There is no other hang gliding and paragliding club in Northern Ireland besiides our club. We launched first as "The Ulster Hang Gilding Club" (UGHC) in 1975. Later on in 1990 we got into the well reknown British asociation based in Leicester, widely known as BHPA and started operating aswell in paradliding.
We are officially recognised by SportNI a public organization which main goal, among others, is for more people to do sports in Northern Ireland. We have over 60 pilots who fy in our great inland and coastal sites which are at most just an hour drive from most areas of the province.
You can always give us a call if you are interested to know what the sport is all about and if you wish, give it a trial with our most experienced pilot. It is a great pleasure for us to show you what we do, the latest equipement we have and the different ways to get your pilot ratings.
Lately, foot launched powered flight has been deregulated. This permits you to use a power unit onto a hang glider or paraglider and take off. Flying a hang glider or a paraglider is mainly for experienced pilots so until you master an un-powered flight you can't posibbly handle fastening an engine on.
UHPC has been an active gliding club in Northern Ireland since 1975. Every weekend you can visit us to see how our team works and what is gliding like, how enjoyable and amazing it can be. Hang Gliding can also be a very risky and dangerous sport so is always advisable to be under the direction of a well recognised and prepared coach like UHPC.
We are glad to be part of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA), the controlling body gliding and paragliding in the United Kingdom, which gives a complete structured training programme in different schools for those that wish to learn how to fly. This programme enables its students progressively from a basic level to an advanced and competition level through a graded system of pilot certification. BHPA certificates are recognised worldwide and are a proof of your ability to fly which gives you the rights to fly anywhere you want within the UK or abroad.
The club organises during the year a few flying competitions and social events such and an annual Christmas dinner though it is held in February or March!!
You can also join UHPC if you like but you must be a member of BHPA for the third party insurance cover if you want to fly.
If you really want to know what paragliding is like why don't you visit us on a weekend see by yourself what it is really like. We will love to attend to you and if you have any questions it'll be a pleasure to answer all your questions and solve any doubts you may have.
You will see how spectacular paragliding is and why it becomes so addictive. Come to imagine floating above the cliffs at Magilligan with nothing else around you but yourself, a waterfall below, an amazing view of Donegal and Lough Foyleto, the north coast beaches of Magilligan and maybe right behind you the view from the Slemish Mountain to the Sperrins.
Paragliding is definitely a very dangerous sport without the supervision of a coaching club or a recognised school therefore If you are flying alone and you make a mistake such as choosing the wrong site with an unsafe weather condition, if you are not experienced enough and don't act correctly and quickly you will crash.
Most of our flying is on the weekends. We normally fly to different places or sites each weekend, if it is not rainy, foggy or continuously rainy.
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