I'm flying!!!

Chalked up learning! I’m now a beginner paraglider. I’ve done the first step of my 10 step project. Now I’m in the process of figuring out exactly what to buy and from who. Then fly fly fly before doing some large treks.

From my experience of learning to fly (now something like 15 flights and perhaps 7 hours in the air), I’ve found quite a lot more advantages of paragliding, namely the dancing with the mountains and the good neighbor qualities of no noise and ability to land in incredibly small places, like at the top of a mountain. Not only is paragliding a great alternative to ultralights, but flying has so far proven its self to be utterly fantastic (I’m not bored nor do I get vertigo) both in itself and in the halo effects that it’s provided me for the rest of my life. everything has been great else wise in my life and much of it can be attributed to taking this first step coming off the mountain.

So with $1,500 worth of training behind me, I’ve got $2k-$3k worth of gear to buy ahead of me, and then I’m off to go from being a beginner to expert. This might take some time. I had thought 100 hours would be enough but it’s fairly clear that 300-400 hours is more the cutoff from “not experienced” to “experienced”.

Took 2 months off from flying and now I’m back in pokara to buy some gear and do 25 more training flights before going to south india (2-3 more sites), then bir, then Europe, then sierras, then Europe, then Bir or Nepal again. Perhaps I’ll have that 250 hours of experience by this time next year?

As to buying a wing, there are 3 shops to buy from and the process of buying a wing is about as torturous as choosing an instructor. So I can buy a used wing or a new one, anywhere from $1,500 to $2k. then I must buy a harness (probably $450 or so). And I have to decide if I’m going to buy a more advanced glider just after this one, though perhaps its rushing things a bit. Basically my choice is this:
1. buy the lowest end possible and plan to buy another more advanced one soon.
2. buy a bit better glider and plan to fly it for a bit longer.

perhaps the second one will allow me to do a bit more now, and buy me some time before plunking down another 2 grand. And it will allow me to try more gliders. And the gliders could potentially get better. And I wont have to sell my second glider for a while longer.