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Flying, paragliding in South Africa

Whether it's flying, gliding, hang gliding, paragliding, microlighting or hot air ballooning you're into, the sky's the limit in South Africa!

In the hot interior we get thermals like you won't believe, and many paraglider and hang glider pilots have made record-breaking distance flights, particularly in the Northern Cape province.

But this flat, hot area doesn't have much in the way of relief – for that you need to head to the coastal Eastern Province, KwaZulu-Natal or Western Cape, or inland to Mpumalanga province.

There are loads of excellent ridge soar and some fantastic scenic flying near the coast. In Cape Town, you can launch off Lion's Head in the evening, fly into the sunset, and land at one of the popular beachfront pubs.

Further up South Africa's coast, near the town of Wilderness on the Western Cape Garden Route, you can fly over the sea, often seeing dolphins and whales. And the high-lying areas of the Western and Eastern Cape, and the Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, offer spectacular scenery.

There is even reasonable flying about 80 kilometres from Johannesburg, near Hartbeespoort Dam, where you can fly under the controlled airspace of a number of medium-sized airfields and OR Tambo International Airport.

The country is also ideal for hot air ballooning – there's little to match watching the African sun rising and setting from a balloon.

SOUTH AFRICAN AVIATION LINKS

4³ Air School. Located at Port Alfred on the Eastern Cape coast. Offers a wide variety of courses to airline, military, corporate and self-sponsored students from around the world.

Aero Club of South Africa. South Africa's national federation for sport and recreational aviation covers all sectors of the sport, from power flight to gliding, ballooning and modelling.

Aircraft Homebuilders Association of South Africa. Founded in 1992 by people interested in building their own airplanes using locally available material.

Air Show South Africa. Everything you need to know about organising and attending air shows in SA.

Algoa Flight Centre. Located at Port Elizabeth Airport. Has decades of experience in training pilots, with standards on a par with the best in the world.

Association of Virtual Aviation of South Africa. Deals with flight simulation and the worlds that can be created through local area networks or the internet. Participants fly in virtual airspace, for virtual airlines, and learn proper communications. To join a virtual airline, visit the Independent Airlines website.

Balloon and Airship Federation of South Africa. Controlling body for recreational and sport ballooning in SA, and a section of the Aero Club of SA. Organises the annual South African Hot Air Balloon Championships, and offers a calendar of events.

Comefly Pilot Centre. Located at Virginia Airport in Durban. Offers recreational and professional pilot training, microlighting licences, as well as scenic flights for unforgettable views of the KwaZulu-Natal coast.

Disabled Aviation Association of South Africa. Empowering people to overcome their limitations through aviation. Affiliated to the Aero Club of SA.

Experimental Aircraft Association. Promotes the building, restoration and flying of home-built aircraft.

South African Power Flying Assocation. Oversees the President's Trophy Air Race, first held in 1937 and one of the most prestigious events on today's aviation calendar. Affiliated to the Aero Club of SA.

Sport Aerobatic Club of South Africa. Overseas sport aerobatics in the country. Affiliated to the Aero Club of SA.

Stellenbosch Flying Club. Flight training in the Cape Winelands, with the Hottentots Holland Mountain Range overlooking the airfield.

MICROLIGHTING LINKS

Aquila Microlight Safaris offers the Microlight Pilot's Licence, as well as scenic flights. In addition, Aquila specialises in aerial photography, providing some remarkable pictures of the world as seen from above. Aquila Microlight Safaris is based at Wintervogel Airfield on a privately owned farm near Malmsbury in the Western Cape.

Ballito Microlight School is less than a 30 minute drive from Durban on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast. It offers flight training, not only for individuals, but also for companies. Fun flights along the beautiful coastline are also available.

Emoyeni Aviation Park, Guest Lodge, and Conference Centre is located near Camperdown, not far from Pietermaritzburg and easily accessible from Durban. They offer an interesting variety of adrenaline-pumping adventure activities, including micro-lighting, white-water rafting, off-road motorcycle riding, skydiving, hang-gliding, abseiling and water-skiing. Emoyeni is ideally positioned for fantastic aerial viewing of the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

Flight Schools South Africa shows you where you can undergo training throughout South Africa. From airplanes to helicopters to microlights, they can steer you in the right direction.

The Microlight and Light Sport Aircraft Association of South Africa is the national flying club representing all microlight pilots in South Africa. Its objectives include encouraging, developing, and promoting private and sporting microlighting. The website provides news, an events' calendar, and categories dealing with various aspects of flying.

Microlighters.co.za is a popular forum where microlighters can get together and discuss a wide variety of things, including technical, training, gyro, and accident and incident reports. There are also sections for events and destinations; classifieds; and commercial, clubs, and official sections.

Sky Riders Flight School is one of the largest microlight training schools in South Africa and many of the instructors have earned their nationals colours in the sport. They operate the biggest microlighting airport in South Africa, called Microland, at Bapsfontein, a short distance north east of Kempton Park, where one finds the Johannesburg International Airport.

PARAGLIDING LINKS

Birdmen Paragliding is located in Table View, Cape Town. They teach paragliding in Cape Town and the surrounding areas, and provide tandem flights, if required. For those wish to travel further afield, anything from one-day trips up to guided tours lasting as long as three weeks are available.

Blue Sky Paragliding South Africa is situated between Durban and Pietermaritzburg and specialises in paragliding, powered paragliding and para-trike instruction, in addition to offering many courses. They also provide tandem flights. In addition, they undertake tours which over the years have included the Netherlands, Porterville, Wilderness, and the Valley of Desolation. Most of the sites they fly are in KwaZulu-Natal, ranging from Zululand to the Drakensberg.

Cape Town Tandem Paragliding offers flights in and around Cape Town with pilots carrying South African Hang gliding and Paragliding Assocation certification. Flights further afield, to Hermanus and Sir Lowry's Pass are also available. In addition, in-flight photography is offered.

Cloudbase Paragliding School is based in the Eastern Cape town of Wilderness. There are 24 flying sites within an hour's drive. They range from easy coastal soaring to cross country thermals. Cloudbase offers a number of different tours, including the Smile while you Scream Tour that visits the Alps in Europe. There is also the 14-day Ski/Fly Alpine Tour that includes skiing, snowboarding, and flying. Other destination include the Garden Route and Hermanus.

Downhill Adventures offer paragliding tours around the Cape Peninsula with internationally qualified guides. The sites they frequent are Lions Head, Signal Hill, Sir Lowries Pass, Hermanus, Franschhoek Pass, Dassklip Pass (Porterville), Noordhoek and the Garden Route from Wilderness to Port Elizabeth. Tandem paragliding is available for those who have no previous experience of paragliding.

Eagle Encounters offers hang gliding training in Wilderness on the Eastern Cape coast. It has been training hand gliding pilots since 1986 and offers a number of different courses. Eagle Encounters fly each and every day, depending on the weather. Their website includes a useful question and answer section to help you understand what hang gliding is all about.

The Eternity Press Paragliding in South Africa is a flying site for pilots who paraglide or hang glide, or for anyone who wants to. It offers useful reviews of paragliders, a list of South African free-flying sites, a complete introduction to flying in South Africa, books, and DVDs among other things.

Explorer Paramotors provide a backpack-style aircraft engine, designed to convert paraglider wings to powered paragliding (PPG). They offer PPG training at the training field at Dolphin Beach in Cape Town. New and used gear is available, including accessories. Professional aerial photography is also on offer.

Extreme Sports Cafe operates from Wilderness on the picturesque Garden Route. It is a magnificent part of South Africa and ideal country to view from a paraglider. Various courses are offered, in English, French and German, and tandem flights are also available.

Flying Unlimited has been training students in powered paragliding since 1995. It also supplies equipment and the website features extensive information on all aspects of the sport. Flying Unlimited is based in Pretoria and flying is done from the Groen Goud farm.

Fun Ventures Paragliding School is located in Edenglen in Johannesburg. They offer paragliding training and courses, with the traditional mountain training method and with winching from the ground, with winching the preferred method because of the relative flatness of Gauteng. They also offer tandem flights which, like the courses, can be booked through the website. In addition there is a useful collection of links, to be found under "selection list" at the bottom of the webpage.

The Mazda Adventure Zone provides a useful region-by-region guide to paragliding and hang gliding in South Africa. The Adventure Zone is an excellent resource for all sorts of adventure activities.

The Parachute Association of South Africa oversees skydiving in South Africa. On the website, you can find out how to get started and what's on offer. It lists drop zones, and show jumping operations, and provides contacts for the people in charge of the many disciplines that make up the Sports Skydivers' Association. Events' listing is also provided.

Paragliding Adventures, initially known as SA Paragliding Tours, was founded in 1998. They operate out of the Dunnotar Winch Park at the now disused Dunnotar Military Base on the East Rand. They also use Vaalkop in Mpumalanga and Bilene in Mozambique. New and second-hand equipment is available. Team Building is also available and is aimed at groups of five to 10 people.

Paragliding Afrika conducts paragliding and paramotoring courses and tours for beginners up to intermediate level pilots. They operate out of beautiful Wakkerstroom on the Mpumalanga/KwaZulu-Natal border. Winch flying and conversion courses at Dunnottar, just outside Johannesburg are also offered.

Paraglide-South-Africa.com is a website that provides local and international pilots with information on paragliding, resources, and places to stay when flying in South Africa. The website specializes in tours, trips, vacations and accommodation in South Africa. You can find out information on paragliding schools, flying sites, and tandem flights.

Parapax offers tandem paragliding flights around Cape Town. They have experienced internationally qualified and guides, who are able to take passengers without any previous experience up into the skies. In-flight photography and videography is also on offer. Flights are not restricted to around Cape Town only, with Hermanus, Sir Lowries Pass, Franschhoek, Koringberg, Porterville, Macassar Beach, and Picketberg among the venues available.

Para-Taxi Tandem Paragliding offers tandem flights with South African Hang and Paragliding Association-approved tandem instructor pilot. Typical flights last from 10 to 25 minutes, take in the stunning Cape Peninsula, and take place from many different sites around Cape Town. Flights may also be undertaken in the winelands, around Franschhoek and Paarl.

The Soaring Society of South africa is the national body for soaring/gliding in South Africa, and affiliated to the Aero Club of South Africa. It has, among other things, a list of gliding clubs in South Africa, and the SA Soaring Magazine. It also features a calendar of upcoming competitions and a forum.

The South African Gyroplane Society represents gyroplane pilots and enthusiasts in Southern Africa. Their website features sections on the Association, instructors, articles, events, a gallery, videos, classifieds, links, and archive and frequently asked questions.

The South African Model Airplane Association overseas model aircraft activities in South Africa, including the safeguarding of airspace and radio frequencies. It also provides legal frequencies in South Africa, advice, guidance, dealer's web pages, a diary of events, and much more. In addition, it offers links to a good number of websites focusing on various aspects of model aircraft.

The South African Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association is the governing body for legally flying paragliders, hang gliders, powered paragliders, powered hang gliders and para-trikes in South Africa. All pilots that part take in these sports must be licensed by SAHPA, as required by the Civil Aviation Act. The website offers useful information on paragliding, hang gliding, powered paragliding, competitions, schools, and clubs. Viedo clips and galleries are also featured, as well as links.

The Wallend-Air School of Paragliding is located in Pretoria. They offer plenty of courses, as well as tandem flights and powered paragliding. Equipment is also available, and there is an events calendar on the website, in addition to information on the Glen Club, and a gallery to show you what it's all about.

The Skywalk School of Paragliding is in Pretoria, Gauteng. They present introductory and basic courses with their own equipment, and an advanced course for those with their own equipment. They also have a fly-away on the first weekend of every month. Skywalk also sells a wide range of paragliding equipment, ranging from gliders, helmets, harnesses, accessories likes caps, bags and clothing. They ship to anywhere in the world.

Wild Sky Paragliding School, which has been running since 1993, is headed up by Hans Fokkens, who has his national colours in the sport. The school offers flying in and around Bulwer Mountain, on the edge of the southern Drakensberg. Tandem flights are available and lodging is also offered. Various other activities around Bulwer make for a good getaway experience.

Windmaster Paragliding presents a number of courses, tandem flights, and fly-aways. On the Garden Route, Windmasters hosts flights from 16 scenic coastal sites. They also offer hiking trails, horse riding, abseiling, black bass fishing, two hobie sailing, kayaking, canoeing and kite surfing, as well as backpackers' accommodation.

Extreme Scene are adventure tour specialists. They offer tandem paragliding in Cape Town, during which you can take in Table Mountain, Table Bay, and the Atlantic Seaboard. Tandem paragliding is also offered at Hermanus and Franschoek, while videos of the trip may be made as an optional extra.

Article last updated: November 2009

SAinfo reporter