Be the Pilot!

A wide variety of instructors make up the Eagle Team. We have a national paragliding champion, who is also a Red Bull X-alps competitor. Our SIV coach could be the best in North America, and he speaks five languages. We received the 4th ever Instructor Of The Year award back in 2002. Trips abroad really happen with Eagle, so we really are worldwide. We have guided pilots on paragliding tours to Mexico, France, Brazil, Colombia, and Alaska. Our educational programs in Santa Barbara and around the world are renowned for their organization and execution. Our history in continually bringing together top instructors in the sport to work as a team is unmatched. We are also the instructors instructor, and have the only Administrator on the south coast to certify experienced pilots as both tandem pilots and basic instructors. Some of our students become instructors and tandem pilots. Jesse Meyer trained with Eagle back in 2004, and became an instructor in 2011, and started his own school Lift Paragliding in the bay area. He was awarded the Instructor Of The Year award in 2013. In fact, Jesse has the highest long-term student retention statistics in the country for instructors who have signed off at least 100 Novice ratings(69.6%). This means more of his students are still flying than any other school, likely because Jesse subscribes to a similar view on how important it is to offer continuing education in the mountains, and build community in the sport. Be sure visit Jesse at his school Lift Paragliding if you are in the bay area. The Eagle team has been educating and guiding pilots safely since 1998. We strive to continue raising the bar for what is available and possible with respect to paragliding service and education.

We wholeheartedly agree with the quoted concept outlined below, and we can honestly say we have the staff size, qualifications, and currency to back it up. This concept is Eagles reality here in Santa Barbara, and it highlights our value proposition to our students perfectly.

“A school with several instructors will offer you flexibility in scheduling, learning and teaching styles. The opportunity to work with different instructors will expose you to a number of different approaches to learning the same skills, increasing your retention. We have many instructors available every day – instructing at the training hill, flying in the local mountains, or for a one-on-one instructional clinic, covering your first high Mountain Flights, Thermalling, Reserve Parachutes, Cross Country Skills, or a Mountain Site Introduction. Having multiple instructors available means more options for you to take advantage of Santa Barbara or Ojai’s unique flying opportunities.”

A huge part of whats makes Santa Barbara the best place to learn to fly, and visit as a pilot is our flying community. The Hang Gliders who started here in the early 1970’s are still here, and continue to make big flights showing us how it’s done. Our local club the SBSA is organized and passionate about having visitors, and acting as ambassadors in our shared goal to have fun flying our beautiful mountain range, and protecting our cherished flying sites. The SBSA board of directors works behind the scenes to keep all the pilots in our community enjoying flying and other events everyone is able to enjoy. Big Thanks to John Greynald, known as “Little John”, James Zender, and Mike Harrington for being stand out board members. Little John has been keeping it real for the flying community since the early 1970’s.The clubs technical team are both Eaglets (Jon Blake and John McMahon). These guys have absolutely knocked it out of the park with the club website and chat box. Their joint efforts has raised our community awareness of all things flying. The communication tools have enriched our flying scene immensely. Thanks Jon and John. The community has a huge amount of gratitude for your efforts. Community member Aaron LaPlante received a USHPA commendation award after spending countless hours creating materials which educates and informs pilots new and old about the intricacies of staying high and going far while flying the south coast. Aaron is known by his friends in the flying community as “Cracka”. His educational videos are known as his “Cracka Sauce“, and if you haven’t tried any you need to change that right now. Cracka also started the SB Hoedown in 2017. The SB Hoedown gives pilots a chance to fly tasks in our local mountains. These monthly tasks give pilots the opportunity to gain experience flying to designated points, and finally to goal. These tasks give pilots experience on all the facets of paragliding racing, and what we can expect to see at paragliding race to goal competitions. Cracka may be enabling our next US Champion. Who knows what Cracka has up his sleeve next, but his efforts have made a huge impact on our flying community. Thank you my Cracka! Tom Truax, also known as “Sundowner” has been a huge contributor. Sundowner certified many of us as P2 pilots when he was running his school Skysports. Sundowner has an amazing Flight Log documenting his flights in rich detail. These logs provide a huge educational opportunity for flying the South Coast and our surrounding mountain ranges. Mitch Riley, and Marty DeVietti have also presented at the local club meetings. Their presentations have been educational and entertaining. A huge thanks for the efforts made by all of these guys, and the continued efforts our mentors and instructors make daily.

We go above and beyond supporting our local flying community, and our community in turn supports and recommends Eagle Paragliding. We are the only local school to offer offers services like glider repairs, laser line inspections, glider trimming, porosity tests, and line manufacturing. Eagle instructors help anyone and everyone with landing zone walks, and flight plans from the various mountain launches in our area. Our Alumni, and the pilots we support on our team act as mentors in our flying community. Our staff members have volunteered as Board members for our national organization USHPA, our local flying clubs board SBSA, and Santa Barbara Search and Rescue. The local community points potential pilots to Eagle realizing we will build the foundation, and offer the support each student pilots needs to safely enjoy paragliding. A handful of our local Hang Gliding community have taken up paragliding as well to become bi-wingual. Every single Hang Glider in our community who took up paragliding decided to train with Eagle. Our Santa Barbara community continues to thrive. A big thanks to all the mentors, pilots members, and the Hang gliders who started free flying here back in the early 1970’s. The Santa Barbara Soaring association was the 8th Chapter established in the USA. There are currently over 100 USHPA chapters.

Paragliding Instructing and Tandem instructing are two very different experiences for the instructor and student. Many times the directions a particular paragliding business takes is driven by the geography and topography of the location they have for teaching and flying. Eagle Paragliding is truly lucky to have what many feel is the best flight park in North America for paragliding certification. Having a flight park that was made for training is a gift we don’t take for granted. Tandem flying is fun. However, building relationships with our students during training, and working with them as they continue to grow is a feeling you just can’t get being the pilot taking someone for one flight. Tandem flying is enjoyable, and it actually becomes one of the best tools to utilize for pilot education once a certified paraglider pilot is ready for cross country flying. The rewards of working with individuals, and being a part of their first solo flights is a remarkable gift. It’s a gift that keeps giving as you watch a pilot progress, and perhaps eventually fly higher and farther than you their instructor. We are thankful to have a training facility that seems to have been made for paraglider pilot certification, allowing students to fly solo from the top of our hill on their first day. We would certainly be flying mostly tandems if we had a consistent clifftop, or mountain site with a chairlift or tram to taxi tourists looking for a taste of flight. We are thankful the tandem factory is not an option in our area, since it has shown to certainly drive a paragliding business towards tandems, giving solo paragliding certification a low priority compared to flying tourists tandem. We are fortunate to have a flight park with so much opportunity, which empowers individuals to spread their own wings and take flight. It is for this reason, and our ability to operate year round, that we have gratefully shaped our focus to offering unmatched solo instruction and continuing education.

We thoroughly enjoy sharing this sport with our students. We aren’t in a rush to get you certified, and we hope that you aren’t either. Our bet is this will be the adventure of your life, so lets enjoy the journey together. You pick the pace of your training, and we support your pace. Run away from the idea of “express training”, and getting certified as fast as possible. This is not something you should rush through for a variety of reasons. We can accomplish a great deal at our flight park, and you will be pleasantly surprised with your progression. You wont need more than ten days, or two weeks in ordered achieve certification. Our training environment allows us to maximize the time you have set aside for learning to fly. We don’t ever want you to feel rushed, or need to get through the course because of any time limitations, or a cap on your training window. There is no continuing extra costs if you take longer to learn. Programs offering such restrictions point to sites which have weather challenges, and having students with unfinished skills and opportunities due to weather challenges is likely a common occurrence. Some schools may warn you about a location that offers complete certification in 8-9 days, or the ability to fly solo on your first day of training. However, the only reason these schools are unable to offer what Eagle offers is they don’t have the the ability to engineer the environment due to their site challenges. In other words, They would be certifying pilot in 8-9 days instead of 16-20 days if they were lucky enough to have a flight park similar to ours.

It’s important to show up for training well rested, and to get an opportunity to work on kiting and flying throughout the day. Training start at 9am daily. We will continue your training as long as the weather conditions are manageable, and we both feel you are physically and mentally fit to continue. Steer clear of locations where training start very early in the morning. Chances are these sites are consistently windy mid-day. You may only get a couple hours practice in the mornings before the prevailing winds show up. You can only read so many books, and watch so many videos in the middle of the day when the wind conditions make kiting or flying impossible. Ask what time training typically start when searching for a training location. You want to choose a location where you can get the most out of the time you have dedicated to your paragliding certification. Choosing a location with early start times indicates a small training window during the day, and you will likely need to make another trip back to the area for more training since the winds will prevent you from maximizing your training days. Extra travel expenses may be associated with choosing a school where you can maximize your training time. Traveling out of your area for certification is well worth the extra expense when you consider how much more training time you get. Our proximity to the ocean means our flying conditions are more consistent offering a unique and productive training environment.

Unlimited means unlimited. As an alumni you can return to fly with us at the flight park, and in the mountains whenever we are working with students in the training program. With students traveling to get certified with us twelve months a year from all over the world, you can bet we will be flying most days of the year. There is no expiration date or time period for which you must complete your training, and we wont charge you any extra fees as long as you are here when we are training students who are in the certification program. We suggest Alumni email Eagle ahead to check the schedule in order to pick dates which meet this criteria. Pilots who were certified elsewhere should consider our “Eagle For Life” program, and everything it offers for your Paragliding Continuing Education.

Eagle’s reputation and history aren’t the only reasons students choose Santa Barbara for their training location. Our flight park is open year-round. Your time is valuable, and you will get as much as 3 times more kiting and flying at our flight park than you will at any other training location. Students enjoy an environment which allows them to make the most of the time set aside for pilot certification. Our proximity to the ocean means the cool breeze will keep you from the overheating like you will at inland sites. You also save energy and stay cool since we offer a ride back to launch in our van instead of having students hike back to the top after each flight. When needed, we have a the van waiting in the Landing Zone to get you back up the hill as soon as possible. This means more time flying, and less time waiting for a lift back up the hill. Flight skills are an important part of your training, and you will get more flights in a day at our flight park than you will anywhere else. Pilots need to develop kiting/ground handling skills as well. It’s a very important part of your portfolio as a pilot. Relying on forward inflations or towing to get airborne during your training keeps you from practicing the launch technique you will be using at the vast majority of launches worldwide. Our flight park offers hours and hours of prime conditions for building these important skills.

We don’t want to beat a dead horse, but we will. Ask the school your flying with if you will get continued mountain support. Talk to other pilots in the community you plan to fly with and be certain that follow up is there. Anybody can boast about who they are, and what they offer on their website. I encourage you to visit the discussion boards, or the chat box if you are planning to travel for certification, and unable to speak with the local pilots. It very important to make certain the staff size is adequate to accommodate new students at the flight park, and students ready for mountain flying at the same time. We are there for our students, and even give our alumni who don’t need coaching support. We make our mountain van available to the community so they can organize mountain trips on their own. Occasionally, we only have newer students at the flight park on a given day, and no new students needing mountain support. We have built community here, and Eagle alumni are huge pillars of support. We are continually rewarded by the community when pilots need new or additional equipment. Pilots choose to reward our actions and efforts on behalf of the community by supporting us with their business. We greatly appreciate their acknowledgment. We subscribe to the philosophy in which schools must earn your future business by offering unmatched continued service and support to pilots in their own communities. You should not be obligated to purchase from the school you initially trained with if someone else is providing the support and nurturing you through your continued education as a paraglider pilot. This model builds strong flying communities, and rewards the schools who are serving and supporting pilots, and protecting local flying sites. We hope you subscribe to this view wherever you live, and support those who support pilots and flying sites in your own flying communities.

We are open year-round. We don’t have an off-season. This means we are always in prime teaching mode, and never needing to knock the cobwebs off to open up the season. We are lucky the south coast offers the best year-round flying in the USA. Our training hill is in full swing all year long with favorable conditions. Any time time of year is a great time to visit for pilot certification. Eagle Alumni visit year round to get continued coaching and support at no charge. The community chatbox highlights Eagle’s follow through with continued support and training to our alumni. Eagle is up in the mountains offering support and coaching all the time. Eagle is mentioned in the chat box by pilots who continually show gratitude for our support in the mountains, and the rides up to launch. We fly more often and utilize more launches than anybody else in the Santa Barbara area. This will make you a well rounded pilot. Eagle’s award winning instruction is known for continually bringing together top instructors in the sport to work as a team at home in Santa Barbara, and our clinics and tours all over the world. Our staff list is current and diverse, allowing us to be many places at once in support of our students.

Some pilots think of Santa Barbara as a coastal ridge flying site only. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do have some wonderful ridge flying sites, all of which offer excellent top landing opportunities. The ridges work more consistently in the summer months, but can also work the rest of the year as well. We bring new students out to the ridge once they have enough experience at the flight park, and we feel good about their launching and landing skills. Our mountain flying is exceptional from September through May. Pilots from all over the country descend on the south coast to enjoy North America’s premiere free flight winter flying location.

The unique geography and climate provides classic and consistent flying conditions on the south coast. Our unique micrometeorology is driven by the Pacific Ocean and its proximity to our local mountains. Where else can you enjoy hours of mountain thermal flying, and finish your flight with a scenic glider out to the coast where where you land on a sandy beach. Our mountain thermal season is a long nine month window from September through May. That run is the longest mountain thermal run of any flying site in North America. The Pacific Ocean acts as a heater in the winter keeping the lower level land mass warmer than the temperatures and terrain in the mountains. The entire Santa Ynez Mountain range we enjoy flying has the unique attribute of extending in an east-west direction. Most mountain ranges run north-south. The South side of the Santa Ynez range gets sun all day, which makes for some excellent thermal productivity. We suggest students stay in the area if possible once they have received their pilot certification. Pilots can enjoy mountain thermal flying with the Eagle staff as long as they are in the area. We are up there every good flying days, which means most of the time.

Eagle Paragliding offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on your initial basic equipment purchase. This applies to any item in the Basic Equipment Package you purchase from Eagle Paragliding during the Novice Pilot Certification Program. We are one of the biggest paragliding equipment importers in the country. We supply gear to new students, continuing students, and other schools all over the USA. This means we have a wide variety of new and used equipment on hand. We ask our students to trust Eagle, and allow our team to choose appropriate equipment for each student. You have nothing to lose since you can return anything you are unhappy with at any time. Having students return anything is rare. We have been outfitting pilots since 1998, and we are very good at selecting the equipment which fits each students profile. The only piece of equipment we want your input on will be the harness. We will sit you in the simulator and try a few options. You can tell us what feels and fits best, as we go over the attributes of each harness with you. The harness fitting is like a ski boot fitting, and pilots need to sit in the harness options before deciding on the model that fits like a glove, and feels right for you. Wing choice is based on your wing loading by figuring out your Takeoff weight, and deciding if an EN-A or low EN-B wing is the best choice for your initial glider. Your Eagle Instructors will have a plan regarding this decision after your first two days of training. The technology and advances in paraglider design over the last two decades have given entry level wings as much performance as the higher rated performance wings of the past, while keeping all the security you can expect with an entry level glider. There are many wonderful brands of paragliders, and as long as you purchase a premium brand you will be in great shape. There is no need for new pilots in training to demo or test drive a glider before purchasing. You would need 10-20 hours of free flying on each glider you tried before you were able to really notice differences. Entry level premium gliders are very similar if we are talking about gliders with equal performance and security. We believe it’s a great idea for students to purchase their equipment by day 3 of the P2 training program. Thankfully there are no cactus or boulder fields at our flight park. Our flight park is easy on your equipment. We believe pilots have an opportunity during the training program to get a feel for their wing, and get their harness adjusted properly after trying different configurations. The glider you purchase will have different launching, kiting, turning, and gliding characteristics than the school wing used in the first training. Your training flights are a huge opportunity to get to know the traits of your glider, and develop a feel for your wing. You could end up long at the mountain LZ’s if you are accustomed to the glide of the school wing you started with at the flight park. We want you practicing as many spot landings as possible at the flight park on the wing you will be using in the mountains. This increases the likelihood of nailing your spot landings at mountain LZ’s. Mountain landing zones are often much smaller than the flight park LZ. You need to practice deciding when its time to leave your landing set up pattern and make your final approach on your own glider as many times as possible at the flight park, before tackling less forgiving mountain LZ’s. Developing a feel for your own wings glide ratio at the flight park makes you better prepared for your first landings at mountain LZ’s. Waiting to purchase your paragliding equipment towards the end of your training program makes less sense. The depreciation on your gear is miniscule if you use it 4-5 more days at the flight park, compared to the value of getting to know your gear during the training program. You are going to be a paraglider pilot, why would you ever delay your gear purchase, and miss the opportunity to really get to know all of your equipment during your training process. Especially when you consider Eagle Paragliding is willing to let you return and exchange any part of your initial Basic Equipment Package if you are not happy with any item.

Making your initial purchase of a Basic Equipment Package through Eagle qualifies students for the discounted $1500 Novice Pilot Certification course fee. The Eagle Team appreciates our students support by rewarding us with their initial gear purchase. We may be the only school allocating a portion of student equipment sales to our full time instructors in addition to their hourly rate. Our instructors give all they have to build a solid foundation together with our students, allowing our alumni to safely enjoy the sport. The flight park, geography, and weather conditions in Santa Barbara make it the premiere year-round training location in North America. Students realize the extra travel cost is all worth it, and a better option than training closer to home.  99% of our students support our school and staff by purchasing their equipment through Eagle. Brand new students with other plans on where to purchase equipment pay $350 a day for training as they work toward Novice Pilot Certification. Students need a minimum of seven days training to become certified. Daily payments are maxed on day ten. The amount of days required for each individual student to achieve Novice Certification is at the sole discretion of Eagle Paragliding. Students who are already full USHPA members, and started paragliding programs elsewhere or have a paramotoring background pay $350 a day when working with Eagle Paragliding toward completing their Novice Certification Program. Eagle will confirm your previous training dates in order to meet the minimum standard of seven days training to become certified. Daily payments are maxed on day ten. The amount of days required for each individual student to achieve Novice Certification is at the sole discretion of Eagle Paragliding. Regardless of which program you choose, once Eagle certified, you enjoy all the benefits of being an Eagle Paragliding Alumni. These benefits include no cost for P3 and P4 ratings, continued coaching and support, and priority access to our worldwide paragliding tours and paragliding clinics. There is no expiration date or time period for which students must complete the training program.

Eagle may be the only school willing to finance your paragliding equipment.

We get students from all walks of life, and part of our mission is to get anyone with the dream to fly in the air any way we can. We offer 100% financing, or any portion you wish to finance on your initial equipment purchase. This option gives students the ability to fly their own set of gear, and make payments over a one year payment period. Students can finance any portion of the equipment cost they wish. This option often means students can afford to purchase new state of the art equipment instead of used gear. We don’t allow students to finance the cost of the Novice Certification Program. We suggest students wait to begin the training program until they can fund their training. Contact Eagle Paragliding for details on our financing options.

A P1 (beginner) rating simply means you are a pilot in training working toward your P2 certification. You can’t really do much with a P1 rating.  You need the P2 certification for permission to fly on your own without direct instructor supervision. Eagle combines your P1 and P2 rating for a flat $1500 discounted rate when you purchase you Basic Paragliding Equipment Package with Eagle. Some schools separate the P1 and P2 rating costs and charge you as much as $2500 even if you buy your Basic Equipment Package with the school.  Most schools require further payment for P3 certification as well upwards of $895. That is $3395 for P1 through P3, when Eagle will do P1 through P4 for the flat $1500 fee when you purchase you Basic Paragliding Equipment Package with Eagle.  When a school shares a philosophy claiming lifetime support, and continuing support for you after your P2 certification, then all the P3 and P4 training should come during the process of flying and working together on a pilot’s journey at no cost. Our alumni have never paid to receive additional ratings when they are qualified. From the time you complete your P2, and over the rest of your paragliding career, you can expect the Eagle staff will be there to support you. We are essentially working toward those higher ratings as we log flights and airtime together.  How can it be any different if the school follows through on the continued support they claim to offer?

Eagle is truly world-wide. Traveling abroad is defined as traveling overseas, or to a foreign country. We don’t just boast about making these trips. We actually have a track record, and have offered more tours and clinics to more locations all over the world than any other school in North America. Our annual tours abroad, and our North American clinics sell out every year. We have organized Paragliding Tours abroad to France, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia. Our favorite location since 2011 has been Colombia. We bring over 70 pilots to Colombia over a three-week period. Tours start the last week of January and run into February. Space is limited, and we fill up every year. We give priority access to previous tour participants and Eagle alumni, many of which join us every year on our tours. In addition, we give priority access to Thermal and XC Clinics spearheaded by Eagle Instructor Mitch Riley. Mitch is a high-level pilot and instructor in a variety of paragliding disciplines, and arguably the best all -around pilot in North America.  Mitch brings the deep knowledge and passion for both the physical and mental aspects of being a paraglider pilot. His commitment at continuing to search and discover physical and mental techniques and planning are unmatched.  His philosophies on appropriate goal planning and visualization are just a few of his many insights which help the pilots he works with reach new levels. Eagle instructor Dilan Benedetti runs SIV clinics. Our alumni, and pilots everywhere have been raving about Dilan’s approach and passion for SIV training. The fact that Dilan speaks 5 languages makes these SIV clinics accessible to pilots from all over the world. Eagle alumni are the first to receive dates on all tours and clinics, and are able to utilize the presale ensuring a spot.

The pursuits and efforts made by Eagle Paragliding have earned the school a favorable reputation by pilots and peers everywhere. We are humbled when pilots reach to out to us from all over the globe after reading a post in a foreign land recommending Eagle as the school to connect with when traveling to the United States. We strive to be the best paragliding ambassadors we can when pilots need information, or wish to connect and fly with us. Eagle has coached the US national team at three different world championships. The unprecedented coverage of the 2009 world championships by Eagle in Mexico had people all over the world thanking Eagle for bringing this event to the pilots fans and families at home in countries all over the world. Eagle’s coverage was the catalyst for Philippe Broers to begin the same type of coverage and created Paragliding Cup TV. Eagle has also been involved working to create opportunities for disabled people. Eagle partnered with Nick Greece to create the Non-profit WheelzUp, and work to continue to develop these programs. Eagle was contacted and hired by a major Hollywood studio to work on the film “The Upside” starring Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart, and Nicole Kidman, which shot in Pennsylvania and Oregon. Eagle has been featured in numerous magazines and television programs, all of which appear on our Paragliding Press Page. Eagle has also been recognized by our national organization USHPA, and volunteered to serve on the USHPA board. Locally we have also completed the Santa Barbara Search and Rescue Academy, and served as volunteer team member. We continue to work with Santa Barbara Search and Rescue in a training capacity. Pilots who do their homework will discover Eagle Paragliding programs and our instructors are highly recommended. We get new and veteran pilots visiting pilots from all over who come to us for continued education, or simply to fly as part of our community. Their eyes are wide open after witnessing our hands on approach, support, and getting a glimpse of our world class flight park. Pilots comment they would have come to Eagle for their initial training had they been aware of everything Eagle and Santa Barbara have to offer.

If we are unable to complete training due to weather, you will have credit for the unused portion. There are no refunds or exchanges. Programs are not transferable to another individual. Students in pilot certification programs may schedule class via email. Reservations are required, and only confirmed when held with a credit card, or full payment has been made. The deposit for the one-day or two-day training is the entirety of the fee. Deposits are refundable only if a qualified replacement student can be found for your reservation, or cancellations are made at least 24 hours before scheduled training. Eagle offers a minimum of 4 flights per training day for one and two-day programs. A credit to come back and make up those missing flights with us another time is given when you had less than 4 flights. Students can pay $100 to extend their half day into a full day when using their credit.  Students have a maximum of two days of training available to evaluate paragliding before their decision about continuing with Novice Pilot Certification must be made. The Novice Certification Program is discounted to $1500 for students who support our staff and school with the purchase of a complete Basic Equipment Package. Students with other plans on where to purchase equipment pay $350 a day for training as they work toward Novice Pilot Certification. Students need a minimum of seven days training to become certified. Daily payments are maxed on day ten. The amount of days required for each individual student to achieve Novice Certification is at the sole discretion of Eagle Paragliding. Students who are already full USHPA members, and started paragliding programs elsewhere or have a paramotoring background pay $350 a day when working with Eagle Paragliding toward completing their Novice Certification Program. Eagle will confirm your previous training dates in order to meet the minimum standard of seven days training to become certified. Daily payments are maxed on day ten. The amount of days required for each individual student to achieve Novice Certification is at the sole discretion of Eagle Paragliding. Regardless of which program you choose, once Eagle certified, you enjoy all the benefits of being an Eagle Paragliding Alumni. These benefits include no cost for P3 and P4 ratings, continued coaching and support, and priority access to our worldwide paragliding tours and paragliding clinics.  There is no expiration date or time period for which students must complete the training program. There are no extra training fees for Eagle Alumni as long as you are here when we are training students who are in the pilot certification program. Alumni are required to email ahead to check the schedule in order to pick dates which meet this criteria. Eagle Paragliding reserves the right to modify, change, or delete any aspect of the training programs or fees at any time. We strongly recommend that students have their own medical insurance. The minimum age for a student is 12 years old. Most anybody can enjoy paragliding. If you have limitations which may prevent you from having the physical or mental ability to paraglide please contact us.