Red Ribbon Club

The Red Ribbon Club for paraglider pilots

If you are reading this, the chances are you have just qualified as a Club Pilot…… Congratulations! Or maybe you qualified some time ago, but still have very low airtime, or haven’t flown in a long while. Well, now would be a good time to sign up with The Red Ribbon Club. This informal group is part of the SHGC – a club within a club – and it aims to help new or ‘non-current’ pilots to gain confidence, regardless of where and when they trained . It’s free – but you must have BHPA and SHGC membership to register.

If recently qualified as a CP, you have been given the basic skills and knowledge. But it’s only now that you can start to learn how to fly by gaining relevant airtime and experience. It can suddenly feel a bit daunting, as you realize you are now allowed to fly at club sites around the UK, without the support of an instructor necessarily watching over you! Or you may have qualified some time ago but just haven’t flown for whatever reason, for quite some time, and you would like to get ‘current’ once again.

But don’t fly alone! Club coaches will always be looking out for you, as well as fellow Red Ribbon Club members. Fly where advice and encouragement is always close at hand, until you have the experience to be making confident decisions about where and when to fly for yourself.

You may also decide to take your club pilot qualification to another level – and we’re there to help you with that, too. The RRC also arranges special training days, as well as occasional flying trips to other sites around the UK, to extend your flying experience further.

By signing on with The Red Ribbon Club you will be sharing your contact details with other newly qualified and low airtime pilots, allowing you to find out who else is nearby and up for flying with you, or is just keen to practice some ground handling. You’ll receive a regularly updated Contact List of club members in order to keep in touch with each other and arrange your own flying sessions in pairs or small groups. We also encourage RRC pilots to meet at Airworks next to Glynde Station at 9.15am Saturday and Sunday mornings if it’s flyable. (Ring Airworks the night before to check if the weather’s OK.) You can then follow and fly alongside the school, or as a group, choose a different site to fly together. Your name can be removed from the RRC Contact List whenever you no longer need the club’s support.

It’s informal, it’s sociable, it’s confidence-building……… and it’s FREE! To join, download the attached registration form, and send it off to the address within.