It is very important to choose a good paragliding school. In Peru there are very few companies that are actively engaged in paragliding education. Yes there are many companies that offer two-seater rides both in free flight and with motor, there are approximately 40 companies in this area. However, schools themselves, which form paragliding pilots, there are only 3. Of which 2 are in Lima and 1 in Cusco.
It is worth mentioning that there are also several paragliding instructors who teach flying independently. Although they have all the legal power to teach, we do not recommend taking their services. This is because an instructor who does not have the infrastructure of a school, usually does not have adequate equipment, transportation, or teaching methodology and often does not have the time to devote to his student.
National and international paragliding school accreditations
It is very important that the instructor or school has accreditation by the APVL. The APVL is the Peruvian Association of Free Flight, and is the only one that certifies pilots, instructor and schools nationwide. Unfortunately, in our country there are many two-seater pilots and “pirate” instructors who provide paragliding services without the slightest preparation and without being certified.
APPI also exists internationally. The APPI is an international organization that certifies pilots, two-seater pilots, instructor and schools. The advantage of the licenses granted by APPI is that it has international validity. In addition, APPI requires its instructors to have the highest standards of safety and quality of service. If an APPI instructor violates these standards, he simply loses his license. Therefore, an APPI instructor or school guarantees to receive quality and safe instruction.
It is worth mentioning that the standards of the Peruvian Association APVL are not so demanding and once an instructor receives his license, he is practically not followed up. This is changing over time, but currently the rigor of the international APPI system is not compared.
Check comments on social networks and Tripadvisor
As a paragliding school has many foreign clients, you must have reviews on the well-known website “Tripadvisor“. You can also see comments from their customers on their Facebook page or in “Google My business” of the company. Usually, these evaluations and comments are real and reliable. In addition, the more comments there are, the more credibility the school will have. If you have contacted a school that does not have any social network in which its clients can express their comments; or if you have many bad evaluations, it is better to look for another paragliding school.
Instructor Experience
The experience of the instructor is very important for a successful and safe course. Paragliding teaching is more art than science. Only an expert instructor can really teach someone to fly. The experience is not only based on the instructor’s flight hours, nor the years he has in the sport. The most important thing to evaluate the experience of the instructor is how many years of teaching he has, how often he teaches and how many students finish their course each year. There are many instructors who say they have 20 years teaching, but hardly have 1 student a year. In INFINITY we have 22 years of experience, we teach courses every day of the year and have hundreds of students a year.
