Located approximately 60 kms away from the city's centre lies the Western Paragliding Association or the WPA, offering a chance to fly free with the birds. The WPA is a self regulatory body of members aiming to establish and to promote paragliding in a safe and credible manner.
The association was formed to promote the sport of paragliding in India. Over the years various forms of light aviation like hang gliding and microlighting have come to this country and then disappeared into oblivion for lack of organisation. The association hopes to keep this sport alive and kicking. A lot of dedicated effort went into setting up the guidelines for the association.
Established clubs all over the world including The United States Hang Gliding Association Inc., The Finnish Aeronautical Association, The British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, and the Norsk Aero Klubb sent information, materials and valuable advice. Edel - Korea the world's largest manufacturers of paragliders sent an instructor and equipment. The Western Paragliding Association was now ready to set out on its mission. For people unfamiliar with the sport, a paraglider can be very simply be described as being a non-porous cloth wing which is inflated by the air through which it flies via openings in the leading edge of the wing.
The pilot is suspended beneath the wing on a harness and he has the controls of the paraglider in his hands. Paragliding differs substantially from other forms of gliding. For one it is less expensive. One can buy a canopy for just as much as it costs to buy a scooter. Paragliding is the most convenient, affordable and least difficult way to fly. A paraglider can be folded into a back pack, carried with ease to the takeoff site and readied for flying in minutes.
It takes about three to five minutes to pack and unpack the paraglider as against the thirty minutes required to prepare a hang glider. When packed a paraglider looks like an ordinary back pack and the entire equipment along with the helmet weighs between ten to twelve kilograms and can be transported with ease. Unlike hang gliders which are semi rigid in structure, the paraglider canopy has no solid parts at all. A paraglider is also more manoevreable, flies more slowly, lands more softly and needs much less space to take off and land than any other form of gliding.
Like any other air sport paragliding has its own risks. Veterans however feel that its greatest danger lies in the fact that it is so easy to learn. Most people make the mistake of learning for four days and then taking their paragliders out on their own and flying off any site. While people do learn to control the paraglider in their basic courses, there's a lot more to be learnt before one flies without any supervision. Critical judgements in reading the weather are only learnt over a period of time. So if you are flying in India and someone offers you a four day course with promises of unsupervised flying after that, Take Care ! Currently paragliding in India is a free sport. There are no regulations and no licence is required for a paraglider.
Worse still if training is not regulated, which means that unqualified. This could result in fatalities and kill the sport in its infancy. By adhering to high training standards, comparable to international levels, the WPA is trying to ensure flying which is absolutely safe. It is almost impossible to find Indians with instructor's ratings and consequently all instructors with the WPA are foreigners.
A Korean instructor and competition pilot, deputed by Edel and an American powered pilot and paragliding enthusiast have been running courses for the WPA. The WPA is still in its formative stages and is always looking for new talent in training. Qualified instructors who have wished to holiday in India might find this the chance of a lifetime. Facilities are improving by the day and remuneration is handsome by Indian standards. Paragliding in India, holds a special lure for the foreign tourist. India is a paraglider's paradise.
There are a wide range of flying conditions and sites that cater for the beginner through intermediate to advanced pilots. Whether it is the laminar sea breezes of Goa, to the more thermic flying conditions of the Western Ghats or whether it is the tiny bumps in the grounds, to the table top land at Panchgani or the peaks in the Himalayas, they are all here in one country.
India has the longest flying season extending from September to March with some flying possible even in the off-season. To top all this; world famous equipment is now available in Mumbai and at unbeatable prices for this fast developing market.
