My Mate Dave

I have done a few posts on my journey into paragliding…

First flights / Club Pilot / Dune Du Pilat / Oludeniz

…but for this post I wanted to talk about how instrumental my mate Dave has been in my paragliding progression.

I didn’t know what paragliding was until Dave started flying

Dave took me on my first Tandem flight (and acro flight), which was not my favourite thing in the world, so I decided to learn to fly just to see if I enjoyed it more if I was in control.

Dave told me which schools had good reputations for when I was ready to learn

Dave has been my remote coach ever since I learnt, giving me in depth advice over whatsapp even if we were on opposite sides of the continent.

Dave has explained what I’ve done wrong and given me clues for improvement so every step in the process has felt achievable and not like a colossal confusing thing that might make me give up.

Dave was on the radio when I did my first collapses.

Dave was on the landing field when I got stuck in full spiral and nearly didn’t make land.

Dave was there to give me a pep talk when I did my first stalls and first spins.

Dave was there to celebrate when I got my first wobblecopter.

Without Dave I would never have achieved all of that in just 7 months

Dave has been an adventure sport instructor for as long as I have known him and teaching people is a passion he excels at.

These are just some of the reasons that Dave is a great friend, and I am so proud that he has finally set up his own paragliding courses so you can be trained by him too!

Please check out Elevate Paragliding’s  website, or follow on Instagram and Facebook

I am not gaining any financial benefit from this post, just a friend supporting a friend