Wing Control & SIV 2024

Oludeniz, Turkey

As featured in Skywings magazine:

Course Highlights

Designed for Individuals
We all learn in different ways and at different speeds. Your course will be bespoke to you, so no matter how confident, nervous, skilled or otherwise, you can learn at the right pace for you.
the BEST safety features
We use only the best 275N lifejackets. No cheap flotation devices here. In fact this is only one of several features we use that make us proud to be offering the safest SIV Course on the market.
Full HD video debriefs
Pilots learn as much from our famous video debriefs as they do from the manoeuvres themselves. We spend time every evening fully debriefing your flights. Learn what you did (or didn’t do) and learn from each other.
Sunshine and fun
We base this course in Oludeniz Turkey. Here we have the ideal set-up to make this trip the best SIV on the market. Reliable flying conditions; an excellent location; a relaxed fun environment; great food and much more.

Poor piloting is still the main reason for accidents!!.

WHAT IF…..YOUR piloting skills were not just “maybe OK”, but EXCELLENT?

Gain the real confidence that comes from knowledge and skill. This is “skid-pan training” for pilots. Our courses are bespoke so you can learn at the right pace for you.

Invest in your skills to become a safer and more confident pilot. You owe it to your self (and those who love you). We believe this to be THE BEST SIV course on the market.

Trip Details

Boutique Teaching

Tailor-made
Rather than pushing students through the standard SIV hoops, we believe it far more beneficial that a course be tailored specifically to each pilot and their individual needs. We all learn at different rates; we all fly different wings; we all have different levels of confidence; different levels of experience and often very different ways of learning.

The building blocks approach
Our Wing Control & SIV courses are progressive: whereas some pilots might very quickly be ready to simulate a very radical situation after a day or two, other pilots might progress more slowly, deciding to repeat manoeuvres until they gain a deeper understanding before progressing further. This approach ensures pilots aren’t pushed beyond their understanding. The idea is not to scare you; rather build your confidence progressively .

Full briefing
Directly before each flight, together with your instructor, you will develop your individual game-plan, discussing the task(s) until you are completely happy that you have understood. After you flight, your instructor will fully debrief each task making sure that you have fully understood the manoeuvre and the sensations involved. It is not expected that you execute manoeuvres perfectly. Rather we will be working towards deepening your feeling and understanding. At the end of each flying day, in the comfort of the classroom (with a private bar!), we will fully debrief all tasks using high quality video footage, providing further opportunities for pilots to ask questions and improve their understanding.

The building blocks

“At one with your wing”

This course is all about deepening your understanding, developing a natural “feel” for your wing and the appropriate reactions to changes in wing “pressure” and attitude; to turbulence and in-flight situations. Its much more than just about learning the theory. It’s about developing appropriate responses until they become instinctive. Here’s a list of possible exercises you might progress through (not necessarily in order). These are just some examples of the kind of manoeuvres you might be working through. As long as we respect the building blocks approach, “the sky’s the limit”

Wing Control Exercises

Pitch Control Exercises
Dynamic Turns and Weight Shift Exercises (Roll authority)
Stopping rotations
Turn Reversals
Wing-overs

Rapid Decent Techniques

Big ears (with speed bar)
Big big ears with bar
Spiral Dives
B-line Stall (not recommended on most modern wings anymore)

SIV Tasks

Asymmetric collapses
Symmetric collapses (full frontal, front stall)
Dynamic collapses with pitch
Accelerated Symmetric collapses
Accelerated Asymmetric collapses
Full stall
Spin

Acro (for very experienced pilots only)

Wing-overs (big ones!)
SATs
Loops
Helicopter… etc. etc.

Safety Features

Our Wing Control & SIV Course is the safest course on the market.

The course takes place in a very controlled environment, and because we take your safety so seriously you’ll be safer on this course than flying cross country! In addition to training over water with our “building blocks” teaching methodology, our course boasts a number of additional safety features.

Life jackets (275N)
Whilst its rare to land in the water, we train over water for a reason. The only way to do that safely is with a life jacket and a boat. We use only the highest quality life jackets. Airbags and bump-air harnesses have so much flotation that they tend to turn the pilot over in the water. This can make it difficult for the pilot to breathe. Whereas most operations “make do” with foam flotation devices or at best 150N lifejackets we use only the highest quality 275N lifejackets. These are the only life jackets that are independently tested to support the unconscious pilot strapped into a paragliding harness. When it comes to your safety we don’t cut corners! Rental of 275N lifejackets is included in the price of all our SIV Courses.

Radios WITH ear pieces
We insist on using radios for training. A well timed nugget of advice can be invaluable whilst you’re experiencing a manoeuvre for the first time. However, if G-force is involved or there’s a lot of wind noise it can be difficult to hear without an ear-piece. For this reason, we insist that you use your radio with an ear-piece. We can provide radio with ear-piece for you to use. Please ask.

A full equipment check and harness set-up
This course includes a full reserve deployment check. It is unlikely that you will need to throw your reserve, but since between 10-20% of reserves do not deploy correctly, we spend a couple of hours checking every student’s set-up. The main reason reserves fail to deploy is nothing to do with how they are folded but rather how they are attached to the harness. This exercise always high-lights less than ideal systems with several students every week. I think you’ll agree, it’s time well spent. We also spend some time checking your harness set-up to make you as comfortable (and effective) as possible.

We follow a number of other important procedures for your safety including but not limited to:

TWO people in a dedicated boat
a qualified instructor with you on launch
full launch and landing briefing
a continual assessment of flying conditions

HD Filming

If you want to get the best out of an SIV Course you need to be filmed! We film all your flights. It’s by seeing what you did that most students learn best:

“Is that what happened!?”

“I thought it was much bigger than that…”

“Oh!…. Now I understand.”

You’ll also learn a lot by watching what others on the course got up to.

We use high quality Full HD video camera complete with oil-dampened tripod to capture all the action.

Schedule

Our schedule is designed to give you the best flying experience and the most beneficial learning environment. After 4 full days over the water we find most pilots are ready to take your life jacket off again for some “normal” flying. Our schedule is flexible according to weather considerations, but we prioritise Wing Control flights over XC flying.

Day 1 Arrival and kit inspection
We usually meet up at 5pm for a full kit inspection. This usually takes a couple of hours. Those arriving late on Day 1 can arrange for an early morning (7am!) equipment inspection on Day2.

Day 2 Full introduction to SIV briefing; Wing Control & SIV flights
Depending on the weather forecast we usually start the day at 8:00am for a full SIV briefing.
Individual briefings and SIV flights.
Evening: Full video debrief

Day 3, 4 & 5 Wing Control & SIV flights
We generally start at 8:30am. Briefing, SIV flight, debrief, re-brief, SIV flight.
Evening: Full video debrief. (all your questions answered)

Day 6 & 7 Cross Country Flying
Now it’s time to relax! We’ll be flying local XC flights in the Babdag arena, including a “not-to-be missed” flight to Butterfly Valley with retrieve by boat!

Day 8 Time to say goodbye
But we’re around all day, so if you’re staying on , or have a late flight we can help organise some free-flying.

Trip to Butterfly Valley

What to Bring

You will need to bring the following:

Passport
Visa: Nationals of many countries (including UK) need a visa. You need to apply for this BEFORE arriving in Turkey. Here’s how
Paragliding insurance (essential if you want to fly!) Bring insurance documents with you!!
Certified wing
Certified harness with fitted and recently re-packed reserve parachute. (If not recently re-packed we can sometimes do this in Turkey for you. Please get in touch)
Paragliding helmet
Sturdy flying shoes/boots
Gloves
Radio WITH ear-piece (or get in touch early if you want to rent one!)

We also recommend you bring the following:

Mobile telephone
Sunscreen – It will probably be hot and sunny during the day!
Sun-glasses – It will probably be hot and sunny during the day!
Hat – It will probably be hot and sunny during the day!
Summer clothing – It will probably be hot and sunny during the day!
Swimwear for the pool and the sea
Warm clothing for early morning flights. It can get quite chilly up on the mountain
Vario and GPS – very useful paragliding tools especially on the XC part of this course
Camera – The turquoise coast is a photographers dream. Great photos assured!

Accommodation

Hotel Bronze

Our preferred accommodation option for this course is Hotel Bronze. Hotel Bronze is a 3star hotel boasting a swimming pool, restaurant and bar and free wifi. Its friendly and attentive staff clean rooms daily. Best of all it also happens to be ideally situated – just 1 minute from the beach (our landing!) right in the heart of Oludeniz, (but not on the main drag: so it’s still secluded, nice and quiet compared to some other hotels). It’s the perfect base from which to explore the bars, shops and restaurants at the end of the flying day.

All guest rooms have double/twin beds, an en-suite shower room. We have negotiated an excellent price on a limited number of rooms at Hotel Bronze. Please let us know early in order to secure one of these rooms. B&B price based on 2 people sharing is £315 per person for 7 nights in September and October 2023. .Single rooms are also usually available at £595 for 7nights in September and October 2023

Hotel Bronze is also the perfect base for briefing and our famous video debrief.

Getting there

Flights

Please book flights to and from Dalaman to arrive on the first day and to leave on your last day of your course. Note that whilst we’ll be at Hotel Bronze to welcome you on Day1, the course begins properly on Day2, so arriving in the evening of Day1 is no problem. Day8 is departure day, but we will be on hand to help you arrange some flying if you have time before your flight home (or a full day of flying if you’re staying for a second week!)

Transfers

You can arrange your transfer very easily with a transfer. There are several resort shuttle buses and it generally takes between 1 and 2 hours depending on the company you choose. They generally cost as little as £10 each way. Try searching here. Alternatively, get in touch with us if you’d like us to arrange a private taxi (£50 one way and takes about an hour).

Additional Information

Paragliding Skills Preparation

Ground handle, ground handle, ground handle! The top pilots in the world spend hours every month playing with their wings…on the ground! The happier you are with your ground handling, the better you will understand your wing (e.g. pitch, roll, yaw and pressure control), the safer will be your launches, the safer will be your landings and the safer you will be in the air. Those good at ground handling also tend to spend less time “stuffing up” their launches and so tend to spend more time in the air. They also tend to be the more confident on launch and can therefore concentrate on the flying!! To maximise your safety and the safety of those in your proximity (!), to maximise your enjoyment – ground handle ground handle and then ground handle!!!

Paragliding Insurance

We require you to have insurance that covers repatriation. Please make sure that your insurance is valid for Turkey and of course that paragliding is covered! Please bring insurance documents with you. You will not be allowed to fly without proof of insurance!!

Travel Money

This Turkish currency is Turkish Lira. The best cash exchange rates are generally found in the resort (as opposed to airports which can be expensive) There are also many ATMs in the resort.

Safety and Medical Facilities

Safety is our absolute priority. We continually assess flying conditions in our passionate endeavour to keep you as safe as possible. However, please understand that although we will do all we can to ensure your safety, you should know your own level of ability and as a qualified pilot when it comes to flying understand that it is your decision to fly, and yours alone!

Launch at Oludeniz (on the mountain of Babdag) has a permanent paramedic on duty during daylight hours. Good hospitals are within half an hour of Oludeniz.

Price

What’s included:

The following is all included on this trip:

Pre-trip consultation to identify your personal objectives
Professional and thorough kit inspection at the start of the course (reserve deployment and harness settings)
Wet bags for radios
Use of the best 275N lifejackets (no cheap flotation devices in sight)
5 days top quality boutique SIV instruction (8 flights) with lots of briefing and debriefing
Evening HD Video debriefs and indepth analysis to help you develop your skills quickly
1 day of top quality XC coaching
All transport to launch in our private minibus

Plenty of Staff to look after you!

SIV Instructor (Toby Colombé)
Launch Instructor (Mike Agnew)
Professional camera-man
Boat Operator
Private bus driver

Boutique SIV Course: We limit our groups to a maximum of just 10 pilots so get lots of love and attention.

Price: £975

Not included: Flights, accommodation, insurance, airport transfers, launch tax (about £8 per flight), boat fee for retrieve from Butterfly valley (about £5); and any non-flying activities!

(You’ll also have options to get your reserve repacked (£50), purchase a copy of your HD filmed flights (£30). We also offer you the chance to de-bag (about £130) for those pilots looking for extra excitement.)

Book this trip now

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Wing Control & SIV 2024

Course Highlights

Designed for Individuals

the BEST safety features

Full HD video debriefs

Sunshine and fun

Trip Details

BEGINNER?

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