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Speed Flying

Speed flying is high-risk air sport using small fast paraglider/speedwing canopies for close-to-terrain descents. Entry is defensible only through paragliding/speed-flying instruction, suitable launch sites, weather and airspace competence.

LevelMain sport FamilyAir Sport CategoryAir sport

AI-generated illustration: Speed Flying — AI-generated illustration

Classification

Category Air sport

Family Air Sport

Level Main sport

Getting started

Kurzbeschreibung Speed flying is high-risk air sport using small fast paraglider/speedwing canopies for close-to-terrain descents.

Geeignet für Fits if you already take flight training seriously, you are not looking for a DIY adventure, you accept weather, airspace and site rules.

Cost No DIY entry: first paragliding/speed-flying school, ground handling, theory and controlled hill training. Speed wing, harness, helmet, reserve by setup, radio, weather/site membership, course, travel and regular training. BHPA/DHV/USHPA-adjacent flight school, speed-flying school, paragliding club or licensed launch site. Treat as air sport.

First progress Longer flight training comes before speed flying; real progression needs many supervised flights.

Fitness level high

Was du brauchst

Speed wing/miniwing, harness, helmet, reserve by setup, radio/weather tools, approved launch/landing site, instruction and weather briefing.

First steps

Do not start with your own wing on a mountain: first paragliding/speed-flying school, ground handling, theory, site rules and supervised school flights.
Look for a BHPA/DHV/USHPA-adjacent flight school, speed-flying course, paragliding club or licensed mountain launch.

Look for a BHPA/DHV/USHPA-adjacent flight school, speed-flying course, paragliding club or licensed mountain launch.

Start only in the appropriate source-described context and follow local rules.

Weitere Angaben

Tags individual, snow, air, speed-flying, air-sport, luftsport

Rules and format

Die Grundlagen

Ziel

Fly a speed wing from launch to landing in a controlled, legal and safe way.

Teilnehmer

individual pilots.

Teamgröße

individual.

Spielfeld

launch, airspace and landing area.

Dauer

Depends on format and event.

Wertung

no standard scoring.

Gewinnbedingung

Best valid time, placing or score in the announced format.

Ausrüstung

speed wing
harness
helmet
reserve
landing area

Wichtige Regelpunkte

airspace breach
site-rule breach
ignored weather limit
unsafe equipment
endangering others

Regelquellen

Federations and sources

Federations

British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA)

Speed Flying British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association · official-training-guide · high
What is speed flying? Cross Country Magazine · experience-guide · medium
SpeedFlying Safety Guidelines Speed-Flying.com · safety-guide · medium