Place: Sopot, Bulgaria. Well, that's where the beginner and intermediate courses are held. The XC guidance starts there and we could be flying anywhere in Bulgaria after that.
Information for XC:
Hugh and I are going on the XC guidance tour. We have room for two or three more pilots. We are relatively new at XC and are trying to get into the XC game. I went last year and had a great time and am going back for more. We start on the local mountain (launch is about 3000 AGL), which has a chairlift going up to the top.
And then depending on weather and inclination of pilots we might be flying in the mountains to the south or near the black sea. I hope to fly near the black sea this year. Last year the weather didn't cooperate. One of the mountains we flew from was at 7500 MSL with LZ around 1500. Some of the pilots in our group went up to 10,000 MSL. It was very challenging flying (possible bailouts on top of fingers) and was done on the last day. Information on beginners course:
We have Dan T. and Carlos coming to check out the beginner course. Skynomad was so kind to offer them beginner instructions out of rotation, so we can all hang together. I think the group can probably accomodate 2 or 3 more beginning pilots. From what I saw when I was there last year, they have a good sized training hill facing almost all directions and we saw a beginner group at the home mountain site (launch is at 3000 feet over landing zone) on their 3rd day (in the morning before it got thermally). The instructors seemed friendly, very competent and fluent in English (as well as a smattering of other languages). You will not get a USHPA rating after this course and would probably have to finish up with Juan (if he's still around then) or some other instructor to get your P2, but you will be well on your way and if this year's weather is anything like last year's, you should get quite a bit of training in a very short period of time.
Information on intermediate course:
We do not at this time have anybody I am aware of who's doing this course. But I see that skynomad is offering the course during our stay there. It might be a lot fun to take this course for those of you not interested in doing XC flying. They start the course easy practising 360s and S turns and approaches to the landing zone and seem to gear the course towards the skill level of the participants. We saw an intermediate group on their last day and boy... some of them were definitely approaching advanced flying status, getting practise in spirals and restricted field landing skills. Again, you won't be getting your P3 or P4 there, but you are well on your way if not there, once you are done with the course. Skynomad is very flexible (from what I've seen) and will work with everybody at their own skill and comfort level. They typically train using radios.
Non-flying info:
If you want to take a friend/spouse along, who's not interested in flying, there are a number of things to do for him/her. There's of course the tandem flying
But Bulgaria is a country rich in history and things to do and see. There are the world famous monasteries, there are some historically very interesting cities, there are the Thracian excavations close by, there is horse back riding, black sea beach, hiking, mountain biking, caving. I don't really know much about those things, since we flew every day of our 9 day stay. But SkyNomad has offered to provide tour guide and car and driver if there are 4 or more people interested in this kind of thing. So, you could send your spouse/friend touristing, while you have fun in the air. Accomodations:
we let SkyNomad take care of our accomodations. They were double occupancy and typically in private homes. They were clean, but basic, i.e. not necessarily a TV, desk or telephone. Definitely no internet. But why do you want to spend much time in your room? The bathrooms were usually shared between two rooms and were clean and modern, but very basic, i.e. typically no hair dryer or bath tub, just a shower (and toilet and sink of course). Breakfast was included, but at a restaurant down the street. For the XC folks: we occasionally staid at a hotel.
Website for more info and prices:
http://skynomad.com/paragliding_training.htm - these are the folks who are doing the training.
Pictures from my trip last year (I didn't take too many. Too busy flying):
paragliding: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/560988982ASzUYU
general Bulgaria pix: http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/560977178FuQVIu
Bulgaria: http://www.bulgariatravel.org/eng/view_ ... =geog&id=3
You're welcome to ask me for more info. email (e46kim at hotmail.com)
edited September 4: I'll be out of town starting Saturday, so if you have any questions, contact Hugh McElrath for more info
-- ellis
Disclaimer: I am not a tour guide and make no guarantees for anything, flying, weather, accomodations or what nots. Just had a great time last year (thanks, Mike!) and am looking forward to flying there this year.
