Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines!
A common summer sight above the White Horse is that of madmen going the wrong way on a parachute! This is because Westbury is one of the best places in the country to take part in the sport of paragliding.
I must thank Martin Harvey for providing all the images on this page (yes those are Martins boot below!)
So, what's Paragliding?
Developed from parachuting canopies, modern paragliders
fly by developing lift as upward moving air flows under and through the
canopy. The pilot (in this case a man) sits in a cradle suspended below said
canopy with a rope that makes him turn left, and another that makes him go
right - and that's about it! Optional extras include safety equipment, an
altimeter, maps or a GPS/SatNav system.
This upward moving air comes in one of two forms:
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Paragliding in Westbury
Pilots with a current Avon helmet sticker
can fly paragliders from Westbury.
As this photo shows, the White Horse is situated on a very steep, bowl shaped hill. This funnels the wind upwards very well indeed, allowing paragliders to launch easily in the lightest of breezes. As you can see from these images, they can get very, very high!
Paragliding has several advantages over the more traditional hang gliding or aircraft borne gliding - your gear fits in rucksack, it doesn't take long to set up, and is (relatively) inexpensive.
Paragliders aren't cheap, but still represent one of the least expensive ways to get into the air (except jumping up and down!). A beginners paraglider will cost about £2,000 new; second-hand canopies can be found for much less.
Enough Training let you fly your own canopy in a club environment costs about £500 and takes seven to ten days of flyable weather at a BHPA school.
