SEASONS: We hang glide tandem and solo all year long and have amazing flights every month of the year. Winter (Southern Hemisphere) has good flying but does not get as many days of the week as other times of the year.

TIME OF DAY: Sunrise to sunset in the summer is often good for hang gliding in the summer. Ten AM to three PM is often a good time to fly in the heart of winter. The wind direction is most affected by the big-scale scenario, ie., the weather systems that move across Australia.

Hang gliding is definitely weather dependent, but magic when we score. The forecasts these days are very accurate 5 days in advance, helping you plan for your scheduled upcoming tandem flight. Our gift vouchers are valid for two years.

It's no problem to take your hands off of the controls. -As long as you're away from any nearby objects! The hang glider will recover on it's own, every time! Training is just needed to launch and land the hang glider. -That's what the tandem pilot is for! By the way, the hang gliders cannot get into an unrecoverable dive or spiral. They are self-righting. Of course, proper care needs to be taken by each pilot to ensure they fly responsibly, within their own window of capability.

We offer tandem hang gliding flights at Bald Hill, Stanwell Tops, at the southern tip of the Royal National Park. This lookout is a popular destination on the northern end of the Grand Pacific Drive. We also offer tandem flights and instruction from Hill 60 at Port Kembla. These flights provide spectacular views of the "Five Islands" and Port Kembla Beach to the south. Pelicans often share the coastal air with us while flying at Hill 60.

The most common analogy is “it’s like my dreams”.

No, not one so far! -over 6000 tandem flights We always give the option to the passenger to tell us if they’d like to go down and land, just after take-off. -No requests so far...

Well, it’s NOT a falling or hanging sensation…it’s a flying sensation! -The scariest part of the flight is thinking about it.

Nothing! -a controlled, smooth, gliding decent to the beach. Hang gliders (and all aircraft) create their own "airspeed" from gravity, and gravity never stops.

No! It takes a light touch, not lots of muscle. Hang gliding tandem with a good onshore breeze is not physically demanding whatsoever. We’ve shared the experience with many seniors, children, and folks with physical challenges. EVERYONE deserves to fly!

Easily....using a light input from your upper body to shift your weight that is suspended in the harness Turns: Pull/push your body in the direction that you wish to turn. Airspeed: Pull in (nose down) to speed up. Push out (nose up) to slow down.

We often hang glide side-by-side with Sea Eagles and Pelicans. Also, we spot a wide range of marine life like sting rays, dolphin, whales, sharks, schools of fish…. Sometimes we see clouds forming and if we're extremely lucky we might spot a "glory", which is a small circular rainbow around our shadow that's casted on a cloud below. -Amazing!

No, it’s about the amount of wind you hear in your ears when riding a bicycle. It’s easy to have a chat with each other when flying tandem.

Two ways... Ridge/mechanical lift: the wind reflecting off of an object and moving upward Thermal lift: a column of rising air, caused from the ground heating

Top end: 50-90 mph (80-140kph) , depending on the pilot and glider.

At Stanwell Tops, we need somewhere between a South to an East wind, from about 10 knots and ABOVE For Hill 60, Port Kembla, we need a somewhere between a North and an East wind. Note, we can fly safely with no wind at all, but may not stay up for an extended time. By flying both of the major flying sites, we're able to maximize the flying opportunity.

Light rain is ok. But flying near building “storm-cells” is NOT cool.

If you wake up and it's raining, don't call the whole thing off YET! We often get beautiful days/flights from mornings that started out dreary. The most important factor of the weather is the WIND forecast. The rain, clouds, and sun may come and go many times throughout a day, providing epic opportunities. IF, the day does get called off because of the wind forecast (direction mostly)....no problem. -Just pick another date you’d like to book, or we’d be happy to help you pick a day in the next few days that looks suitable. NOTE: We often fly! By using BOTH of the major hang gliding sites of the area, Stanwell Tops AND Hill 60, we provide the opportunity to fly with a wide range of wind conditions.

Students usually finish courses and are competent, licensed, beginner pilots at around 10 training days,

Personalized instruction, ten tandem flights, 3 days on the training hills, & 10+ hours of theory. Use of the latest equipment. Supervised soaring flights. A novice rating accredited by the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia A solid foundation of core flying skills to build upon Site introduction and familiarization to sites such as Bald Hill, Stanwell Tops and Hill 60 at Port Kembla.

Hours of AIRTIME, use the latest equipment/techniques, personal instruction. Warren Windsports offers HOURS of hands-on airtime. This opportunity exists through ten instructional tandem flights. Tandem instruction is: our specialty, and is an integral component of our training program and essential for the developing pilot. Students more readily absorb and understand flight aspects with an instructor by their side giving crucial feedback at the correct moments.

No. In fact, most local students prefer to complete a 10 day course, sporadically, over a couple of months. Having this extra time will give you a good chance to learn, absorb, and understand some important concepts (i.e. the weather).

$2500 -payable in two instalments of $1250, with the option to not finish the course if you’ve decided it’s not for you.

Yes, you’ll receive a license from the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia.

Hang Gliding Membership $103.75 Hang Gliding Instructional Book $75

$2000 for a great second hand glider (have your instructor help you inspect them) $4000 for a brand-new glider with custom colors

All sorts of people fly hang gliders! -I.T. techs, teachers, lawyers, students, surfers, 747 airline captains, landscape artists, doctors….. The common denominator between them all is that they all “WANT TO FLY”.

No, any car can do the job. Hang gliders are not heavy and just need to be supported along the length of the glider. You’ll only need surf racks and a front-bumper support rack.

-Learned to fly in 1994, while water-skiing in the San Diego, Sea World ski-show. There was a hang glider in the show that was towed up (and released) behind the boat...

Every time I drive/ride in the car through Sydney

I’ve hang glided around the many places around the globe and chose Stanwell Tops as my nest. Stanwell Tops one of the best places for tandem hang gliding. It has an easy take-off and landing area, AND the coastal mountain ranges produce SMOOTH lift for introductory tandem hang gliding flights. The Royal National Park and the Northern Illawarra coast-line attracts pilots from around the world. My favorite “big-air” hang gliding competitions have been in Brazil, having traveled there five-times over this decade. Really, there are wonderful flying sites and free-flight pilots, scattered across the world.

It’s like a 3-dimensional Sailing race. The pilots race a course in the sky, which may be a triangular course or an “out and back”, or maybe a straight “race to goal”. Pilots are scored on how fast they fly the course, or how far they went if they did not finish the course. Global Positioning Systems (GPS’s) are used to navigate and as track logs of each pilot. GPS’s also give each pilot a synchronized time.

Thousands of feet high! -If in a "thermal" (warm rising air), you can go as high as the clouds! And when soaring the "ridge lift" on a mountain, it will depend on the shape/size of the mountain and the direction/strength of the wind. Our tandem hang gliding flights at Stanwell Tops often take us to altitudes hundreds of feet higher than the launch site of Bald Hill. At Hill 60, of Port Kembla, we often double the altitude of the lookout/launch site.

The world record is currently 701 kilometers My (Curt's) personal best is 416 kilometers which took place in Texas, USA.

The world record is about 36 hours…. Solo-pilots at Stanwell quite often stay up for a few hours, flying up and down the coast. –Wollongong and back.

20-30 kilograms. Beginner gliders are lighter than high performance wings

Minimal maintenance is needed. The sail is a high performance material called Dacron. The wires are stainless steel. And the tubing is aluminium. A very active pilot will keep a glider for ten years, no problem. A casual pilot will have a glider for 20 years.