Our main priorities are safety and quality of tuition and that’s why our EP and CP courses are Open-Ended to completion.  We know from experience that students become better and safer pilots without the pressure of completing all their tasks in a set number of days.  No two students are ever alike and good weather conditions, aptitude, age and fitness are just some of the deciding factors in how fast you progress, and of course good instructors.

After 15+ years teaching paragliding on the South Downs our instructors know what dictates when and where we teach paragliding - it is the ever changing wind conditions.  At Air Adventure we have private training sites that will take any wind direction, all within a 5-mile radius of each other.  Also, we are the only school in the area to have our own winch and CAA permits to tow up to 2000ft at our site directly behind Devil’s Dyke.  So check out our courses below and book now if you want to maximise your quality tuition time. Gift Vouchers are available.

Tandem Paragliding Flights

A great way to get into the air fast, and at Air Adventure we have some of the best tandem pilots in the South of England.  They are all BHPA registered instructors with over 15 years experience flying on the South Downs. On arrival, your tandem instructor will brief you on the weather conditions, safety issues; explain how the wing flies and the take off and landing procedures.  He will then show you how to put on your helmet and harness ready for launch.  After the pre-flight safety checks have been done, your tandem instructor will inflate the wing and off you run until your feet no-longer touch the ground.  Then the adventure begins!  Very quickly you will be soaring above take-off with fantastic views of the South Downs and surrounding area.  Flight duration is approx. 20 minutes, although this may vary depending on soaring conditions.

Taster Day

If you're looking for a full hands-on experience, this it great fun and completely exhilarating and by the end of the day you will be tired but you will have achieved one of man's greatest adventures, FLIGHT.

On taster days there are no short-cuts to learning to fly a paraglider.  You will have to complete the same tasks as you would on the first day of the BHPA approved EP syllabus.  The great advantage with a Taster Day is that if you then decide to continue your training with us and book a full EP course, the tasks you have completed will count towards the course syllabus and we will deduct the cost of the Taster Day off the EP course price, providing the balance is paid on completion of the Taster Day.

Elementary Pilot Course (EP)

This is the first stage to obtaining you license to fly unsupervised and it will take you from being a complete beginner to a level where, by the end of the course, you are capable of safely taking off from a 400ft to 500ft hill unaided, fly your own flight plan and land in defined areas.  After successfully completing all the necessary tasks and passing an easy multiple choice exam you can move on to the CP stage.

Click here for EP syllabus details.

Club Pilot Course (CP)

With the skills you learnt on your EP course you will progress to learning how to soar, how to land back on the slope, emergency descent techniques and everything you will need to know to make you a better and safer pilot.  After successfully completing all the CP tasks and passing a multiple choice exam, congratulations, you can now fly unsupervised and join one of the numerous paragliding/hang-gliding clubs in the UK.  The local club is the SHGC (Southern Hang Gliding Club) and the membership cost is £50 for the year, which entitles you to fly on all SHGC club sites on the South Coast.

Click here for CP syllabus details.

Through many years of free flight training Air Adventure instructors know that teaching and coaching in small groups, with the emphasis on the needs of the individual, is the safest and most rewarding way to learn to fly – for both pupil and instructor.

The key to successful coaching lies in adapting to the needs of the individual.  Some people will need a short period of intense coaching, some a more relaxed longer period, while others may need just a few choice words.  The level and nature of coaching varies depending on the character of the individual pilot, their flying experience, their life experiences and the amount of time they can devote to paragliding.

Most clubs have coaches who help introduce newly qualified members to the club and help with advice about flying, conditions and site assessment etc.  They do a great job and the whole club system would fall apart without them.  However, they cannot be everywhere and you have to actively seek them out - or just fluff a few launches and they will seek you out!  On busy days and most weekends the red ribbon to club coach ratio can be such that it is not always possible to get the attention of a club coach when you need it or for as long as you need it and of course they want to fly as well. 

So this is where Air Adventure comes in - we can both complement and supplement the local club coaching system.  We will introduce you to the various SHGC sites and SHGC Club Coaches, you can call us in advance to check that the flying conditions are suitable for you and during those early soaring flights when you should be striving to perfect your basic soaring and thermaling skills, we can help optimize conditions with the use of radios.  Being in radio contact with an experienced instructor can give peace of mind on those busy soaring days and make the difference between an enjoyable soaring flight and a two minute stressful top to bottom.  Add to this a thorough pre & post-flight briefing and Air Adventure can help to make your transition from School to Club as smooth, safe, efficient and enjoyable as possible.