A Little About Me
I'm the owner and Chief Flying Instructor
of one of the most successful and longest established (since
1989) paragliding schools in the UK - ParAvion.
We are based just outside Marlborough in Wiltshire. For my
sins, I also serve as Head of the BHPA
Flying & Safety Committee (FSC) Instructor & Coach
Training Panel.
In a previous life, I was an electronics
engineer. This paid well, but was nowhere near as much fun
as teaching people to fly for a living. Now I earn less in
a year than I used to in a month, but I enjoy what I do so
much more.
I started flying Hang Gliders back in early
'85 then moved on to flying Sailplanes (fixed wing gliders)
in '88. I started flying Paragliders in '93. I also have a
PPL and fly microlights and light aircraft.
I've been teaching paragliding full-time
since '95; both hill and tow launch. I've taught mainly in
the UK, but have also taught in several other countries including
Austria, France, Greece, Kenya, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain
and Turkey.
Apart from flying, my other passion has
always been martial arts. I've at some stage in the past practiced;
Judo, Aikido, Ju Jitsu, Kendo and Kung Fu - I even tried Boxing
once. Before I started teaching paragliding I taught Wado-Ryu
Karate for ten years and ran two of my own schools. Unfortunately,
I had to give that up due to some major surgery that left
me with a knackered back and only one fully functional lung.
Since '97 I've been taking my newly qualified
students to other flying sites around the UK and overseas
on a regular basis (currently we do around 10 foreign trips
a year). This is how the idea of Skygypsy was born.
Where did the name Skygypsy come from? My
friend Kevin used to call me a Skygypsy when I was a Trainee
Instructor many years ago. At that time, I lived in a camper
van and travelled to wherever the flying was.
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