Learn to Paraglide
Experience the thrill of paragliding with our accelerated winch-based training from expert instructors in the heart of Derbyshire.
Why Choose Airways Airsports for Paragliding?
Airways Airsports is one of the UK’s oldest and best-known paragliding schools. We’re fully CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and BHPA (British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association) accredited. Our instructors are all highly experienced paragliding pilots who’ve flown all over the world, and include British Hang Gliding and Paragliding team members who’ve represented the UK in international flying competitions.
We’ve helped thousands of students discover the joy of paragliding, and we run courses right here from our airfield in Derbyshire. We’re easy to get to, with great transport connections to the A50 and M1, for easy travel from Nottingham, Derby and beyond.
The School
Airways Airsports is an expert provider of paragliding lessons, and we’re one of the few schools to use a winch to teach you the skills needed to safely fly a paraglider. The key advantages of winch training are that it is a relatively quick and easy way to learn paragliding. With none of the complications of learning early paragliding skills on a hill, a typical student will complete their 10-day paragliding course of lessons in a few weeks, rather than months or years using traditional teaching methods.
The Course
All paragliding courses start with safety and basic theory but you will usually progress to your first flight by early afternoon. When first airborne, you will be just a few feet from the ground, doing short flights, increasing to covering distances of up to 500 metres. As you progress you fly higher on each go and, with no hill to climb between flights, you will maintain better concentration and conserve your energy for the paragliding, typically completing five or six training flights a day.
Lessons are progressive and once you have mastered the basic skills on the winch, we can easily convert you to hill or powered flying. There are also two short theoretical examinations to demonstrate your newfound knowledge. Once you have your Club pilot Certificate you can go to any paragliding winch operation in the country to go towing, or you can go on to do a hill conversion or paramotoring course.
Taster Days
We understand a full course is a big commitment, which is why we offer taster days, which gives you a chance to try paragliding and see if it’s for you before signing up for a full course. We’ll take the price of the taster off the cost of the course if you sign up, so it’s a no-lose situation.
In terms of what you can expect on a taster day, we’ll start off all the necessary paperwork, before practising parachute landing falls (on a mat!). From there we’ll progress to wing familiarisation and forward launch practice. After a break for lunch, we’ll have a winch theory lesson and a safety briefing, and then it’s on to your first flights! Your first few flights will be controlled, low level, for safety.
Most of our students love it so much they then sign up for a full course at the reduced rate, but even if you don’t, you’ll have had a great day and get to say you’ve tried something completely different!
A lifetime of unforgettable experiences awaits! Fill out the form or call us today to book.
Our Paragliding Courses
We have courses for every skill level and goal.
Paragliding Lessons & Courses start at £199.
Paragliding Taster Day
£199
A chance to try out paragliding and find out what it is like to take control before committing to a full course. (Note: If you decide to go on to do a paragliding course, you can credit the cost of your taster day against the price of the course).
Elementary Pilot Certificate (EPC)
£950
This is a further four days of training towards becoming a paraglider pilot, where we build on your paragliding flying skills. We always look to refine every aspect of your flying, from forward launch and ground handling to inflight control and light, easy, well-executed landings. (We will also start to build your knowledge of meteorology, air law, and flight theory.)
Club Pilot Certificate (CPC)
£950
The CPC follows EPC and is the qualification you need to fly outside the school. When you complete your CPC, you can fly in a club environment and be ready to progress to more advanced qualifications. The training introduces more advanced flying skills, like exploring the speed range of your paraglider, speed bar and rapid descent techniques.
Combined Elementary & Club Pilot
£1750
This reduced price will ONLY be if you purchase both courses together straight after doing your day taster with us.
Paramotor Conversion Course
£800
Once you have your paragliding CPC qualification you can easily gain your paramotor rating by undertaking a short conversion course.
Paragliding Tow Conversion
£250
For anyone who is already a qualified club pilot (or higher) paramotor or paragliding pilot. The course is normally 2-3 days depending on weather and consists of a minimum of 10 controlled tows and winch brief.
Paragliding in Action: Our Training Experience
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions about learning to paraglide with Airways Airsports? We’ve got you covered. Below are answers to some of the most common questions we receive from students.
Winch-based training involves using a ground-based winch to launch you into the air. We’ll control the maximum height you reach, making it ideal for beginners. It also allows for multiple flights in a single day without the need to exhaust yourself climbing hills, making it an efficient way to build skills quickly.
(Almost) anyone! Paragliding is enjoyed by everyone from world-class athletes to retirees. A degree of fitness is advisable – after all, if you’re free flying most of your launches will be from hills, which in the UK sadly aren’t fitted with chair lifts as standard. That said, many people enjoy paragliding well into retirement, and with powered paragliding you can drive straight to launch and then land back next to the car! Even disabilities may not be a barrier – we’ve taught people with various physical difficulties, including a profoundly deaf student, to paraglide. The nature of aviation means that a degree of mental and physical fitness is an unavoidable requirement, but it’s certainly not limited to the young and the adrenaline junkies!
Nothing in aviation is ever really ‘cheap’, but compared to other forms of flying, paragliding is an absolute steal! A full private (plane) pilot’s licence will typically cost £90,000, plus ongoing costs such as paying for access to the aircraft. By comparison, with paragliding we can get you fully qualified and kitted out with all your own gear (wing, harness, helmet, radio and reserve) for less than a tenth of that. Ongoing costs are also low, with a small fee for annual BHPA (British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association) membership, which includes third-party insurance, and an annual wing servicing fee. Local clubs (such as the Derbyshire Soaring Club) provide cheap membership for under £50 a year, which includes ongoing advice and coaching. Beyond that, your biggest costs will be all the flying holidays you’ll want to go on, but it’s up to you to argue to yourself how necessary those are! Overall, paragliding is an extremely cost-effective way to learn to fly.
Yes! We are a fully accredited flying school, with both the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and BHPA (British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association). All our instructors are BHPA accredited and have to complete rigorous multi-day training, as well as pass stringent BHPA examinations before being signed off. We also have a number of trainee instructors, who must be full BHPA members, have a minimum of a BHPA ‘Pilot’ rating, and who only ever operate under supervision of a fully qualified instructor. We would highly recommend that you only ever learn with an accredited flying school.
We make sure that our students progress at their own pace, but a committed and capable individual can get fully qualified as a Club Pilot (see the ‘Rating’ section below) in as little as 2 weeks. The main barriers to progression are always your availability and the weather. As we are a tow school we have slightly more flexibility on when we can fly, but for your safety we only operate in suitable and safe conditions. Of course, paragliding is an ongoing process – there’s always more to learn and it takes years to master. It’s what makes the sport so rewarding.
We run two types of course: Elementary Pilot (EP) and Club Pilot (CP), as per BHPA (British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association) guidelines. The EP course introduces you to paragliding, and successful completion indicates suitability to carry on further training within the school. The CP course builds on the lessons learned in the EP course and further develops your skills. By the end you’ll be qualified as a Club Pilot (Novice), allowing you to begin flying outside of the school environment within a BHPA club. The next step is to become a Pilot, and then eventually an Advanced Pilot. These aren’t really courses as such, as they have to be earned over time as part of a club, but we do provide additional progression courses to help you further develop your skills.
We provide all the necessary paragliding equipment, but we do require you to bring some sturdy footwear (walking boots with good ankle support are best), and some gloves. We’d also recommend appropriate clothing, water, snacks, sunscreen & sunglasses. We’re a short distance from various food shops in Ashbourne, but you might want to bring some packed lunch.
The thought of dangling thousands of feet in the air is understandably terrifying to many people, but bizarrely, you can be scared of heights and still paraglide. One of our former team members is a hang gliding world champion and still holds the world hang gliding altitude record, but can’t stand heights! Paragliders (as with all gliders) are designed to gently descend, and you’re fully supported in a harness, so the sense of falling or precariousness isn’t really an issue in normal flight. We also always start you off low, so you won’t gain much height on your first few flights, giving you time to get a feel for it. It’s not for everyone though, which is why we offer day taster courses before you commit to a full course.
What Our Learners Say:
Get in Touch to Start Your Training
Ready to take the next step? Whether you have questions or are eager to book your first lesson, fill out the form below, and our team will get back to you shortly. Let’s get you flying!