Why choose Penguin Paragliding?
Choosing the right paragliding school for you is an important choice. That choice will have long lasting ramifications for your paragliding career. The right school for you may not be the right school for another student. Every school is unique, and we encourage you to do a free observation day at any school you are thinking about or take it one more step further with an introductory day before you commit to a school. If you want a real insight to a school, talk to the graduates and students.
Here is what to expect if you choose to become a Penguin student:
Learn from a professional teacher:
Owner and lead instructor Rob Black has been a teacher his entire adult life. Rob spent 21 years teaching AP Calculus and Physics before becoming a full-time paragliding instructor. Rob has been a skydiving instructor for 10+ years and paragliding instructor for 8 years. Along the way he has accumulated many teaching awards: most notably the 2020 USHPA Instructor of the Year.
Expect a total learning experience:
As a Penguin student, you will have a custom logbook to guide you in your learning journey, so you always have goals and achieved objectives. Every time you come to a session in the field there will be a lesson plan. The lesson plan will always be some combination of flying skills, ground handling skills, and ground school (theory). There will be a briefing at the beginning of each session, so you know what to expect and a debrief at the end to review what was learned.
Personal attention:
The student to teacher ratio is always 5 to 1 or better, very often 1 to 1. Furthermore, we nearly always have at least two instructors in the field, and this is very important. With two instructors in the field, you can have one instructor with you on launch and a second instructor ready to help you in the landing zone while always being on radio during flight. During training, launching and landing skills are extremely important and you will have an instructor physically with you for both.
Newest techniques and best equipment:
Our school is always learning, growing, and improving. You will learn the newest and safest techniques as the sport constantly grows and improves. Our instructors are all still students of the sport: we have a life- long learning mindset which means our students will always be taught the most current best practices. During training, expect to use the most modern and safest gear. Our school equipment is new, meticulously maintained, and always available to our students.
Double the initial training:
Your first goal is to earn the right to fly independently with a USHPA P2 rating. Most schools follow the 7 day training program that is an USHPA minimum. We require all of our student to spend a minimum of 15 days with us in the field. Essentially, we are giving our students double the training sessions for the same price as most other schools. If it takes you longer than 15 sessions to become an independent pilot, no problem. We are willing to do what it takes to get you flying safely by yourself with one fixed price. The majority of our graduates have met most of the P3 requirements when they earn their P2.
Scheduling availability: We train nearly 7 days a week in the Vallejo area. We use a scheduling app that makes signing up for a session super easy. Sessions never fill up as we are willing to host multiple sessions in a day to keep a low instructor to student ratio. We also host a long- term calendar on our website so that you can see what is planned months ahead. We train 12 months of the year and fortunate to have Bay Area weather that is amazing for learning to paraglide.
Varied locations and experiences: Expect to train in a large variety of conditions at many different training sites. Over a 13 year period we have developed the many training sites that you will get to take advantage of. It is very important to use many different kiting fields, different launches, and different landing zones so that you acquire the skills to have a meaningful P2. When you graduate you will have the skills and confidence to take your paraglider to new places.
Ground-handling: As a school, we can not emphasize ground handling enough. We will spend many sessions ground handling until you have total control of your wing in all conditions and configurations. Ground handling practice makes all aspects of flying safer. Expect to keep practicing ground handling for your entire paragliding career. As a Penguin, you will love ground handling!
Innovative Website and Resources: As a student of Penguin Paragliding, you will have exclusive access to the student section of our website. In there you will find site guides for flying and kiting locations, recorded zoom sessions on a vast array of topics, our online training calendar, and be able to access the entire USHPA training system from P1 to P4. Additionally, you can take any required written tests from USHPA directly on our website.
We Welcome Everybody: Penguin Paragliding is proud to operate in one of the most diverse cities in the country, Vallejo. Paragliding is for everybody! If you can run a few steps, you can fly! We have taught students as young as 14 and as experienced as 75. Although paragliding is a male dominated sport, roughly 40 percent of our students are women. Come out to the training hill and meet a wide variety of students from all walks of life.
Trips and Parties: As a student or graduate of Penguin Paragliding, you will have access to unique flying trip opportunities. In California, you can expect to have opportunities to fly at Mussel Rock, Sand City, Santa Barbara, Potato Hill, and many more! These are free trips that are organized by the school so that we can all experience new places and fly together. Additionally, we offer guided tours all of the world including places such as Bali, France, Switzerland, and Colombia. We also have several parties throughout the year so that you can reconnect with friends and catch up with other Penguins. Traditionally we have a Summer Solstice Party, 4th of July Party, and a Christmas Party as well as many informal local gatherings throughout the year.
A Community of Pilots: It is extremely important that once you graduate with a fresh P2 that you have competent pilots to fly with. Penguin Paragliding has a community of hundreds of pilots and graduates that you can continue to grow with. If the day is flyable, you can almost be guaranteed that a Penguin graduate is flying some-where and we are linked together on a common app. If you choose to travel far with your gear, there is a strong chance that the school will have connections wherever you go so that you can link up with a local pilot. Students that train with us tend to keep flying, we have one of the highest retention rates in the industry.
Flexible Payment Plans: Paragliding is the most inexpensive form of aviation. That being said, it still has its costs. We offer flexible payment plans and the ability to pay as you go. We do not want money to be the factor that keeps anybody out of this amazing sport.
Penguin Pricing on Gear: Buying and owning your own equipment should be a fun experience. We are here to guide you to make the right choices to buy the gear that is right and safe for you. There is a dizzying array of equipment available, and your instructor is there to make sure you end up with what is right for you. As a Penguin student and graduate, you will have life-long access to deep discounts on equipment. Our main brands are AirDesign, SupAir, and BGD but we can generally get any brands. We fly and love the same equipment that we sell and will get you the best prices possible.
Life-long mentoring: After you earn your P2, we will be there for your while you continue to grow in the sport. If you trained with us, we will work with you towards your more advanced ratings for free. We want you to stay in the community, grow as a pilot, and keep flying with us. The greatest joy that we have in this sport is to be in the air flying side by side with our graduates!
Here is what to expect if you choose to become a Penguin student:
Learn from a professional teacher:
Owner and lead instructor Rob Black has been a teacher his entire adult life. Rob spent 21 years teaching AP Calculus and Physics before becoming a full-time paragliding instructor. Rob has been a skydiving instructor for 10+ years and paragliding instructor for 8 years. Along the way he has accumulated many teaching awards: most notably the 2020 USHPA Instructor of the Year.
Expect a total learning experience:
As a Penguin student, you will have a custom logbook to guide you in your learning journey, so you always have goals and achieved objectives. Every time you come to a session in the field there will be a lesson plan. The lesson plan will always be some combination of flying skills, ground handling skills, and ground school (theory). There will be a briefing at the beginning of each session, so you know what to expect and a debrief at the end to review what was learned.
Personal attention:
The student to teacher ratio is always 5 to 1 or better, very often 1 to 1. Furthermore, we nearly always have at least two instructors in the field, and this is very important. With two instructors in the field, you can have one instructor with you on launch and a second instructor ready to help you in the landing zone while always being on radio during flight. During training, launching and landing skills are extremely important and you will have an instructor physically with you for both.
Newest techniques and best equipment:
Our school is always learning, growing, and improving. You will learn the newest and safest techniques as the sport constantly grows and improves. Our instructors are all still students of the sport: we have a life- long learning mindset which means our students will always be taught the most current best practices. During training, expect to use the most modern and safest gear. Our school equipment is new, meticulously maintained, and always available to our students.
Double the initial training:
Your first goal is to earn the right to fly independently with a USHPA P2 rating. Most schools follow the 7 day training program that is an USHPA minimum. We require all of our student to spend a minimum of 15 days with us in the field. Essentially, we are giving our students double the training sessions for the same price as most other schools. If it takes you longer than 15 sessions to become an independent pilot, no problem. We are willing to do what it takes to get you flying safely by yourself with one fixed price. The majority of our graduates have met most of the P3 requirements when they earn their P2.
Scheduling availability: We train nearly 7 days a week in the Vallejo area. We use a scheduling app that makes signing up for a session super easy. Sessions never fill up as we are willing to host multiple sessions in a day to keep a low instructor to student ratio. We also host a long- term calendar on our website so that you can see what is planned months ahead. We train 12 months of the year and fortunate to have Bay Area weather that is amazing for learning to paraglide.
Varied locations and experiences: Expect to train in a large variety of conditions at many different training sites. Over a 13 year period we have developed the many training sites that you will get to take advantage of. It is very important to use many different kiting fields, different launches, and different landing zones so that you acquire the skills to have a meaningful P2. When you graduate you will have the skills and confidence to take your paraglider to new places.
Ground-handling: As a school, we can not emphasize ground handling enough. We will spend many sessions ground handling until you have total control of your wing in all conditions and configurations. Ground handling practice makes all aspects of flying safer. Expect to keep practicing ground handling for your entire paragliding career. As a Penguin, you will love ground handling!
Innovative Website and Resources: As a student of Penguin Paragliding, you will have exclusive access to the student section of our website. In there you will find site guides for flying and kiting locations, recorded zoom sessions on a vast array of topics, our online training calendar, and be able to access the entire USHPA training system from P1 to P4. Additionally, you can take any required written tests from USHPA directly on our website.
We Welcome Everybody: Penguin Paragliding is proud to operate in one of the most diverse cities in the country, Vallejo. Paragliding is for everybody! If you can run a few steps, you can fly! We have taught students as young as 14 and as experienced as 75. Although paragliding is a male dominated sport, roughly 40 percent of our students are women. Come out to the training hill and meet a wide variety of students from all walks of life.
Trips and Parties: As a student or graduate of Penguin Paragliding, you will have access to unique flying trip opportunities. In California, you can expect to have opportunities to fly at Mussel Rock, Sand City, Santa Barbara, Potato Hill, and many more! These are free trips that are organized by the school so that we can all experience new places and fly together. Additionally, we offer guided tours all of the world including places such as Bali, France, Switzerland, and Colombia. We also have several parties throughout the year so that you can reconnect with friends and catch up with other Penguins. Traditionally we have a Summer Solstice Party, 4th of July Party, and a Christmas Party as well as many informal local gatherings throughout the year.
A Community of Pilots: It is extremely important that once you graduate with a fresh P2 that you have competent pilots to fly with. Penguin Paragliding has a community of hundreds of pilots and graduates that you can continue to grow with. If the day is flyable, you can almost be guaranteed that a Penguin graduate is flying some-where and we are linked together on a common app. If you choose to travel far with your gear, there is a strong chance that the school will have connections wherever you go so that you can link up with a local pilot. Students that train with us tend to keep flying, we have one of the highest retention rates in the industry.
Flexible Payment Plans: Paragliding is the most inexpensive form of aviation. That being said, it still has its costs. We offer flexible payment plans and the ability to pay as you go. We do not want money to be the factor that keeps anybody out of this amazing sport.
Penguin Pricing on Gear: Buying and owning your own equipment should be a fun experience. We are here to guide you to make the right choices to buy the gear that is right and safe for you. There is a dizzying array of equipment available, and your instructor is there to make sure you end up with what is right for you. As a Penguin student and graduate, you will have life-long access to deep discounts on equipment. Our main brands are AirDesign, SupAir, and BGD but we can generally get any brands. We fly and love the same equipment that we sell and will get you the best prices possible.
Life-long mentoring: After you earn your P2, we will be there for your while you continue to grow in the sport. If you trained with us, we will work with you towards your more advanced ratings for free. We want you to stay in the community, grow as a pilot, and keep flying with us. The greatest joy that we have in this sport is to be in the air flying side by side with our graduates!