Welcome to the home of the
‘Paragliding & Hang Gliding Handbook for Australian Pilots’
The Handbook is now back in its third Digital Edition providing the four key areas of aviation – Theory, Regulation, Airmanship, and Weather focusing on safety throughout.
Paragliding & Hang Gliding Handbook for Australian Pilots
The purpose of this handbook is to bring together as much as possible the theory needed for the Sports Aviation Federation of Australia (SAFA) pilot certificate exams for both unpowered HG and PG pilots as they progress through pilot certificate level from Student to PG5/Advanced HG.
Focusing on basic knowledge in the four important area of flying – aerodynamics, regulation, airmanship and weather with special attention to safety throughout.
The intention of the Handbook is not to repeat extensive knowledge published elsewhere; therefore, for additional learning hyper-links are provided to external references and extensive references are provided to the most important hard-copy texts available.
For easier comprehension, textual discussion is cross-linked to figures and “page no” references are linked to relevant text.
Reference material for all levels from student to PG5/Advanced HG.
Chapters Include
- How Does a Glider Fly?
Theory of flight - Rules & Regulations
Australian law governing foot-launched gliders, the SAFA Operations Manual, rules of the air, a discussion of the available aviation charts and relevant aviation acronyms. - Flying Safety
Airmanship, safety, glider maintenance and discussions on staying out of trouble and what to do if finding yourself in trouble. - Weather & Wind
Safe piloting requires competent use of the internet for weather forecasting, reading the landscape and conditions for turbulence, understanding weather terminology, and an ability to read the clouds.
Articles and publications for download
ParaGliding
Rob’s Paragliding YouTube Channel
The Long Road to Flying. Soaring Australia. Soaring Australia, Nov 2005
Paragliding in the Wilderness. Soaring Australia, Jun 2008
Do you own a cat? Skysailor Nov/Dec 2018 edition
Paragliding Bali 2009. Soaring Australia, Oct 2009
Gadgets, Gadgets – Skysailor July/Aug 2017 edition
Sailing (published under nom-de-plume)
Road Ragers – A how to not guide for the trailer-borne boat owner. Australian Sailing, Jan 2001
Road Worthy – How to avoid those trailer-towing disasters. Australian Sailing, Jan Feb 2001
Southern Haven. Australian Sailing, May 2004
Get in touch
We would love to hear from you.
Any queries or feedback on our 3rd edition is welcome.
The information is treated with the strictest confidence and is only used to reply to you.