Richard began paragliding in 2002 and after qualifying joined the Cayley & Dales clubs. While flying at Bridlington as a novice pilot, he met Hamish Tsai and Richard Carter who took him under their wing and helped him progress rapidly in his first few years of paragliding.

With Hamish, Richard and Tim Rood, Richard travelled all over Scotland, England and Wales, flying most weekends and learning how to fly cross country. He became a coach in 2003/4, learning a great deal from Ed Cleasby, Chief Coach of the DHPC.

In Switzerland, he further honed his thermalling and cross country skills under the guidance of CFI Mark Shaw. Richard went on to earn his Pilot rating, logging over 700 hours to date. He is currently on the committee of the Sir George Cayley Sailwing Club and looks after the competitions and all matters of technology.

Richard is most likely to be found flying at Millington, Bridlington and the sites along the Filey bay coastline. His favourite site is Bradwell in Derbyshire. He is generally available to fly at weekends.

Richard made his decision to start paragliding whilst on a driving holiday through Switzerland.

To join the multicoloured wings high above the mountains seemed appealing and exciting.

In 2017 Richard decided to qualify as a Club Pilot by completing a 10-day course in the same place he originally saw the paragliders; Switzerland.

Back in the UK, he was approached by a club coach, Dominic Curran, where the additional coaching provided was invaluable, especially during the first 10 hours of flying. Richard enjoys both coastal and hill soaring as well as the occasional XC flight. Other flying opportunities has allowed Richard to visit the French Alps and Morocco, both equally interesting in their own way.

In 2019 he increased his paragliding rating to that of Pilot and more recently qualified as Coach for the Cayley Club.

Richard is currently the club’s Chairman where, together with the rest of the committee, help with smooth running of the club’s meetings and activities throughout the year.

Graham began paragliding in 2017, qualifying with Active Edge in the Dales, but got off to a slow start for the first two years due to work commitments.

After joining the Dales club in 2018, he started to increase his time in the air, whilst working towards his Pilot rating and completed his first SIV course in Annecy in September 2019.

Graham joined the Sir George Cayley Paragliding Club in 2020, increasing his flying time three-fold and gained his Pilot rating. When not ground handling at the Knavesmire, he is most likely to be seen flying in the Dales, North York Moors, Lake District and the east coast.

His favourite site is Annecy/Doussard in France.

Geoff learnt to fly over 30 years ago; starting with Hang gliding in 1986, paramotoring in the late 2000s and then Paragliding in 2013.

He understands first-hand the importance having someone to help you get past the difficult first 20-30 flying hours;

He owes a large debt of gratitude to CFI Steve Hudson and fellow pilot Ron Chipman for helping him in the early days and throughout his flying career.

Geoff is very keen to give back to the sport he loves and is always ready to help new pilots. He believes that if just one piece of advice makes a pilot (and the sky we all share) safer, then it is worth the time and effort to be a Coach.

Geoff is Pilot rated and to date, he has flown over 1,000 hours; many of those in just the past five years thanks to his flying buddies, Ron Chipman, Steve Hook, Dave Macdonald, Robin Scott and Steve Pickering. Geoff is a Paragliding and Hang gliding Coach for the Cayley Club and Paragliding coach for the Derbyshire Soaring Club.

Harry took up Paragliding in 1992 and fell in love with the sport from the moment his feet left the ground.

As a newly qualified Club Pilot, he initially found it difficult to get out flying. However, this all changed when he joined the Cayley club.

He met up with former Club Coaches Steve Pickering and Simon Farrier. Steve also inspired him to try to hang gliding, which he took up from 1994 until 1999.

Harry has flown hundreds of hours both home and abroad and is most likely to be found at the Model Ridge, Carlton Bank, the Hole of Horcum, the Lake District and in Annecy, France.

Harry has been a coach since 2000 and is very keen to help any new paraglider pilot. He is semi-retired and therefore available to help any day of the week except Saturdayar.

Nicky learnt to paraglide in 2018 with Dean Crosby of Active Edge. He immediately joined the North Yorks Sailwing Club where he met some very friendly and helpful pilots, Andy Smith, Ian Hutchinson & Mark Leach.

Shortly afterwards he joined the Cayley club and became a member of a very active coaching group.

Later, on an invited coaching trip to Annecy, to complete his Pilot tasks. It was also a chance to improve his ground handling and learn how to fly safely in the mountains. He enjoyed Annecy so much that he stayed in the area for a further three months.

Within his first year, Nicky flew over 100 hours, earned his BHPA Pilot rating and became a Club Coach for the Cayley Club.

He also flew in Morocco, the Pyrenees and Alicante. Nicky is passionate about Paragliding and plans to return to Annecy this year to complete his Advanced Pilot tasks. He also wants to spend some time flying in Austria and Turkey.

Alex learnt to fly paragliders in 2004 with the Air Cadets in South East Wales.

He was passionate about aeroplanes and flying and was immediately hooked on Paragliding. Over the years Alex logged over a thousand hours, competed in the British Championships 8 times, completed SIV training and earned his Advanced Pilot rating.

He is one of the founders of the British Acro Paragliding Academy, a group of pilots who are passionate about guiding and coaching pilots who are starting out in acrobatic paragliding. He is most likely to be found flying in the Dales, but also loves the East coast, the Lake District, the Peak District and Derbyshire.

His favourite coastal flying site is Bridlington; his favourite UK cross country site is Dodd’s Fell; and his favourite European sites are Organya (Spain) and Oludeniz (Turkey).

Alex is a Senior Coach in paragliding but also enjoys paramotoring. He is available to help most weekends; and in the summer months he can also be available during the week.

Jason learnt to paraglide in 2019 in Spain.

He joined the Dales, Lakes, North Yorkshire and Cayley clubs and was lucky to meet many coaches; but it was the Cayley club with Dominic, Richard and others who helped him get flying and progressing quickly.

Within 18 months he had flown at sites all over the north of England, earned his Pilot rating and become a paragliding Coach.

In 2020 he was elected as Social Secretary for the Cayley club and is likely to be the first person that new pilots speak to when they join the club. His favourite flying sites are anywhere in the Lakes but he can be found on any site with a favourable forecast.

Richard began paragliding in 2000 with Northern Paragliding.

After qualifying, he joined the Cayley club and met up with Andy Berzins who made a huge effort to get him out flying, especially at coastal sites like Reighton & Bridlington

Shortly afterwards he met Harry Postil, Tony Dew & Trevor Lowe, who introduced him to inland sites like the Model Ridge and the Yorkshire Dales.

With his new friends, Richard was able to fly sites all over the UK and Europe and makes a point of getting away at least three or four times a year, most often to the Alps, the Pyrenees, Dolomites, Portugal, Greece, Turkey or Spain.

Richard believes that the social aspect is really important and is keen to help and encourage any new pilots who want to fly as much as he does. He recognises that paragliding has helped him develop life-long friendships and taken him to so many places that he would never have thought possible. As a result, he is keen to give back to the sport that made this all possible.

Richard has flown over 1,000 hours, is Pilot rated and completed his siv training. His favourite places to fly are the Lake District in the UK and the Dolomites in Europe.