Another season ends!

This was the first year of me training full time after retiring from my career in January of 2021. After 26 years in Law Enforcement is was such a needed life change to transition to something I love! Being able to spend my days out on the field, meeting great people, and flying everyday has been a dream come true.

This was the first year that I used an online scheduling system which made everything so much more streamlined. I would simply check the upcoming weather forecast and post training sessions based on the good weather windows for flying. Enrolled students could then pick a day that fit their schedule and come on out and train. One observation however was that a number of students were very sporadic on when they would attend training. Some would space training session 5-8 weeks apart. As an instructor this really highlighted the need for concentrated, consistent, and progressive training.

Learning to fly is developing a skill set that needs to built upon. During a training session many steps forward are usually achieved by the student. If weeks or months then pass and the student does not practise his/her skills, they diminish. The skill of Flying a Paramotor is a diminishing one and those who do not continually practise and take steps towards mastering the art of flying, truly are depriving themselves of the full enjoyment flying a Paramotor has to offer.

For future and existing students, I encourage you to reach your full flying potential by committing to your training and doing the work on a consistent basis. Practise once or twice a week when you have small windows of weather and time opportunity which will make a huge difference to your experience. This is why when future pilots sign up for training I recommend at least investing in a wing. This allows you to practise your kiting skills on a continual basis, at home, at your convenience, and not have to drive hours to the school to work on kiting. A number of students this year did buy their wing, however failed to use this opportunity to practise on their own. The result was frustration and extending their training far longer than it should be. Those who dedicated concentrated weeks of training progressed much faster and become better pilots. Those who spread it over months struggled, experienced more frustration, and did not have the same confidence when flying.

So I guess the moral of the story is that if you commit to the this sport, go all in and become a proficient pilot. Take a couple of weeks of holidays if you can and make an effort to get your training done in a concentrated time frame. In doing this the student will build the skills and confidence to be a good Paramotor pilot and get the full enjoyment out of the sport!

I went through the hundreds of hours of training video from 2021 and made a fun 8 min montage to highlight the good from this season. Enjoy and hope to fly with you in 2022!!

Blue skies,

Jason (Chief Flight Instructor)