ParAvion Paragliding Centre

ParAvion has been registered with the British Hang Gliding & Paragliding Association (BHPA), since 1989 and is one of the most highly respected and successful schools in the UK.

The learning process is simple:

1. If you're not sure yet - try it with a Taster Day or Tandem Flight

2. Complete an Elementary Pilot course

3. Complete a Club Pilot course

4. You're now qualified to join a flying club and fly without an instructor.

We are situated in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside just outside the market town of Marlborough in a purpose built industrial unit on the main London to Bath road (A4).

Our full time, professional paragliding centre is less than two hours driving time from central London and we can be reached from Reading, Oxford, Southampton or Bristol in under an hour.

ParAvion Paragliding Centre aims to provide the highest quality tuition available. Our fully qualified, professional instructors will go out of their way to create a friendly and enthusiastic environment.

We train throughout the year and all of our training slopes and airfields are within 20 minutes drive of the centre.

We at ParAvion put our emphasis on quality not quantity. In other words, we train fewer students to a higher standard rather than a lot of students to a lower standard. To achieve this:

• We have private and exclusive hill sites on which to train, as well as the use of three private airfields (we pay a high price to keep these sites private).
• We have special permits from the Civil Aviation Authority (to winch tow) and the Ministry Of Defence (to fly in restricted military airspace) so we can tow you to heights of up to 2000ft in areas where no other civil aircraft are even allowed to fly (Salisbury Danger Area).
• We will not teach you on crowded club sites as some other schools do. You will be the only one in the air until the final stages of your training when you need to learn to fly in mixed company. We consider this a very serious safety issue - with us you have a much reduced risk of a mid-air collision.
• We will only use the latest, safest and most modern equipment (it is replaced or updated at least once a year – often more). All the equipment we use is approved and certified by either the DHV or EN testing houses (in a lot of cases both).
• We deliberately keep our groups small so that everyone gets the best attention. Often you will receive one-on-one instruction (mainly for hill or paramotor training).
• We will only teach on good training days – not when the weather is 'marginal' or unsuitable (this is also an important safety issue). It is quite often not safe to fly on bright and sunny days (especially in springtime or if it's been very cold overnight). Sadly, some schools will risk your safety for profit and teach on such days - see our weather page.
• Our purpose built premises include a modern classroom/clubroom, fully-stocked retail shop, office, parachute re-packing facilities and workshop. We also have a shower and WC facilities if you decide you want to clean up after a day's training before you head home.
• All transport to and from our flying sites is provided free; either in our 17 seat minibus or 4x4 vehicles, so you will not be asked to pay a fuel contribution when travelling to training sites or be expected to drive yourself there.
• If you're looking for a much higher standard than the norm; then you've found the right school.

So Why Else Should You Choose ParAvion?

ParAvion is a school with a very real difference. When you join us on a Taster Day you are a truly ‘valued’ customer and it is our aim to send you away with a big smile on your face. We want you to have a great time so that you’ll come back to us for more training.

Once you've decided to come back and do an EP course, you’re really in trouble. You will now have joined our ‘family’ of friends. You will have gone from being a ‘customer’ to becoming part of a very special community.

People that learn with ParAvion; simply never leave. They stay with us and join us on many of our flying holidays abroad, trips to different parts of the UK, social events, lecture days/evenings etc. and still like to come and fly on our airfields when they can.

We run a fantastic club for you once you've qualified, so you are not forced to buy your own equipment. You can fly with us using our shiny NEW gliders for just a small monthly fee. This gives you much more time to decide if the sport is for you - why spend £3,000 to £4,000 only to discover you really don't like it? Used paragliders do not sell for anywhere near their purchase price.

ParAvion inherits a lot of students from other schools; mainly because they have been unhappy with the ‘less than satisfactory’ and non-professional approach they experienced there. They are always glad they changed to ParAvion - it is nearly always an expensive mistake to go elsewhere first. If you try and buy cheap, you nearly always pay twice!

The people you meet on your course will become long-term friends and you’ll find your whole attitude to life in general will change. Don’t believe us? Well, just take a look at our discussion forum or testimonials page to see what we mean - our students say it all for us.

We teach doctors, policemen, firemen, solicitors, plumbers, airline pilots, electronics and computer wizards, TV producers and even professional layabouts; everyone is welcome.