About Hang Gliding, India

The sport of hang gliding involves hanging suspended by a harness from a large flying instrument- a kind of kite shaped vehicle called a hang glider. With the help of certified instructors anyone can fly with only ten minutes of instruction on the ground. But, for high altitude gliding learning you must enrol in a hang gliding course where there are experienced pilots to guide you till you become professional in this sport.

A hang glider is piloted by shifting one’s weight. Flight is dependent on the existence of rising columns of warm air called thermals. Take off involves running off moderate slopes till the glider inflates. Tandem flights use a wing large enough to hold two people, the pilot and a passenger. Though a relatively recent entrant in adventure sports, hang gliding has really caught on with clubs coming up in cities such as Pune, Delhi, Chandigarh, Shimla, Mumbai and Bangalore.

While hang gliding one can look beyond the spines of receding mountain heights, past rivers that gorge their way through dense forests and on to the plains. On an exceptionally lucky day, one may even be able to trace the route of the river till it vanishes into a slight haze.

The safety of the pilot is assured by a parachute, which is made of high quality material to withstand different heights, wind force and gravity to which they are exposed. The alti-meter, vario-meter and wind-speed meters, and indicators are used for right movements and safe landing. Hang gliders are portable, which you can easily carry on your back or in a jeep to the gliding site and can be made ready quickly.

Among the basic equipments of hang gliding there are harnesses, helmets, and emergency parachutes. Hang glider is an aircraft to which undercarriage and take off power is through the pilot’s legs. It consists of 3 aluminium tubes pivoted at the nose, a trapeze or cross bar for control and a tail. They are of various sizes and weights ranging from 7 to 25 kg.

While India has good thermal soaring effects during the summer months, and offers hill soaring almost round the year, the soaring in the winter months, although too static-is also good for hang gliding. Like many other sports hang gliding is also dependent on the weather.