Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing. In 1954, the prescient Walter Neumark foresaw (in an article in Flight magazine) a time when a glider pilot would be “able to launch himself by running over the edge of a cliff or down a slope … whether on a rock-climbing holiday in Skye or ski-ing in the Alps”. In 1961, the French engineer Pierre Lemoigne produced improved parachute designs which led to the Para-Commander (‘PC’), which had cut-outs at the rear and sides which enabled it to be towed into the air and steered – leading to parasailing/parascending. Sometimes credited with the greatest development in parachutes since Leonardo da Vinci, the American Domina Jalbert invented in 1964 the Parafoil which had sectioned cells in an aerofoil shape; an open leading edge and a closed trailing edge, inflated by passage through the air – the ram-air design. Meanwhile, David Barish was developing the Sail Wing for recovery of NASA space capsules – “slope soaring was a way of testing out … the Sail Wing”. After tests on Hunter Mountain, New York in September 1965, he went on to promote ‘slope soaring’ as a summer activity for ski resorts (apparently without great success). NASA originated the term ‘paraglider’ in the early 1960’s, and ‘paragliding’ was first used in the early 1970’s to describe foot-launching of gliding parachutes. In 1981, Steve Snyder (ParaFlite company) produced the first commercial Ram Air Parachute called Paraplane. Author Walter Neumark wrote Operating Procedures for Ascending Parachutes, and he and a group of enthusiasts with a passion for tow-launching ‘PCs’ and ram-air parachutes eventually broke away from the British Parachute Association to form the British Association of Parascending Clubs (BAPC) in 1973. These threads were pulled together in June 1978 by three friends Jean-Claude Bétemps, André Bohn and Gérard Bosson from Haute-Savoie, France. After inspiration from an article on ‘slope soaring’ in the Parachute Manual magazine by parachutist & publisher Dan Poynter, they calculated that on a suitable slope, a ‘square’ ram-air parachute could be inflated by running down the slope; Bétemps launched from Pointe du Pertuiset, Mieussy, and flew 100 m. Bohn followed him and glided down to the football pitch in the valley 1000 metres below. ‘Parapente’ (pente being French for slope) was born. Through the 1980’s and since, it has been a story of constantly improving equipment and ever greater numbers of paragliding pilots. The first World Championship was held in Kössen, Austria in 1989. Paragliding is a gentle adventure and by far the latest and easiest way to achieve man's age old quest for free flight. Just about any one can learn this sport, no previous experience is necessary except maybe, a sense of adventure to make your dreams come true! Lessons begin on flat ground where you learn to fly, student pilot the glider while safely on the ground, progressing to low level flights on nursery slopes. You then graduate to soaring like a bird. Paragliding is the closest humans can get to the feeling of flying like a bird. It is a fun, safe way to experience flight in its simplest form. You simply lay out a wing on a hillside or mountain, inflate it over your head like a kite, run a few steps and before you know it you've stepped off into the sky! Once in the air, a pilot is able to maintain and even gain altitude using lifting air currents and thermals. Landing a paraglider is extremely easy. A pilot simply steers it into the landing area, and glides down for a very gentle touch down back on to earth.

Kiev Paragliding Center “AirClub”
Hodosovka Paradrome
New Obuhiv Highway
Site: : http://www.paraplan.com.ua/