13-21) then we may be able to accommodate you for a shorter trip; Contact Us to let us know which dates you would like to do.

General Information

This paragliding course is suitable for all paragliding students looking to achieve their BHPA Club Pilot (CP) rating under expert instruction with an officially recognised BHPA Paragliding School, Flybubble Paragliding. The BHPA CP rating is recognised internationally (FAI-IPPI).

Get Your Paragliding off to a FLYING START with Flybubble Paragliding!
We offer exclusive BHPA approved Paragliding Courses for those that want to learn to paraglide to the highest standards. Specialising in highly personalised, expert tuition with small training groups, our services are very much tailored to the individual.

Carlo Borsattino, BHPA Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) of Flybubble Paragliding, will be working together with local paragliding instructors to ensure you make the most out of your training course.

Fly with us and benefit from our unique and conscientious approach!

A Bit About The Area...
For this paragliding course we will be based in Andalucia; the area is world-renowned for being the paragliding "Mecca" of Southern Spain! Enjoy your introduction to Paragliding during the day and enjoy a cold beer or a glass of Rioja with accompanying Tapas during the evenings!

Southern Spain has many beautiful towns and villages some of which date back to the sixteenth century. You can enjoy cultural heritage and monuments whilst enjoying picturesque views of olive groves and fields of the famous Seville orange trees. In the region of Andalucia the world’s finest ham is produced from the Iberian pig and the area around the town of Ronda produces the best red wines in Andalucia!

What happens on my FLYING START paragliding holiday?

Put simply, we will teach you as much about PARAGLIDING as possible!

First you will need to successfully attain the BHPA Paragliding Elementary Pilot (EP) rating - the halfway hurdle to achieving the Club Pilot rating - which takes on average 4-6 days of training.

Once you have your BHPA EP rating, then you can carry on and work towards achieving the BHPA Paragliding Club Pilot (CP) rating. The Club Pilot rating is what you need to be able to fly solo, without instructor supervision, in the United Kingdom and it is also recognised in most countries around the world.

It takes on average 10-14 days of training in total (from the beginning, including EP) for individuals to achieve the BHPA Paragliding Club Pilot rating (this can vary according to the individual and various other factors outside of our control such as the weather).

Our EP & CP Courses run from Sunday through to Friday 6 training days per week.

On your first week you will start right from the beginning with an introduction to the sport and the equipment, and learn how to set up the equipment and clip-in to the paragliding harness. Next we complete the basic ground-training, learning how to inflate the wing and control it on the ground. This is known as 'ground handling' and can take a lot of practice to get right; many think it could be a sport all on it's own, and there are even paragliding DVDs dedicated to the art of ground handling!

Then you will learn how to take-off and land safely with a paraglider, and do your first short paragliding flights, all under expert instruction and supervision by your BHPA Licensed Paragliding Instructor.

After this, you will progress on to doing higher, longer flights, learning how to turn the paraglider competently and complete simple flight plans successfully.

As well as all of the flying tasks, there is also some theory to learn and the BHPA Paragliding Elementary Pilot (EP) Exam to pass.

Once you have completed all of the Elementary Pilot tasks successfully, passed the EP Exam, and satisfied the Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) that you have the correct 'Attitude and Airmanship' then you will be awarded your BHPA Paragliding Elementary Pilot (EP) rating by the CFI.

Once you have successfully attained your EP rating then you will be able to continue on from there and work towards achieving the BHPA Paragliding Club Pilot (CP) rating.

If you are staying on for the second week, this is purely for CP tasks and again we hope to complete us much of the CP course as possible in a further 6 days of training. As well as all of the BHPA Paragliding Club Pilot (CP) practical tasks to complete successfully, to the required standard for Club Pilot, there is the next level of theory to learn and the CP Exam to pass.

Once you have completed all of the Club Pilot tasks successfully, passed the CP Exam and satisfied the Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) that you have the correct 'Attitude and Airmanship' to fly solo safely unsupervised, and with others, then you will be awarded your BHPA Paragliding Club Pilot (CP) rating by the CFI.

Please note that we cannot and do not guarantee that you will achieve your BHPA EP rating in one week, or your BHPA CP rating in 2 weeks, as this is very much down to individual progress and the given weather conditions during the course. In case you don't fully acheive your EP or CP during your course, the training which you have done will count towards any further training required to acheive your EP and CP ratings.

As well as the paragliding training courses we offer abroad, we also offer training courses throughout the year in the southeast of England (near Brighton) so we can offer further training courses back in the UK to complete any remaining tasks. We have been teaching paragliding and flying paragliders from the beautiful rolling South Downs hills in sunny Sussex for over 16 years, and offer expert instruction to a high standard.

What's included & the cost?

The following is included in the cost of the trip...

• 8 potential days of expert paragliding tuition from Flybubble Paragliding working together with local paragliding instructors to ensure you make the most out of your trip!
• Expert paragliding instruction from Carlo Borsattino, BHPA Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) of Flybubble Paragliding, an official BHPA Registered School
• Theory sessions and BHPA EP/CP written exams
• Weather, local area and flight information from local paragliding experts
• Airport transfer from/to local airport to/from accommodation
• 8 night’s shared self-catering accommodation
• 8 days transfers to/from take-offs/landing fields

Cost for the above: £795 (GBP)

What's not included?
Basically, anything not listed above isn't included. For example, the following things are not included in the price of the trip…

• Paragliding equipment
• BHPA membership
• Airline flights
• Travel Insurance
• Meals

Paragliding equipment:
Hire/Use of PG equipment for 6 days: £250 (Includes; paraglider; harness; helmet; radio)
Alternatively please call to discuss purchase options of your very own paragliding equipment for the trip.
BHPA membership:
Students have to take out BHPA Annual Membership

Travel Insurance:
This is very specific to paragliding – we will supply you with details of companies that offer insurance for learning to paraglide abroad. Please bear in mind that normal travel insurance usually excludes activities such as paragliding.

Airline Flights:
We fly London Gatwick to Malaga and to give you an idea (checked January 2010) Easyjet flights for our dates are from £65 return for an adult fare including 20Kg normal luggage allowance. If you can find cheaper flights (for the right dates and airports) then let us know!

Once we have received deposits from the minimum number of pilots required for the trip to go ahead then we will try to find the best price for flights for each trip and then individuals pay for these directly themselves.

It is always best if everyone is on the same flight, but we understand this is not always possible as people come from different places. All we ask is that, to minimize unnecessary delays, everyone is at the airport at the same time, or earlier than the main group arrival time for the airport transfer on the way out. On the way back (i.e. return flight) you should ensure your flight is at the same time or later than the main group's flight. If you book flights that do not fit in with the main group then you will have to make your own arrangements for airport transfers.

Book your place now using our Flybubble Online Shop

Essential Books & DVDs for your Flybubble Course

To get the best out of your paragliding training with us, you will need to buy the following instructional book and DVDs for ‘home study’ purposes:

• Touching Cloudbase 4th Edition (Book)
• Paragliding : Learn to Fly DVD
• Ground Handling Techniques DVD
• Speed To Fly / Security In Flight DVD

You will also need a BHPA Flight Log Book for your own personal record of your training with us and further flying.

There are plenty of other great paragliding books and DVDs which you could get as well, but the above are the ‘basic essentials’ you will need to make the most out of your paragliding course with us.

We have put together an “Essential Learner Pack” which contains all of the above essential learning aids for a special pack price that will save you money compared to ordering all of them individually.

Buy your Flybubble Paragliding Essential Learner Pack through our Online Shop.

Alternatively please Contact Us to pay by card over the phone.