Training progression, day by day

How a course usually unfolds from ground school to your rating, what happens on weather days, how this guide and the simulator fit your training, and what “solo” really means.

In this lesson you will

No two courses run the same. The weather decides which days you can train, and your progress decides how fast each step goes. What doesn’t change is the order of the steps¹.

This lesson walks through that order, shows where this guide and the simulator fit in, and explains what “solo” means. Knowing the route makes the slow days easier.

The usual order

Training everywhere moves from flat ground to a gentle slope and then to higher ground, one step at a time¹. Each phase below may take one day or several. Your instructor moves you on when you are consistent, not when the calendar says so.

Figure: Your course as a route. The numbers are this guide’s Learning path stages, the labels the simulator missions for each stage, and supervision eases as you go, in the BHPA’s words from very close supervision to watchful attention. Weather days are detours, not dead ends, and can come at any stage. Not to scale in time.

Your course as a route. The numbers are this guide’s Learning path stages, the labels the simulator missions for each stage, and supervision eases as you go, in the BHPA’s words from very close supervision to watchful attention². Weather days are detours, not dead ends, and can come at any stage. Not to scale in time.

First days: ground school and ground handling

Expect theory and long sessions with the wing on flat ground or a gentle slope: your equipment, how a wing flies, reading the wind, the pre-flight check, inflations and kiting. Your arms will ache, and your hands will slowly start to feel what the wing is doing before your eyes see it.

Training-hill hops

Your first flights are hops: a short run down a gentle slope and a few seconds in the air close to the ground¹. You feel the harness take your weight and your running steps stop touching the grass. You fly straight with your hands up, then flare as your instructor calls it and land on your feet, again and again³; the flare explains the timing. One BHPA school reported (in 2014) that this early stage, up to the Elementary Pilot award, takes about 4–5 days on average⁴.

First high flights with radio

When your launches and landings are consistent, you move to a bigger hill. Before your first high flight your instructor briefs you, including how you will communicate, and checks your radio, then guides you down, often with a second instructor in the landing field (LZ)⁵⁶⁷. Turns arrive gradually: shallow turns with a look first, then 90° and 180° turns, and full 360° turns only later, with extra height and distance from the terrain⁸.

Flying with less help

Towards the end you do more on your own. In the BHPA’s words, supervision reaches “watchful attention”: you make the plan, your instructor approves it and watches, ready to debrief². USHPA’s P2 flights are likewise planned by the pilot and discussed with the instructor, and SafePro lets a stage 3 student fly on their own, still under supervision⁹¹⁰. Depending on your system, this phase can include soaring and flying with other pilots: BHPA Club Pilot training includes soaring flights, and APPI 3 Pilot needs a thermalling or dynamic-soaring certification¹¹¹².

Standards differ The steps towards your first rating

Common ground: Every system starts on the ground and moves to short, low flights before high ones¹.

USHPA (USA): P1: ground school, layout and pre-flight, then launches and straight flights with smooth speed changes, each ending in an on-feet, into-wind landing, under direct instructor supervision. P2 adds turns, speed control and much more¹³¹⁴¹⁵.
BHPA (UK): Phases 1 to 5: ground training, ground handling, first hops and flight exercises (at least 12 successful flights), then the Elementary Pilot exam. Phases 6 to 10 lead to Club Pilot, including soaring and emergencies¹¹.
APPI (international): APPI 1 Discover: at least 3 course days, including a full day of ground handling. APPI 2 Explore: at least 10 course days in total and 10 high flights, always supervised by radio¹⁶.

Summarised from each body’s published material, which changes over time. Check the current official documents and follow your school.

Weather days

Students fly only in light, smooth conditions, and many days won’t offer them¹⁷. Expect some days to be cut short, moved to another slope or spent indoors. USHPA’s P2 minimum, for example, counts flying days, not calendar days: at least 7 of them¹⁸.

Weather days are still training days.

Theory. Every system has a theory exam before the first rating¹⁹¹¹¹².
Equipment. Inspect, pack and look after your kit, and ask your instructor to show you what wear looks like.
The simulator. Rehearse the next step’s sequences and decisions.
Watching. Sit at the launch and watch the wind, the clouds and the pilots who are flying, and ask your instructor what they see²⁰.

Long gaps between training days cost more than a lost afternoon. Skills fade, so after a break expect to repeat a step before moving on²¹. If you can, keep your training days close together.

Instructor's note Practising on your own

Later, your instructor may let you practise kiting on your own in specific conditions and places. Do it only with their explicit say-so, and only where and when they set.

How the guide and simulator fit your days

The Learning path follows your course stage by stage, with the simulator missions placed where they belong.

Your course	Learning path stage	Simulator missions
Before day 1	0 Orientation	D Demo flight, T Controls tutorial
Ground school and ground handling	1 Ground school and ground handling	1 Pre-flight check, 2 Layout, 3–4 Kiting
Training hill	2 First flights on the training hill	5–6 Launches, 7 Glides and flare
High flights with radio	3 High flights with radio	8 Turns, 9 First high flight, 10–11 Landings, 12 Speed bar and big ears, 15 Go/no-go, 16 Emergency drills
Flying with less help	4 Soaring and readiness for your rating	13 Ridge soaring, 14 Thermals, 17 Final checkride

A routine for each training day

The evening before, read the lessons for your current stage and fly the matching simulator missions.
Why You arrive knowing the words and the sequence, so your time on the hill goes into the skill.
On the hill, do it your instructor’s way, and ask when something differs from what you read.
Why Your instructor can see your wing, your site and today’s wind.
Afterwards, log your flights and re-read whatever didn’t go well. Each mission debrief links back to its lessons.
Cue You can say what you will try differently next time.

Simulator missions are numbered in a training order of their own, but they are practice, not training days. They are not part of any rating, which counts real flights and days with your instructor¹⁸¹². Mission 17, the Final checkride, is a full flight with the radio silent, to show you what you know. It qualifies you for nothing.

What “solo” means

In this guide, solo means flying alone on your own wing. Traditionally you fly solo from your very first hop, with the instructor on the ground; some schools begin with a tandem flight or a low tow instead⁶. You will also meet “solo” in rating rules: USHPA, for example, speaks of solo ratings²³.

We say supervised solo while your instructor still supervises you, by eye or by radio. That covers every flight before your rating. What changes is how closely they watch². Flying independently comes with your rating, and even then within limits.

Your first rating lets you fly without an instructor at your side, and every system keeps limits. SafePro still calls you a student until stage 4 is complete, although once stage 3 is complete you may fly on your own within safe limits¹⁰. What paragliding training looks like compares the first ratings, and The ratings compared sets out what each demands.

After the rating

Your rating is a licence to keep learning. The first flights without your instructor’s watchful eye are a recognised risk: the BHPA encourages new Club Pilots to fly with a club, under a red ribbon that asks others to give them room, for about their first 10 h²⁴. Keep a logbook of every flight²⁵. Your first flights as a rated pilot covers your first flights without supervision.

Instructor's note Bad days are part of the route

Almost every student has a day when nothing works: inflations fall over, the run feels clumsy and the wing seems to have a mind of its own. Tiredness, nerves or a change in the wind are the usual reasons. Your instructor may take you back a step, to the training hill or to kiting. That is not a demotion; it is how solid progress is built, and the next good day usually comes quickly.

Common mistake Counting days instead of skills

Symptom: You have passed the minimum number of days and flights, and you are frustrated that there is still no rating.
Cause: Treating the published minimums as targets.
Fix: Minimums are floors. Ask your instructor exactly what they still need to see, and work on that.

Common mistake Treating the rating as the finish line

Symptom: Soon after your rating you fly new sites and stronger conditions on your own.
Cause: The rating feels like the end of learning.
Fix: Fly with a club and experienced pilots, keep within your rating’s limits, and step up gradually²⁶²².

Questions students ask

How many days until my first high flight?

There is no fixed number. You move to high flights when your training-hill launches and landings are consistent, and when the weather allows it.

Do simulator missions shorten my course?

Not directly: ratings count real flights and days. The simulator helps you arrive prepared, so your time on the hill goes into the skill.

What happens if I have to stop halfway through my course?

Your training is recorded: BHPA instructors, for example, must log every student flight, and you keep your own logbook²⁷²⁸. When you come back, expect to repeat some steps before you move on.

Key points

Training moves from flat ground to a gentle slope to high flights, one consistent step at a time.
Each phase can take one day or several. Minimums are floors, not targets.
Weather days are training days: theory, kit, simulator and watching.
The Learning path and the simulator missions follow the same order as your course.
Solo means alone on your own wing; every flight before your rating is supervised solo.
Your first rating lets you fly without an instructor, within limits. It starts the next stage of learning.

Ground to Solo is a study aid. Paragliding is learned in person with a qualified instructor at a recognised school; nothing here certifies you to fly.