But from here, you can fly down and land on Folkestone’s sea front, or upwards towards Etchinghill. We can’t fly over the terminal for security and safety reasons, so we work on this side of the cliffs. There’s the M20 too, and the heat that’s coming over from the town. That’s going to heat up nicely and give us some good thermals to work with. “If you look out over the hill here we can see the Channel Tunnel terminal which is a lot of concrete. Those are the thermals we’re talking about.” get into the thermals Maybe a cow, or a tractor or car moves through that area of heat and releases a bubble of air which rises up. This is a basic explanation but what generally happens is the ground heats up.
You can look at the ground though and see where different areas might produce pockets of heat. So, if you happen to see some birds flying around, it’s a good tip to follow them and you’ll find the thermals they’re using. Then the aim is to gain height and look for those thermals that the birds are flying on. “You take off by standing on the edge of a cliff and going into the wind. What people like about paragliding is that this all packs down into a rucksack and you can go anywhere and unpack and fly. When these get filled with air they make the sail solid and turns this into an aeroplane wing. Well, when I say cheaper, it’s not cheap! But this is certainly the cheaper option of the two.” You need a lot stronger wind to fly a hang glider. Taking off is technical, everything has to be correct. You’re flying this rigid structure and they’re much faster. “The main difference between the two sports of hang gliding and paragliding is that with hang gliding you have a fixed frame. You then get back here and find that in the UK we’re quite different! You could have two beautiful days here and the wind will be different, the sea breeze influences your flight, it’s not consistent let’s say!” hang gliding vs paragliding It’s beautifully consistent from one day to the next. However, a lot of people do train in Spain or Portugal where there’s really constant weather conditions. But then realised that I needed different accreditation in order to fly in the UK so had to do that all over again! Don’t make that mistake. You can learn anywhere and I actually did my training in India. I started off doing falconry but then realised that I really wanted to be the bird.
There are sites all across the south coast, going into Sussex so there’s plenty here for people to do.
Even though you’re jumping off the White Cliffs, which looks a bit nuts, it’s a good site for new pilots to fly from. We have a spot at The Warren which is for beginners. You need to have a club pilot’s certificate in order to join a club, and then you can fly from different spots that we have. In order to do any paragliding though you need to have completed training and accreditation to become a pilot, as these are aircraft you’re flying. These are areas which differ in technical ability and suit different needs as a pilot. “There are various points you can fly from as part of our club. James Saunders, part of the Dover and Folkestone Hang Gliding Club, which supports paragliders too, spoke to Folkelife about how you go about becoming a pilot. Paragliding on a warm summer’s day, with a light gentle breeze seems the perfect way to spend an afternoon. Paragliding – Seeing Folkestone From The Sky
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