Full Day Introductory Lesson

Taking an Introductory Full Day lesson provides the most fun and best overview of the sport. It includes an abbreviated 90 minute groundschool on how a hang glider flies and provides practice in a simulator. You then learn the basics of assembly, launch and ground skimming on the flat ground. You are then assisted and supervised in 7-12 actual flights using tow technology or a natural training hill that begin in ground skims. Your feet leave the ground 3 to 5 feet and you can begin to practice straight and level flight and may get higher depending on the conditions. The process is incremental, methodical and fun. Be careful though, its hard to just have one lesson! You might as well pay for three day weekend camp lesson that has no flight limits. Check the for camp availability. Cost $150.00 per person Group Rate (4 or more) $130.00 per person

Learning how to hang glide takes some time and effort so those that prepare by taking a 5 hour interactive and physically active ground school often do much better before the field lesson. The student is exposed to all the necessary skills to be successful in the field lesson. And since we use an array of simulators and we focus on basic ground handling skills the weather is not so much a factor. REAL skills are developed here and people go away thinking I have never learned so much. So, I really recommend this for students that have been thinking about hang gliding for a long while and now feel they have the time and money to actually make their dreams come true. It is a complete overview of the sport and provides time for gear fittings and planning for the whole program. It is significant and fun. It provides the time to go over all the details of learning this sport, technically and physically, and puts it all in perspective.

It starts with an 1) Interactive powerpoint lecture. 2) Work in a several analog simulators and computer simulator with the instructor correcting every stance, body placement and hand performance 3) Setup of glider and learning ground handling and beginning launches. It provides real skills and it MAY be possible to feel light on one's feet or even fly, like many have done. Of course the less one weighs and the more wind makes that more likely. But this cannot be guaranteed. You will learn how to handle the glider in the wind. It provides you the opportunity to learn a little basic nature and science knowledge that will be directly applied but not able to give provide hill and effort necessary for you to achieve multiple and longer flights. In the next lesson you will really shine when the slope, opportunity of extra effort, determination and time to make higher flying that much much more likely.

The location for this class is at the Corvallis Municipal Airport where our infrastructure can support the professionalism of the effort.

Cost: $130.00

If you weigh 160 lbs or less, you may get a solo tandem experience. First, you take a solo lesson. This teaches you the basics of launch and landing and crucial safety factors involved in tandem flight. If the wind is right, you then experience mulitiple lower alitude tandems or one higher alitude tandem. Since tandems require precise conditions for safety, we may not be able to fulfill the tandem portion on the same day, but you will be contacted when the conditions are right. Flexibility in scheduling is required. But anything worthwhile takes some effort and desire. Cost: $220.00

For USHPA rated members wanting to review the latest launch and landing techniques or current students under a USHPA instructor wishing to augment their current supervision. These interactive presentations are a mixture of slide show, real video and animations that will help you understand, visualize and practice all the basic hang gliding competencies. The instructional material here is without equal anywhere in the world. You will be able to upload your own video of yourself so we can troubleshoot particular problems and make solutions.

William Gasparek, FAA certified sailplane instructor says;

"Ask any conscientious instructor and he will tell you that learning to manipulate the controls of an aircraft only takes a few hours. The difficult part is training the student to think about every aspect of the flight with safety and situational awareness in mind. I fly paragliders and am learning to fly hang gliders. I am appalled that the majority of instructors simply teach how to fly the hang glider. In many cases, the academic knowledge that is taught is little more than test prep for the USHPA written tests. So far, John's on-line flight training is the only course I have found that teaches all aspects of how to actually fly safely. I strongly encourage all HG students, HG pilots and HG instructors to take advantage of his on-line training regardless of where you fly. It could save your life."

Example classes include: Ground School, Flight Simulator Work, Transport-Assembly-Preflight, Ground Handling and Kiting, First Ground Runs First Run-out Flights, Bar Pressures Feeling and Active Grip, Crosswinds and Gradients, Flared Landings, Risk Managment. The USHPA and Ham Radio courses are free!

Register on the form to the left, but pay below

Cost: $15.00 ea/month for full access to this material

Have you and your instructor join us at OHGS Flight Concepts by subscribing now using the preferred payment method below. Provide a day or so get an invitational access link to the class. Email john@oregonhanggliding.com. A gmail account is required for this material.

Don't believe us. Please read the reviews of the program here: http://g.co/maps/gx2sw

Over 40 flight proficiences in four steps - Click Here! are learned in series and are suppported by an extensive instructional infrastructure of privately leases training hills, fields, tow park, hangars, electronic simulators bunk houses, and massage therapists. A noncommitted first introductory lesson is great fun! and is where we start. Thereafter, decisions to pursue the sport or not is made. Each Lesson Step is purchased seperately during the program with an associated personal equipment purchase to get the lesson discount price of $130 per lesson. Otherwise the lesson price is $150 per lesson.

Each step teaches wings leveling, straight and level flight, turnning flight and mountain flight respectively in sequence. Each step has many detailed proficiencies outlined on the the following page. in four steps - Click Here!. Radio communication, video review, tow training, parachute course and tandem instruction is used in training. The cost of the training is significantly decreased because of the student's time and financial committment and subsequent increase in effective learning. A Step Card is given each student to help track progress. There are a number of days on one side of the card and list of proficiences on the other side. As you take a step day, your proficiences are checked off. There is nothing mystical about the skill sets but it takes a level of desire, priority and effort to attain them.

General Schedule

The lesson schedule is dictated by weather events. Therefore, email and twitter notifications are sent a couple days before the lesson opportunity. When more than two or three days of consecutive good weather is available, students are strongly recommended to take the opportunity progress quickly through a step and then return home for book and online study. Arranging your lifestyle to be spontaneous and flexible during the training program helps immensely. The other successful scheduling strategy is being unvarying in your committment to take a lesson on regular, consistent basis no matter the weather conditions. This makes probabilities work for you. The worst strategy is take lessons on your arbitrary convienence counting on the probability that wind conditions will be perfect. Generally, lessons are held at the inland training grounds Fall through Late Spring. Summertime lessons are held at Newport, Or and Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City, Oregon. A scheduling contract of at least one lesson a month is strongly recommended with 3 day multiple day "camps" being the optimium for steady progress in learning.

Learn in Five Steps

It requires 14 lesson days or 84 hours over a three month, six month or year long lesson plan to learn how to competently fly a hang glider. The OHGS program uses the philosophy of only one new factor at at time in the learning progression. This is the secret to learning safely. Whether it be a new skill, equipment procedure, or weather challenge, we leverage the piece-meal purchase of your advanced gear and its integration to your skill-set to enhance the lesson and wean you off the more basic school equipment. So, by the time of the tenth lesson, we are figuring out the final details of your flying system to create a totally competent beginner mountain pilot.

STEP ONE - Wings Level

This first milestone is huge. If one can keep wings level at all times in various conditions while standing, running or ground handling nothing physically prevents one from becoming a hang glider pilot. Learn all about radios and communication on OHGSOnline, the web-based interactive teaching material that acts as a complement to your textbook.

STEP TWO - Straight and Level Flight

Learn more advanced ground handling in different terrain effects. learn how to expertly carry and fly your glider like a kite for later close terrain flying. We make it so it looks easy to others. Learn how to fly straight and level and vary pitch in various wind conditions. Learn to vary landing techniques based on conditions. Pass the USHPA hang one flying proficiency and written test at home on OHGSOnline. Use your wind indicator to measure the challenges and begin to hone your critical judgment

STEP THREE - Turning Flight

Learn how to manuveur left and right with better critical judgment. Hone your full flare stops to make the birds envious. Practice with your custom made harness in the electronic simulator. Learn how to throw and pack your parachute. Assess your on-board video recorded performance at home with the insructors dubbed critique.

STEP FOUR - First Altitude Maneuvers

Get oriented to your new glider - its assembly, care and extra speed on landing. Practice coordinated flight, slow flight, fast flight, 360's and figure eights Recognize how to make an approach on a landing field. ; assess mountain conditions and general meterology; and use and pack your harness/parachute. More video review too!

STEP FIVE - Soaring Passes

Learn how to make soaring attempts by extending your flight by using natural lift but recognize the limits and still land safely. Make use of your variometer to tell whether you are being successful and record your flight to assess your performance

Payment Timing and Financing

The most successful students have a plan for the time and money. They also have a "long term" learning mind-set since it the changes in the weather conditions and flying different sites which makes one competent. Since the weather, the experience of new sites, brain-cell growth, and equipment cannot be rushed, we strongly recommend a scheduling contract and decide on a 3 month, 6 month or year long training time to get in the 14-15 day-sessions. A 2-3 day lesson stint followed by home study is the perfect pace. Taking day-sessons only when convienent wastes time, money and encourages instructor inattention, lack of empathy, and forgetfulness of your abilities.

The 3 month equipment plan requires 50% of total equipment and instructional costs upfront. 6 month plan requires 33.3% of total equipment and instructional costs upfront. The year plan reguires 12.5% upfront. Most people start at 12.5% and quickly find the remaining 20.8% to get on the six month plan. That is how addicting flying like a bird is!

With completion of the program, mentors are assigned to you and you receive continuing long term cell phone and equipment support.

Hang gliding is the most cost effective way for fantastic flying pleasure, especially in comparison to general aviation. Only slighty more cost than a private pilots license, you get all your instruction AND your aircraft without the having to pay $100 rental per hour to fly. In hang gliding, once you have your instruction and equipment, the costs are simply the fuel to get to a site and your yearly USHPA membership fee.

Financing your program - all the equipment and instruction - can best be done by choosing the lowest interest rating card you can find. The following link provides an application for a card that best suits your financial history. If you use the card only for hang gliding the monthly payment is $150.00 - an amount entirely in the realm of most people.

If you are still confused why we don't pay for each day session. Please see more information at the following link:

Why we do it this way