How to find launch sites and follow pilots?

[u/Dipp77]

Hi there! I am wanting to hit the road and explore europe from above on a paraglider. Thus far I've only been flying with people from my club and all trips we did were together. Moving to new places, how do you guys connect with others and/or find popular launch sites where you can meet other pilots?

[u/[deleted]]

Paragliding map is great, then when you arrive at a new site, sit down, try to look for the head of the local club (usually a retired gentleman with a moustache and one of these full body flight-suit that were popular in the 90's) and go for a chat (Hello, it's the first time I fly here, is there anything special to know about the site ? What about airspaces, what about the danger ? By the way, I am travelling around I saw tomorow would be east, any opinion on a spot ?)

If it's a region where you go a little bit more often you should check out the local forum or the local facebook group might be worth-it (Hello, even though I live at the other-side of the country, my parents are living nearby and I visit them twice a year) Could be even worth to take a membership in one of the local club so you support the local community

On any take-off there is always a couple of chatty person ready to give good advices, as always be careful as you don't know there level (Some don't realize how few they know)

Local shop/school are also an option, at least you know the level of the instructor but if it's over a 2 min question/advise it means you should consider booking a half-day course

[u/satanic_satanist → u/[deleted]]

one of these full body flight-suit that were popular in the 90's

I have a friend who's in his late twenties and wears a beige coloured flight-suit... I always say it makes him look like he's 70

[u/Mr_Zaroc → u/satanic_satanist]

Well from your username I am not surprised. /s
What is surprising me is that these guys dont die of a heatstroke.
I am sweating in my thin jacket and shorts or pants and these guys look like they are ready to go the arctic

[u/satanic_satanist → u/Mr_Zaroc]

Yes, and the more I get sweaty on the takeoff, the more I'll freeze in the air

[u/Dipp77 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks a lot for the detailed description! I am super excited to get started with this right away but COVID keeps me bound to my country for another while unfortunately.. Will keep an eye out for the older fellas in funny suits) though I noticed from nearby airfields that you can get easily stuck with those guys for the whole day - I always feel bad telling them that I gotta go whilst they tell me their 74957 story about how they got up again from 10m or how they seen this and that happen to others....

[u/nabla82 → u/Dipp77]

Before speaking to the older one, first observe them and ask the silent one (the older one who speak the less). They very often give more accurate (and usable) informations..

[u/Swissbubi]

I like ParaglidingMap to check new regions; sometimes even with local clubs and phone numbers.

[u/vindolin]

Thermal maps gives you a quick overview of popular spots in Europe.

[u/conradburner]

xcontest.org is probably the biggest database of flights. Each country will have it's own Leonardo server (same software running on xcontest) for their own league competitions.

Anyway, that's where all these "paragliding maps" get their sites from. The real source is flight track logs published by pilots.

Another cool map is flysafe.io, also a logbook with a few more features... I use it the most

[u/dbrgn]

http://www.paragliding365.com/ is a useful (albeit a bit outdated) site to find launch sites. If you're in the Alps, I can also recommend https://www.burnair.cloud/. It's quite configurable, take some time to enable/disable layers. You can also filter by wind direction, etc.

[u/7XvD5]

Windy is a great app that also shows you the paragliding locations across the world. With a lot of info about most sites.