If you want to experience the ultimate freedom of flight, then join us to train on our BHPA approved training courses. If you want to fly safely in the UK and the rest of the world you’ll need to complete a two-stage training process. Stage one is the Elementary Pilot Course which takes about 5 days to complete and takes you from a complete novice to a standard you are ready to progress onto the Club Pilot Course.
By the end of the course, you will have ticked off several practical tasks that bring you closer to becoming an independent pilot. The main aim of the course is to teach you about the equipment we use and the basic principles of flight, whilst keeping you safe as you progress along your journey. Our goal is to get you flying solo as soon as possible and by the end of the course, you will have completed multiple flights in various flying conditions across a number of our private flying sites. In the Elementary Pilot Course, we focus on completing safe take-off and landings and the early stages of glider control whilst airborne.
During the course You will learn some important flying manoeuvres, you will gain a basic understanding of equipment, glider control, the weather and complete stage one of your journey to becoming a fully qualified pilot. By successfully completing the Elementary Pilot Course you will be able to fly on your own, but at this stage, you still need to be under the supervisions of a qualified instructor. The Elementary Pilot course also ensures that you are ready to start the Club Pilot Course and ultimately fly unsupervised at flying sites around the world.
Our site and methods allow us to train more days a year than any other school which means you will learn faster. We teach hill flying and use winching to supplement this training on days when other schools would be grounded. Andy Shaw has developed a newly approved by the BHPA form of towing called parallel towing. This is a brilliant way for Andy to be in direct visual and vocal contact with the students whilst on and off tow. Using this form of towing our students are able to rapidly progress through their Elementary Pilot and Club Pilot training in both paragliding and hang gliding.
Why Train With Us
Green Dragons is the number one training school in the South of England with a friendly, welcoming and professional focus to training it’s students. Our highly experienced team of instructors all bring their own passion of flying with them every day they teach. We are driven to help you succeed in fulfilling your flying dreams in a progressive safe training environment. We offer a full range of BHPA approved courses and continued to support the BHPA in their evaluation and development of training techniques and course content.
We treat our students as individuals on a journey to becoming confident safe pilots capable of making independent decisions about their flying. We personally fly the type of flying we teach so we have the skills and experience to keep you safe. Our school has an exceptional safety record and we never compromise on safety when making decisions in regards to your training. You will have a personalised training program and we will always keep you learning safely encouraging you to learn new skills without pushing beyond your skillset. This means you are always learning, it increases your focus and develops you into an independent pilot capable of flying solo once qualified.
Our Chief Flying Instructor Andy Shaw is a world-class instructor who has taught some of the best UK pilots across a wide range of flying disciplines. Once qualified you will continue to fly at many of the top flying site around the world and no doubt meet some of the exceptional pilots Andy has trained over the last 40 years at Green Dragons.
Sign yourself up for the course that opens the door to the wonderful world of paragliding!
