Your heart is pounding, the adrenaline is tingling in your fingers and you are serious: the flying experiences right after the brevet are vivid and intense!
Everything was still organized during the training. Of course, you should make an independent start decision every time. Nevertheless, you are in good hands in the group and feel safe and secure. The first flights after the brevet were completely different! Meteobriefing, choosing a launch site, assessing the current weather and making the launch decision, launching all by yourself - that's a big challenge!
Once you have made your first independent flights, it is important to keep at it. To get better and to cope with the odd turbulent flight downwind.
From our many years of experience, we know that the first few steps are easy to take, but after that there is often a let-up. Bad experiences, switching to a new glider too quickly or a lack of a motivating community then cause the dream of flying to fade again and many pilots stop flying again right at the point where it really gets good: after the first one or two years after the brevet.
What really motivates us is seeing our former students at the starting line again after many years. Then we know that we've done something right! And that's why we like to write our tips and tricks for the first few years after the brevet. We are sure that one or two long-time pilots will also find some good input for their own flying in the text.
The most important thing of all!
The community. We humans are herd animals and shared experiences are good for us and motivate us. If you don't already have flying friends, then look for like-minded people! This can be with us in member flying or in one of the countless paragliding clubs. No matter where, join a group.
10000 Hours
It is said that a skill is only really intact after 10000 hours. Certainly even fewer hours invested in your take-off skills will suffice. One thing is certain: every moment of go-go handling makes you better in flight and more confident on take-off. Then you'll be able to take off smoothly from the Üetliberg, while the old hands struggle with their sickles. Find a sports field, ask a farmer if you can use his meadow or come with us to the Gourndhandlingcamp Castelluccio. Ground handling is the best training there is and it's fun too.
Keep at it
As banal as it sounds, this is where most people fail. At school, we take off, fly and land several times a day, regularly and almost every weekend. After that, the longer we fly, the rarer it becomes and hardly four or more flights per day. No wonder routine and skills are lost again. Therefore: motivate yourself, go out, fly a lot and it will get much better the longer you fly! The next point will help you stay motivated.
A plan
Make a plan and keep adapting it as your skills increase. What do you want to experience? How do you want to take off, fly and land? A clear and simple plan gives you the necessary focus, motivates you and keeps you happy.
In the first few years, the HOW is much more important than the hard WHAT. How do I want to experience my season? Or how do I want to experience my next thermal or cross-country flight? Hard goals, such as flying 50 or 100 kilometers, can be quite frustrating and can put you off flying. The HOW (e.g. motivated, relaxed, focused, etc.) brings more joy and can of course also be linked to a clear goal later on.
Training
People train in every sport. In paragliding, almost nobody trains regularly or specifically. You just go flying. Targeted training is the most important way to progress and improve. Fly the training maneuvers regularly in autumn and winter and you will improve immediately. We offer weekend maneuver training days at Memberfliegen 2025. Or contact the school you trust for maneuver training.
Flight area selection
We want safety, exciting experiences and adventure. The last two can clash with the first point. As soon as you are certified, you want to fly long and far as quickly as possible. Of course, this works best at the paragliding hotspots. But that's also where the air is most turbulent, the valley winds are strong and the risk of an incident is therefore greater. Take small steps at first, stay in the familiar, especially on thermally very active days and enjoy the good experience of flying without fear. For the first longer flights, you don't have to fly in the high mountains in summer, our Alpine foothills are more than enough.
Choice of material
As mentioned above: small and slow steps lead to success. Pilots who consistently fly their beginner paraglider two to three years after their certification are usually much better after four to five years than fast-changing material fetishists after the same time. The same applies to mountaineering wings, take your time with reducing the wing area and omitting a good protector.
Our favorite topic: air travel. We love traveling ourselves, flying to unknown or exotic places is always a great adventure. Traveling by air on your own involves a lot of effort and uncertainty. Guided flights offer the luxury of being in a safe flying area at the right time. Everything is organized, from arrival to mountain transport to dinner. You can concentrate fully on flying and switch off everything else. And that every day!
Get out there and fly!
We look forward to seeing you again soon at a starting point. Or get to know you for the first time. Be it with us in the foothills of the Alps or later in the high mountains, on a paragliding trip or at a safety training course.
We wish you lots of fun and good experiences with the most beautiful sport in the world!
