All You Need To Know - To Begin Learning To Fly Hang Gliders

As an Introductory Hang Gliding Member, you’ll be welcomed as a Student Pilot Member…join the pilot community!

If spending the $50 to join as Introductory Hang Gliding Member is not something you want to do at this time, you can just register as a person interested in learning more about hang gliding, and you will receive more information on how to get started and get information from flight schools. This information is totally free.
"YES – I’m interested in Hang Gliding”

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WHAT IS HANG GLIDING?

Hang gliding has been called The Flyingest Flying! Soar with Red Tail Hawks, Swifts, Turkey Vultures, and Eagles!

Hang gliding is the sport of flying delta wing gliders. The hang glider typically has an aluminum frame and a “sail” made of a strong Dacron fabric, or other type flexible wing covering. Modern design has refined the hang glider into a precision flying machine, purpose built for a pilot’s experience level and the type of performance required (maneuverability and speed).

A Hang Glider is a soaring machine designed to rival the birds with simplicity and lightweight construction. You as the pilot basically put your own wings right on your body by stepping into a glider with your harness on and “hooking in” to the glider.

It is the closest likeness to being a bird we as humans will ever achieve and feel. As a hang glider pilot you become part of the machine, the wings left and right of you are your wings, you feel every air current and you can control where you go with ease and grace.

This feeling is like nothing else on earth when you are soaring. Look down on the world from high above, up where cars and houses look like little specs below. You can see the rivers, the roads and looking down on them gives you a whole new appreciation of the world below.

If you are on this page you probably have an interest in flying and learning about hang gliding! That is awesome! Hang gliding is truly a life changing experience. Whether it is a “bucket list” idea, or you have the desire to fly all the time as a hobby…you came to the right place! Maybe even a “bucket list” style first flight will convince you of the need to fly regularly… who knows…it is pretty addictive stuff… flying hang gliders. Either way, joining this USHPA community will get you in the air. The USHPA is the US Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.

You Can FLY! In Just 3 Steps:

Join USHPA today
Find Your Local Hang Gliding Clubs today, Join, Make Friends
Locate and interview training centers that meet your needs and schedule. Train, Train, Train, Learn and become an H2 Level Pilot

Check out this video where a pilot explains how to get involved and what to do. It will help you “cut to the chase” of becoming a hang glider pilot:

WHY WOULD I WANT TO HANG GLIDE?

Life changing experience in so many ways: the travel, the places that the sport takes you, the pilots and fun and interesting people you will meet!
It is amazing soaring with the experts (The hawks, eagles etc).
Develops your confidence to take on other challenges in your life
Team atmosphere and camaraderie with pilots…IT IS FUN!
Potential to participate in amazing competitions with many skilled pilots that stretch your skills
The hang gliding community is fun loving group, you will see!
Little Known Fact: Did you know many commercial airline pilots are also hang glider pilots? Did you know many general aviation pilots are also hang glider pilots? Airplane pilots that also fly hang gliders are benefited by a greater understanding of wind and weather conditions!

HOW IS THE SPORT OF HANG GLIDING ORGANIZED?

What is the USHPA? It is the United States Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association. If you don’t remember anything else from this page, remember this: that USHPA is the national association/organization that regulates hang gliding, then under that national umbrella, flying clubs are “chapters” of the national organization USHPA. The club chapters are the local organizations that operate the flying sites. In your flying endeavors you’ll be joining the national association and most likely one or more local club chapters. Being active in the club chapters is a great way to get more flying opportunities!

There are many, many, USHPA flying club chapters all across the USA. This is just a graphic to explain and create a mental picture of how hang gliding is organized nationally.

USHPA is the organization that manages free flight standards for hang gliding flight operations, and through partners, it insures flying site landowners which in turn gives the “free flight” community access to that land for flying. USHPA oversees flight operations ranging from the training of new pilots to the oversight of experienced pilots through the pilot proficiency program. Hang gliding is considered “free flight”, it is unpowered flight. Joining USHPA is joining the big hang gliding family. Joining USHPA opens up opportunity for flying locally and all across the USA at USHPA club chapter’s flying sites.

The USHPA makes it possible to conduct flying operations at many, many flying sites across the United States. With the flight standards and pilot rating system it provides a framework for skill levels of pilots and makes clear which pilots are qualified to fly certain sites. USHPA also has flying clubs under its jurisdiction. Clubs for hang gliding fall under the USHPA as “Chapters” and the club Chapters abide by the rules set by USHPA and this provides for “self governance” of the sport under the FAA’s rules.

Let’s explain the USHPA rating system for hang glider pilots in the Unites States. Ratings are like the label on a set of standards that pilots must meet to be classified at that level of experience. That “rating” grants you the ability to fly certain flying sites based on the flying site’s level of difficulty/experience required. So these are the commonly referred to “ratings”: The “H” refers to hang gliding, the number is the skill level (the higher the number the more skill the pilot demonstrates). There are 6 levels of pilot proficiency. H0 to H5. It may take you years and lots of “airtime to get to the 4th and 5th level.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET INTO HANG GLIDING?

Well, that is a loaded question! It is your choice how far you want to invest in the sport/hobby. A few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

You really should begin flying without worrying about getting your own gear. That is the recommended way! Instructors want you to be using appropriate predictable handling beginner type gliders and gear. The flight school typically provides the glider and the gear to you as part of the cost of the lessons. You should not go and try to buy a glider or gear before going to several lessons and getting the advice of your instructor…you may be wasting your money and worse yet…you don’t yet have the knowledge to get the right equipment for your weight range and skill level. Several new pilots have made this mistake…and wasted their money! Plus, it just makes sense to put the wear and tear on a flight school’s glider during your learning, not your own glider.

If you have a couple hundred dollars that will probably get you some beginner lessons. Most schools offer some type of discounted “package” based on the type of training they offer. They will often have an H1 or an H2 package for a certain price for that “rating” level that they are training you for. Really you should set an H2 rating as your goal if you want to end up being a long term pilot. Getting an H1 is a place to start though, so if that is what you want to do…then go get your H1, then decide later to get more instruction to become H2 rated.
You’ll have to talk to the flight schools and ask them what they can offer you based on your budget and your schedule.

When it is eventually time to buy your own equipment, often times flight schools sell equipment, and they know what equipment will work for you! Also a benefit of being a member in the local flying clubs is other pilots will often help you out with various equipment you may need. Individual pilots may be selling a glider or harness that would be for your weight range and skill level. It is “buyer beware” though and you should run what equipment you are thinking of purchasing by your flight instructor and make sure they agree with you buying it before you do buy it…again you could be wasting your money or getting something that is not safe or suitable for you and your skill level.

NEXT STEPS

You as a new interested person should make it your goal to get an H2 rating as quickly as possible! It will be some work, but it is super rewarding in the end to be able to finally fly like an eagle. The H2 rating is your gateway to great things! The great things are high mountain flights and solo aerotowing! Now you are up there flying high on your own, staying up as long as you can ride the air currents!

Figure out in your life how to accomplish that goal of getting your H2 rating…it will be worth it. Below you will learn more detail about "ratings" and their importance to your flying career.

So if you are just investigating hang gliding and thinking about training, then put your focus on becoming an H2 rated pilot as quickly as possible. That will set you up for great things. This advice comes from many pilots who are now advanced pilots!

You should join USHPA as a “student member”. We actually are calling that an “Introductory Hang Gliding Membership” because it doesn’t fully activate until you work with a USHPA instructor to activate it when you begin your actual training. But in the meanwhile the benefits of joining USHPA will be that you will begin getting much information from USHPA such as newsletters, magazines, and access to the members section of the website where you can be part of the community of pilots, find contact information, flying sites near where you live etc. The reason it is a benefit to join USHPA now is because it will help you integrate into the hang gliding community. It is invaluable to start down the path this way. You can connect with local flying clubs and join them or show up and “hang around” to see what pilots are doing at the sites on flying days, you can probably learn a lot from just watching and talking to them. This often happens, new interested people who want to become pilots can come out and help the pilots. After all, these pilots will be helping you someday to gain your airtime and experience for getting your H3 rating.

Joining USHPA… is joining the big hang gliding family.

FLIGHT SCHOOLS

Flying Hang gliders and flying airplanes are kind of similar in many respects! Most of us have seen this iconic sign near airports, Flying hang gliders in some ways requires more precision, especially on launching and landing, however it is quite easy and intuitive once you learn the techniques.

The flight school you choose is going to teach you to fly and give you the “rating” for your skill level after you achieve that level of skill. It is not a “license”, it is a general measure of pilot skill level and allows you to fly at USHPA flying sites matching that skill measure.

Let’s talk more about Hang Gliding Ratings, this is so important for you to know going into this sport! Set goals for yourself, and realistic expectations and it will go better for your training experience, and your flying experience overall, plus enjoyment of the sport.

H0 – An interested person just taking a few first lessons.

H1 – After learning to set up a hang glider, learn to run with the glider, learn to get off the ground a little bit, a couple feet. Basically learning to launch and land the glider in a straight line. The pilot has taken ground school (book learning) and passes a written test that is designed for that beginner level of knowledge.

H2 – all the skills of an H1 plus being able to fly higher, high enough to practice turns. There are multiple training methods to get a student to the H2 rating. There is training hill teaching, there is low-powered winch towing, sometimes referred to as “scooter towing”. Then there is aerotowing with an instructor doing tandem flights with the student until the student is good enough at it to do it on their own! There is also a written test for the H2 designed for that novice level of knowledge needed. H2 pilots get to fly under proper weather conditions and under the guidance of experienced pilots or instructors, so yes H2 pilots do get the chance to fly off of the mountain launches and solo aerotow, etc. So to use the analogy of a child learning to ride a bike…the training wheels are still on! There is guidance and mentoring from instructors and experienced pilots helping the H2 on every flying day at H3 level flying sites that require that. An H2 pilot can go and practice at an H1 site typically at their own discretion.

H3 – an H3 pilot has all the skills of an H2 but now gets more flight time and more practice. The H3 level is basically where the “training wheels” come off…just an analogy to a child learning to ride a bike. H3 pilots can fly H3 sites without guidance from others, although it is still a good idea to fly with other pilots for the fun and safety aspects of helping each other out. H3 pilots begin making their own decisions, they are still working on things but have the ability to fly on their own, and make flying weather, site conditions type decisions as to whether they think they should fly here that day under those weather and site conditions…they are working at developing good judgment by exercising it. They cannot fly H4 rated flying sites without guidance, and may not be allowed to fly some H4 sites at all yet.

H4 – is an advanced pilot with much more flight time and experience at several flying sites, weather conditions etc. They make their own decisions about flying weather conditions and sites to fly.

H5 – is an expert pilot, a master - these pilots have competition experience and much more flight time in their logbook!

So if you are just investigating hang gliding and thinking about training, then put your focus on becoming an H2 rated pilot as quickly as possible. That will set you up for great things. This advice comes from many pilots who are now advanced pilots!

Please print this page or BOOKMARK IT out and always remember you can come back here to https://www.USHPA.org/FLY to help guide you on your journey to become an H2 rated pilot! We want to make it as easy and straightforward as possible for you. Eventually we will be adding links to this page for enrolling in online testing for ground school for hang gliding. That will certainly be easier, but until then go to a flight school and take your ground school and tests for H1 and H2. Watch the videos below as they will inspire you and give you guidance on how to get started on your “journey” to becoming an H2! We say “journey” but it can be a “short walk” if you approach learning the right way! Or maybe instead of “short walk” why don’t we actually use hang gliding launching terminology and say… “Ready“…“Clear”! and begin running to launch off of the mountain!
We hope to see you soon out training for your H2 rating! Come fly with us!

HOW DO I FIND A FLIGHT SCHOOL?

One great resource is http://www.hangglidingflightschool.com/

Another resource is https://www.ushpa.org/Public/LearnToFly/instructor-search.aspx

Check out these fun and informative videos selected by pilots:

HANG GLIDER CULTURE AND ACTIVITIES

Often times the best times to be had are after a day of flying with friends and everyone goes to dinner together or maybe they share a beverage in the LZ after landing and talk about their flights.

Flying clubs often have get-togethers called “Fly-Ins” where on a given weekend pilots from far away will join a local club’s flying weekend and camp out there hoping for suitable flying weather that extends weekend. Many new pilots report learning so much about flying, suitable flying sites to go try out, and also meet contacts who will become lifelong friends in the sport…this all happens around the campfire in discussions with their seasoned pilot friends.

The really interesting thing is…you’ll find out soon enough is that these pilots don’t just fly hang gliders for a hobby, they tend to be very interesting people from all walks of life who have diverse backgrounds and other interests that are compatible with their hang gliding lifestyle…like bicycling, motorcycling, kayaking, hiking, flying other types of aircraft, arts, etc even brewing beer, and fine cooking!

You will find out also that as new pilot if you show interest in the club and other pilots, they will go out of their way help you progress in the sport with your flying. If you show up to a club “work party” with a pair of loppers and a pruning saw… or a shovel and a rake depending where you live… you will be an instant hero with the club members!

It really is a team sport and you get back what you put into it and then some!

HANG GLIDING COMPETITIONS – FUN AND CHALLENGING ALL ROLLED UP IN ONE

Several Hang Gliding competitions are held across the United States each year. Competitions give ordinary pilots the opportunity see and meet the best pilots in the world. At many events there are also "Sport Classes" where regular pilots get to compete and have mentoring from top pilots. There is much to see and learn at competitions from seeing the latest hang gliders models and gear, to hearing all about the top pilots' cross country flights and making the "Goal". At some of these events, pilots fly hundreds of miles and then have to be "retrieved" by an organized method of tracking them and having a chase driver in a pick-up vehicle go fetch them.

HOW IS USHPA GOING TO HELP ME FLY OR LEARN TO FLY?

As an Introductory Hang Gliding Member, a you will be welcomed as a Student Pilot Member - join the pilot community!

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The biggest thing USHPA membership is going to do for you is this - it gets you started and connected. Membership in the national association is being connected to the hang gliding flying community. Then you have the ability to join local club chapters. Plus you'll begin getting lots more information on hang gliding through Pilot Magazine.

The cost of the Introductory Hang Gliding Membership is $50 which is a bargain because it allows you the starter membership for 60 days to test out your training lessons under USHPA’s program and become a rated pilot upon successful completions of the stages of learning during your lessons. USHPA is the administrator of the pilot ratings program. (the lesson costs themselves are separate and are set by the individual flight school/instructor you choose).

This is what USHPA says: “USHPA members enjoy numerous benefits, including the USHPA Pilot magazine, gear discounts through ExpertVoice and other partner benefits such as hotels, rental cars, and flight association membership discounts. They also have access to the USHPA Pilot Proficiency program, instructor certification programs, flying sites, and the ability to vote for board representatives and policy changes.”

It may sound silly, but you might as well sign up now for USHPA membership now and take that first step, the starting point to a career of flying, or just a taste of it. Essentially if you even want to take a lesson you will need to sign up for USHPA anyway, so you might as well do it now and start getting the benefits right away. The benefits are going to be getting in the HG family sooner rather than later, getting the information such as the newsletters and Pilot Magazine. A super benefit you will receive is access to the members only portion of the USHPA website. In addition as a member you can get contact info for most pilots, and see where all the USHPA flying sites are located! Being a USHPA Member will also open you up to be able to join USHPA chapter flying clubs. To get your H2 rating faster, join a club, meet the pilots, that will do so much for your flying career…it is all about the people and the culture.

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ARE THERE ANY TRAINING PUBLICATIONS FOR THIS SPORT OF HANG GLIDING? …YES

Another helpful piece of advice is to purchase some resources for learning and get started on reading about flying. These two books will be very useful: “Learning Hang Gliding Skills for Beginner to Intermediate Pilots” by Dennis Pagen. and “Hang Gliding For Beginner Pilots” by Peter Cheney

This non-profit website is very useful, it can help you find the books for sale, and can help you find a flight school to begin your physical lessons. http://www.hangglidingflightschool.com/about.php

The http://www.hangglidingflightschool.com/about.php is a resource that can help you understand more about the process of learning hang gliding. It is not going to teach you how to fly, only an instructor can do that, but the website will educate you about the process of training, what to expect on your path to becoming a hang glider pilot.

THE FLYING MACHINE, A LITTLE HISTORY, AND HANG GLIDING’S CONTRIBUTION TO AIR TRAVEL

Hang gliding is an air sport where a pilot flies a lightweight, non-motorized aircraft called a hang glider. The pilot is suspended from a horizontal frame by a harness. The frame of the glider is typically made of aluminum or composite materials. With weight shift, the pilot controls the glider’s pitch and roll by shifting body weight. Modern hang gliders can soar for hours, gain thousands of feet of altitude in thermal updrafts, perform aerobatics, and glide cross-country for hundreds of miles. There are advanced rigid-wing hang gliders that even have movable control surfaces kind of like an airplane, however the pilot still “hangs” from the glider in a harness.

Probably the first hang glider was Otto Lilienthal’s around 1895. The Wright Brothers were inspired by Lilienthal's progress!

Did you know the Wright brothers made thousands of flights in gliders before they figured out how to build and patent 3-axis control for the airplane? (Pitch, Roll and Yaw) They used “wing warping” to create roll to steer it.

In some ways… flex-wing hang gliders that the majority of hang glider pilots fly today still use a method of “wing warping” that helps it to create roll to steer. In a turn induced by the pilot’s weight shift, one side of the flex wing sail material becomes tighter, and more efficient (more lift) than the other side of the wing so it helps produce roll.

In a hang glider the delta wing shape actually has the control surface that is equivalent to an airplane’s tail (horizontal stabilizer) at the end portion of each wing. Essentially it has two tails aft of the center of gravity. To control the pitch or angle of attack, a hang glider pilot moves their weight forward to dive, and their weight back to level out and climb…but you don’t have an engine so you cannot just pitch nose up and climb for very long or the wing will stall. Airspeed is needed to keep the wing flying.

Since Lilienthal and the Wright Brothers, designers like Francis Rogallo improved and refined the aircraft to look like what we now call a hang glider. Then as popularity of the sport grew, many designers/manufacturers came along and made further incremental improvements.

Shown below is a tandem glider with heavier design to allow for two people to fly together. This is how tandem training gliders look. As you can see, clearly this glider has structural strength based on the aluminum tubing and wires. Hang gliders are designed to be a strong structure…the engineering terms…that of tension members and compression members are at work here to make this a very strong aircraft design.

HOW CAN A HANG GLIDER FLY FOR HOURS WITHOUT AN ENGINE?

A hang glider has a wing with similar cross section as an airplane wing in the general shape. There is an arched top surface, and a more flat bottom surface. When air passes over and under the wing as it cuts through the air, the pressure on the top of the wing is less, the pressure on the bottom of the wing is more so the wing generates lift as it cuts through the air.

In order for a glider to fly, it must generate lift to oppose the weight. To generate lift, the glider must move through the air. So how does a glider create the “airspeed” needed for flight? A glider trades altitude for velocity. Gliders always descend relative to the air in which they are flying. Hang Gliders have a performance measurement that helps one understand this. One less efficient glider might have a glide ratio of 5:1, while another faster higher performance glider with a more efficient wing design might have a glide ratio of 14:1 This means that the higher performance glider will go 14 feet horizontally for every 1 foot vertically that it descends. The less efficient glider will go 5 feet horizontally for every 1 foot vertically that it descends.

Now here is where it gets interesting! Remember above we said gliders always descend relative to the air mass they are flying in. So what happens if the air mass happens to be going up? Well if the air is moving up faster than the glider is trading its own altitude for speed the glider is going to actually be gaining absolute altitude…and going up! For example purposes..typically a glider falls at 200 ft / minute in calm air. If the air is moving up at 600 ft/minute that would give the glider a climb rate of 400 ft/ minute. The math is (600 – 200) = 400 Ft / minute

Hang glider pilots use a tool called a variometer and this “vario” tells the pilot that they are in air that is going up…it has a gauge and a beeper that shows and tells the rate of climb or descent.

Pilots use that vario to identify places in the sky that have “lift”…that is lifting air.

Where do hang glider pilots find lifting air? One place for lifting air is a “thermal”, a thermal is a column of lifting air. Often a thermal will form under a cumulus cloud. There can be thermals even when there is no cloud. The sun’s energy heating the ground below is what causes thermals.

Another place a pilot can find lifting air is along a mountain ridge when the wind is blowing perpendicular to the ridge. For example picture a ridge-line that runs north to south. If a wind blows against that ridge from the west, the air mass moves up the ridge and produces lifting air up above the ridge.

If you pay attention to the hawks, eagles, vultures, ravens, etc …when you see them circling they are often doing this where they feel a thermal…they are thermal soaring. If you see them cruising down along a mountain ridge top they are “ridge soaring”. Hang glider pilots work at doing the same tricks the birds are doing!

It is very fulfilling for pilots to be able to stay up soaring for hours just like the eagles and hawks do.

We hope this information on this website has been useful to you. We look forward to flying hang gliders with you if you decide to do it.

Happy Flying!

Brought to you by Hang Glider Pilots and the www.USHPA.org/FLY Team!