Club Pilot theory syllabus
There are two exams to sit during the BHPA club pilot course. The topics to study are Airlaw, Meteorology and principles of flight.
Club Pilot Airlaw:
- Collision avoidance and rules of the air
- BHPA framework and rating structure
- AIIB and incident reporting
- CAA & air navigation order
- Aircharts
- Airspace categories
- Flight levels
- ATZ & MATZ
- Restricted airspace
- Notams & AIC
- Radio legality
- Ballast
Club Pilot Principles of flight:
- Understand basic terms:
- lift,
- drag
- stall
- angle of attack
- centre of pressure
- aspect ratio
- glide angle
- wing loading
- L/D ratio
- Max glide, minimum sink
- Work examples of airspeed/ windspeed / groundspeed
- Understand the factors affecting the paragliders stability
Club Pilot Meteorology:
- How weather is formed!
- How to obtain a weather forecast and measure the wind on site
- Basic cloud types
- Synoptic charts
- Pressure systems
- Fronts
- Wind, pressure & temperature gradients
- Basics of hill, wave and thermal lift
- Identify deteriorating weather
- Sea breeze effect
- Valley winds
- Convergence
Club Pilot Airmanship:
- Identifying where and why rotor and turbulence is found
- Keep a logbook
- Purpose of the red streamer
- Pre flight checks
- Instability and recovery from the spin, stall and collapses
- Speedbar & big ears used and limitations understood
- Paragliders certification and EN testing
Hill Environment Exam Syllabus
Theory Revision notes:
- Anti collision rules
- Overcrowding
- Ridge etiquette
- Thermal etiquette
- Wind gradient
- Venturi Effect
- Rotor and turbulence
- Take off positioning and terrain understanding
- Slope & top landing
- Landing approaches – varying wind speeds and environments
- Sea breeze
- Valley winds
- Convergence
- Windspeed/groundspeed/airspeed understanding