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Welcome to the USUA Club 1 Powered Paraglider Group!

We are the powered paraglider subset of USUA Club 1. The main purpose of this website is to provide a resource and community for local powered paraglider pilots and for those interested in learning about PPG in the DC metro area. We are all USUA Club 1 members and our home base is Warrenton Airpark (you can find more information on WAP by following the Flying Sites link above). If you live in the Washington, DC area and are considering getting into powered paragliding, don’t hesitate to send one of us an email. We all love flying and are almost always more than willing to share any information we can. We are all brought together by this wonderful hobby, and can’t seem to talk enough about it! Hope to see you in the skies soon!

History

In 2003, powered paragliding instructor Jerry Starbuck formed Blue Ridge Paragliding. It was a PPG club as well as a training school. Jerry can be credited with bringing the majority of us together through his Blue Ridge Paragliding website and training program. Jerry started a relationship with the folks of USUA Club 1 and received permission for us PPG pilots to fly from their field, Warrenton Airpark. All members of Blue Ridge Paragliding had to join USUA Club 1 first, then join the paragliding group. In September 2006, Jerry decided to leave the area and discontinue Blue Ridge Paragliding so he could have the option of restarting it in his new location. The rest of us in the club still wanted a way to stay in touch with each other, and also offer a resource for newcomers to this sport in our area. So, to fill that void left by BRP closing, we decided to give ourselves a presence as a "sub-group" of the club we already belonged to.

Why a sub-group of Club 1?

If you’re thinking "Why do they even have to distinguish themselves from the rest of Club 1?" I will explain that here: typically the term ultralight implies a lightweight fixed-wing aircraft*. Although this is not really what an ultralight is, that is the most typical understanding of the term. Many of the club members fly just that, light fixed-wing aircraft. Powered paragliders on the other hand, are light soft-winged aircraft that have significantly different flying characteristics: most notably our cruising speed. Most fixed-wings will cruise between 50 and 100 mph. Our powered paragliders cruise at about 25 mph. For this reason alone we have to set ourselves apart because we simply cannot participate in some fixed-wing events like organized cross-country** flights over 30 miles away. For us, a long cross-country flight is about 20 miles away. For the fixed-wingers, it’s a 15 minute flight! Therefore, it is important for us to organize and assemble in different ways, which is precisely why this portion of the website was created. The Club 1 members (and especially Tom Richards, the owner of Warrenton Airpark) have been incredibly gracious to us PPG guys and we look forward to being a part of the club for a long time!

Can I join the USUA Club 1 PPG Group?

Yes you can! See the FAQ’s for info on how to join.

* The term ultralight is actually defined by the FAA. You can refer to the USUA website FAQ for an exact definition.

** A cross-country flight is any flight in which you land at a different field/airport from which you departed. The distance between the two is unimportant -- you simply must land somewhere other than where you launched.