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Paragliding Tenerife Tips for Beginners
Today at Overfly Tenerife, we are going to tell you the best paragliding tips — the 15 things you need to know about paragliding. We take the opportunity to remind you that in previous post we have talked about many other paragliding topics, such as:
- The best paragliding launch techniques you need to know.
- The best paragliding sites in Tenerife.
- 5 top paragliding tips about how to do paragliding for the first time.
The following are some paragliding tips for everyone, from beginners to experienced paragliding pilots.
Paragliding is an exciting and relaxing sport that everyone can enjoy. You will have the chance to fly through the air hundreds or thousands of meters above the ground, and that means you must take certain steps to ensure that you enjoy the best paragliding experience in a safe way. Read carefully and follow these tips!
Check out our paragliding flights and give us a call when you are ready to live the gliding experience in Tenerife.
Paragliding Tenerife tips for beginners — a short review
First of all, we would like to begin talking briefly about some of the paragliding tips for beginners that we have already mentioned in previous posts, but providing you with more information. This is just in case you are interested in becoming a paragliding pilot.
1. Book a tandem flight to know how paragliding is
Once you are up in the air the paragliding experience may feel very different from what you expected. This is the reason why our first paragliding tip is that you book a tandem paragliding flight. That will give you the chance to fly with a professional who will show you how it feels to fly like a bird, but you won’t have the added stress of controlling the situation and the huge paraglider wing floating above your head.
2. Sign up for a paragliding course
Once you have tried the paragliding experience and you have decided that you absolutely love it, it is probably that you want to take it further and you have decided that the next step is to become a paragliding pilot. Thus, if you have always dreamt with becoming a pilot, you just have to sign up for a paragliding course with certified professionals.
Once you have received your paragliding lessons, you will receive your paragliding license. Then, you will have the chance to buy your own equipment if you haven’t received it in the Paragliding School. Although it may seem a bit expensive at the beginning, remember that achieving your dreams is priceless!
3. Join a good paragliding club
Once you have made the Club Pilot course, you have the chance to fly within a club environment, so you can join a paragliding club. We strongly recommend you trying to find a club close to your home, or otherwise, the club your Paragliding School is involved in. Once you join a paragliding club, you have the chance to interact with other pilots who will share their experiences and will give you advice about paragliding.
4. Don’t fly on your own — make friends and fly with them!
Although this paragliding tip might sound a bit silly, it is clear that the best option to make paragliding friends is to join a paragliding club. Surely, most of them will have many years of experience from which you can learn. That will definitely help you to progress and improve your skills.
When you start your paragliding life, it can be difficult to make the right decision about which is the best paragliding site to fly depending on several factors like the weather conditions and so on. Nevertheless, if you have paragliding friends, you won’t have to worry about it, because they will help you.
5. Discover which is the right paragliding equipment for you
Following our paragliding tips, we are going to tell you briefly that you need to bear in mind how important paragliding equipment is. You must be aware that the wrong equipment can put you off this sport very quickly.
What paragliding Equipment do I need?
In case you are thinking about taking a course to learn to paraglide and you are looking for paragliding equipment for sale, we will explain which all the components of paragliding equipment are.
At Overfly Tenerife, we always recommend you to confer with your instructor before buying a paraglider since there are many models and manufacturers. Your instructor is the one who best knows how to advise you which is the paragliding equipment that adapts properly to your flying style. If you have any doubt, you can also contact us!.
All the sports equipment for you to do paragliding flight in Costa Adeje, such as the case and harness, will be provided by Overfly Tenerife.
Paragliding Wing
The paraglider wing is the most important element of paragliding equipment and it consists of two main layers, top and bottom surfaces. These, in turn, are joined by a fabric called ribs — forming between them what we call “cells” or “boxes”.
It has an aerodynamic design that allows it to have a glide ratio, in some cases, close to 13:1. The paragliders wings are made of a fabric that has no porosity, so air can’t pass through it. The most commonly used materials in paragliding are polyester or nylon.
Paragliding Harness
The pilots are comfortably seated in the paragliding harness. They are made of very resistant materials and, in their majority, they have protections that protect the back in case of take-offs or landings failed.
The paragliding harnesses vary according to the needs of the pilot. There are others for the passengers of a tandem flight, which are also perfect for paragliding lessons, XC harnesses for long distances, acro harnesses special for acrobatics, harness for tandem paragliding pilots and even small ones for children.
Paragliding Helmet
An essential safety element that must be part of your paragliding equipment is the paragliding helmet. It fulfills the function of protecting our head and face from possible incidents during a takeoff or a landing that does not go very well, especially when we are learning.
There are two types of helmets — open and closed. The closed ones protect the jaw and face better. It is extremely important that the helmet is properly homologated to be used for paragliding flights.
The reserve parachute is the most important security element that we must have in our paragliding equipment. The reasons for using it are several — you can commit an error, collide with another pilot in a distraction, weather conditions can change, failure in our main equipment, and so on.
Other Paragliding Flight Instruments
The purpose of the variometer is to help the pilot to locate the core of the thermals that will allow him to have a greater height gain and, consequently, to stay longer in flight and to travel greater distances. The variometer indicates the rates of ascent or descent with short audio signals and also by means of a visual screen.
Another element of our paragliding equipment is the paragliding radio which is used to communicate with other pilots who are flying or to inform the group’s attendants where the pilot wants to land.
The paragliding GPS (Global Position System) is an indispensable accessory in any paragliding competition since it allows us showing the route that we have drawn during the flight.
3 Paragliding Tips about What You Shouldn’t Do as a Beginner
Continuing with learners and beginners, you should know that mistakes are a common thing that happens in our daily lives, and they almost always have a solution. Nevertheless, even small mistakes can be dangerous in extreme sports like paragliding. There are plenty of errors that we can see daily in those who have just got into the sport. If you are a beginner pilot, please watch out for these 3 paragliding tips about what you shouldn’t do:
1. Don’t Learn the Wrong Way
Nowadays, we live in a world in which an amateur’s blog or a YouTube video is considered wisher than a teacher, or in this case, a paragliding instructor. You can try to learn on your own about paragliding techniques, but in an extreme sport like this, there is just too much risk.
If you really want to become a pilot, you must look for a qualified paragliding instructor who will provide you with the proper training. You have to learn from their experience as paragliding pilots.
2. Don’t Overestimate Your Skills
Once you understand the basics, it is easier to get overconfident. The excitement and the adrenaline can become kind of overwhelming, so you will probably feel tempted to try to do some acrobatics or launching in high winds. Even expert and advanced paragliders aren’t exempt from this kind of thinking, so just remember to stay safe once you are practicing paragliding out there. Don’t put yourself at risk unnecessarily, because that is a silly decision.
Forget about the excess of pride. There is an amount of overcoming your fear involved with any extreme sport, but if you don’t feel sure about the situation, it is not bad to step back. Some people fear to land early or launching themselves in some weather conditions, but we definitely think that it is better to feel and be safe.
3. Don’t Overspend Money on Your Paragliding Gear
Your paragliding gear is basically what keeps you alive, apart from your knowledge. That is the reason why people ten tend to rush into expensive purchases because they associate the most expensive paragliding equipment with the highest quality. Surprise! That is an error. Follow our paragliding tips — you must look for recommendations and contrast the reviews about the equipment to avoid the risk of fraud.
2 Paragliding Safety Tips
As you probably know, paragliding is an exciting sport that everybody can enjoy! Although it is extremely sure, even more than driving a car, it could involve some risks due to the fact that it involves flying through the air. This means hundreds or thousands of meters above the ground, and that is the reason why taking some steps to ensure your safety is a must.
Actually, paragliding in Tenerife is an activity really easy to learn. Nevertheless, one of the most dangerous aspects of paragliding is the period just after someone starts to feel comfortable in the air.
On the one hand, when you are learning to paraglide, it is quite probable that you will be extremely careful and that you even have a feeling of vulnerability. On the other hand, if you have already gone through the paragliding training to become a pilot and you have already gone out to fly by yourself, it can be pretty easy to develop a false sense of security.
It is very easy to take safety less seriously and make mistakes at the moment when you start to feel confident. Down below, you will find some paragliding safety tips geared towards everyone — from beginners to the most experienced paragliding pilots.
1. Paragliding Preparation
Paragliding preparation is the key. You must bear in mind that errors occur, even to experienced pilots. However, you have to maintain respect for flying, together with a constant feeling of susceptibility. Moreover, you must prepare yourself properly both mentally and physically before your paragliding flight, because it is very important.
This paragliding safety tip also includes collecting an accurate weather forecast before your paragliding flight, as well as knowing the area very well.
You must also remember to check all paragliding equipment regularly and before every flight to make sure that it is up to proper working standards. If you have any doubt or question about the integrity of any piece of your paragliding equipment, or about the conditions in which you will be doing your flight, you better don’t take off.
We strongly recommend you to practice your paragliding techniques for both taking-off and landing too. When you are landing, you have to do so into the wind. It is important to practice your landing technique. We recommend you to concentrate your efforts on hitting the target, or at least, land as close as possible.
Furthermore, you must have a plan for the end of your flight before you have even begun. It must be a priority at every step of your flight to plan properly a safe approach to the landing zone. As we have said, you should avoid landing out of the landing zone, because if you do that, it will increase the probability of suffering a paragliding accident.
Practice makes perfection, and every effort has its reward so, believe us when we say that, once you reach the ground safely, you will be happy to have gone through all of those details before flying.
2. Avoid Complacency When You Are Paragliding
One of the biggest mistakes that people commonly make after they begin practicing paragliding frequently is to fall into a pattern of complacency. This sport is both relaxing and electrifying. This unique combination is responsible for many people enjoying this sport so much.
However, there are undoubtedly some risks that must be prevented and respected at every level of the flying experience. Please, make the proper preparations and we strongly recommend you to make use of our paragliding safety tips, so you can ensure your safety and enjoy a marvellous flight.
5 Paragliding Tips for Faster Flying
One of the biggest advantages of practicing paragliding in Tenerife South (paragliding Teneriffa) is that you will be able to enjoy the feeling of peace together with the astonishing views of the coast, all of this while you are in harmony with nature.
However, there are some days when just flying fast isn’t enough — you want to go even faster! Those days when you try to reach stratospheric heights, when you try to cross those stretches that you have never seen before… When it comes to appeasing your inner voice asking for speed, we will give you some paragliding tips for faster flying and make the most of the wind conditions.
1. Get Fast Slowly
It may sound like a contradiction, but probably the best way to reach the top speed is to engage your speed bar progressively. This is one of the best paragliding tips for faster flying.
While beginners may be tempted to stamp on the bar right away, this approach can pitch the glider forward with too steep an angle of attack, making the wing vulnerable to deflations. Instead, ease on the speed by monitoring your pitch and waiting until the speed of your body matches the wing speed before increasing it.
2. Soften Your Steering
This paragliding tip in simple words — sharp steering feeds your sink rate. You have to try manoeuvring your wing more uniformly to avoid tight turns and abrupt shifts which can also oscillate your banking angle. You just have to bank the glider in strong lift.
3. Ride the Thermal
If you know how to centre a thermal, it can mean the difference between getting home safe and sound, and landing out. Thermals don’t just offer a chance to gain altitude, but they can also send you flying at speeds on a par with the speed of birds.
If you want to make the most of a thermal, you have to wait until you feel the strongest lift and then dig your wing into it with a tight turn. The faster you find the core of the thermal, the faster you will ascend and the faster you will fly. This is another of the best paragliding tips for faster flying.
4. Try Ridge Soaring
If you plan your route over ridges, it can help supply a steady stream of updrafts. In good wind conditions, slopes can provide a fairly rational lift as long as you fly steadily over the edges. This paragliding technique is often used in competition tasks to run down long ridges. You just have to ascend to the top of the thermal if you intend to leave the ridge. In other words, go over the back or into the flats.
5. Attack Headwinds
Getting caught in a headwind can drop your speed rate to a crawl. If you stay at trim, you will most likely start hovering downward as the wing loses speed yet if you try to fly any slower, you will start moving backwards. The best option is to hit the speed bar whenever going into the wind to ensure maximum forward speed movement.
We hope that you have enjoyed this post about paragliding tips and the 15 things you need to know about paragliding. If you have any doubt, you need more information or you are interested in our services, don’t hesitate to contact us! You can also check our paragliding guide and its section ‘paragliding tips’. We invite you to enjoy paragliding in Tenerife with us!
We want to fly with you; we want to be your wings.
How safe is tamdem paragliding in Tenerife?
How safe is tandem paragliding in Tenerife? This is the question that customers often ask our instructors before they perform their first tandem paragliding flight.
Paragliding is a sport regarded as extreme adventure and it is considered very safe at the same time — as long as the rules and regulations are complied with. This concept is important both when we take paragliding lessons to learn to paraglide, and when we want to hire our first tandem paragliding experience.
How safe is tandem paragliding in Tenerife? Is paragliding safe? We will explain in our paragliding guide the factors that you should consider if you are thinking about having your first contact with paragliding in Tenerife.
Tandem Paragliding Safety
Is paragliding safe? As we have said before, our first tandem paragliding experience will be fantastic as long as the rules and regulations are complied with. If you want to achieve the status of professional, you must go through an evolutionary process as a pilot. This process begins the same day that you make your first flight.
After a few years of experience and progression as a pilot and after flying thousands of times in different places you will be ready to take paragliding lessons again. This time, you will do the Tandem Paragliding Pilot Course.
Once the course is finished, the pilots must necessarily pass through a period of practice to refine the technique learned. It is then when they obtain their tandem paragliding pilot license permanently.
The Royal Spanish Aeronautical Federation (Real Federación Aeronáutica Española) in Spain is the one that groups and supports all the regional federations, which grant the tandem paragliding pilot license.
How safe is tandem paragliding in Tenerife? If we consider that the rules and regulations are complied with, and the professional pilots have the appropriate training and the qualification that certifies it, our answer is definitely yes, it is very safe.
Tandem Paragliding Companies
How safe is tandem paragliding in Tenerife? There are a large number of tandem paragliding companies in Tenerife. As a rule, they are focused on providing a good service with a high level of security. This means that they pay a lot of attention not to skip any precautions in a tandem paragliding take off.
The pilots are also very rigorous when it comes to renewing their paragliding equipment after each season. They are trained to properly analyze the weather conditions and to choose the most propitious moment to take off.
Therefore, we suggest you to inform yourself adequately and do a background research of the tandem paragliding company that you have chosen to do your first tandem paragliding flight and thus, having a great paragliding experience!
