Paragliding vs Paramotor: Some Differences Worth Considering

Paramotor vs Paragliding

You've been here before. Tucked away in your warm, cozy bed at night and just a few hours after falling asleep. There was that dream where you were flying, drifting through the air effortlessly and without any worries. Not even questioning that, in that moment, you happened to be floating above the ground as if you had always known how to do it. Like somewhere deep inside, your body was already familiar with the magic of flying and instinctively performed the way that it should.

This is what it's like to Paraglide in smooth, laminar conditions right before sunset. The sky turning stunning shades of reds, oranges, and dark blues by the minute. Temperatures dropping and shadows stretching across expansive terrain below. The experience feels firm and stable, with a gentle wind rushing past your body and, wherever you lean, the paraglider goes as if it's on rails. It's quiet, like a meditation. Just you and your equipment with the rest of the planet below your feet, and this allows your mind to relax and slowly focus on this singular experience that you promise yourself you will never forget.

Nobody is born with the gift of flight. But somehow, we all know what it's like.

---

My name is Jordan and I've been a Paragliding and Paramotor pilot for the past 17 years. I fly on a near daily basis, mostly tandems. When I'm not flying, my school keeps me busy passing on the knowledge and accumulated wisdom of thousands of hours in the air, both mine and the many pioneers who developed these two sports along the way.

I love showing others who have never flown before the steps to becoming a pilot and creating the reality straight out of their dreams. That's why I'll always be a basic training instructor. I've found my place. Not in the specialized and advanced skill development or cutting edge advancements of the technologies, but in the joy of bringing people just like you into the fold.

---

I'm often asked about the differences between Paragliding and Paramotor and I feel like it's my duty to dispel the baseless assumptions along the way. If you're considering your own path into the skies and wondering which might be a better fit, then I've written this just for you.

RISK

I'm starting here because this is where I get the most questions and they are usually fed by the conclusions of those who have engaged in only Paragliding or Paramotor, or even neither one at all. What is the value of opinions from those who lack the relevant experiences to provide real insight? Seems like a waste of time to listen to such conjecture.

Equipment

The questions around risk at usually something like, "Which one is more dangerous?" To that I ask if we are talking about equipment alone or something else. You see, the equipment is not really much different other than the obvious. Yes there is a spinning propeller on a Paramotor so we do need to take care not to get our body parts anywhere near it, but with safe handling procedures, we can avoid this danger and never have an incident in our entire lives. Maybe you've had a similar experience while using a lawnmower?

Good Judgement

However, I feel like most bring up the risk comparison because they want to know who is more likely to fall out of the sky. Maybe it's not obvious at first, but even to a student it becomes apparent at some point that it is our choices, attitude, and behavior as pilots that determine our risk. That's right, you choose what type of conditions you fly in, where you fly, when you fly, and your behavior in flight is of course totally up to you.

Since proper training makes you educated about reading forecast models and choosing safe flying conditions, you will know when it's more or less risky to launch a Paraglider or Paramotor. Want to minimize the risks and have decades of beautiful and enjoyable flights? Exercise good judgement and patience. This means saying no to a launch when things look above your comfort/skill level. It means having the maturity to pass up a flight instead of becoming emotionally invested in getting airtime while taking on more risk for short term gains.

You are free to choose, but not free from the consequences of your choices.

EXPERIENCE

Other than risks, the next most frequent line of questioning revolves around the actual experience of flying. I'll begin with the super obvious and then get into some things that you may never have considered before.

Noise and Comfort

I'm sure it's no surprise that Paragliding is inherently quieter than flying around with a motor on your back. Some would say it is a more "pure flight" experience. I would add to that it is also more comfortable seating position as well because a Paragliding harness allows you to sit reclined whereas a paramotor frame demands a more upright posture and this can be uncomfortable for some during extended flights. Fortunately, harness options allow for some flexibility in both.

Airtime

Did you know you can go higher, longer, and further without a motor on your back? This is not apparent to most but it's true. With the right conditions, you can fly to 17,999ft legally in a Paraglider and pretty much fly all day if you wanted to. In Paramotor, your airtime is limited by fuel capacity and your altitude by both motor and propeller performance. As the air thins with altitude, we lose the ability to generate thrust as efficiently while our motor's air/fuel mixture leans out too much.

However, the ability to fly longer, higher, and further in a Paraglider is the result of gradual skill-building over several seasons. In Paramotor, it is simply adding more fuel. So it does take a while to get to sky-god status in Paragliding, but once you have the knowledge and skills, you have them for life as long as you fly enough to keep them.

Most don't consider that the time of day limits airtime and more so in Paramotor. Let me first say that the beach front usually allows for flying at any time of day in both Paragliding and Paramotor. Anywhere else inland and there will typically be more turbulence as the sun heats up the ground and mixed the lower layers of the atmosphere. This turbulence is more than just some uncomfortable bumps, it can mean loss of canopy control which can and does lead to accidents.

Your ability to respond to these conditions and keep a canopy in control is much easier in a flexible Paragliding harness. Unfortunately, a Paramotor's rigid frame makes it difficult to weight shift and do what we call active piloting in demanding conditions. For this reason, most Paramotor flights are relegated to early morning or just before sunset as midday flying is considered very risky in most cases. On the other hand, Paragliding usually takes place when there is sufficient heating of the ground to release thermals. Skilled pilots will seek these conditions because they can ride the thermals up thousands of feet and prolong their flight times and go distance with all that altitude.

There is usually a season for Paragliding at any given site. For this area, summer offers daily flying. There are still great days in the winter, but Santa Ana winds and cold fronts may shut down flying options for days and sometimes weeks. Since Powered Paragliding can be done in the absence of lift and doesn't usually necessitate a particular wind direction for launching, it can be done on most mornings regardless of the season. In fact, unless it's foggy, almost every morning is an opportunity to fly. Sunset flights are good options too, however there are going to be a lot of days inland that the air is too turbulent, even at sunset.

Portability

There is no beating the portability of Paraglider. We can shove these things into trunks, overhead bins of airplanes, or even just a backpack and hike up a mountain. This opens opportunities not possible for any other aircraft. One example is flying down a mountain range and going as far as you can. When you run out of lift and land in a field somewhere, simply call an Uber and get a ride back to your car for $18.

Conversely, if your motor goes out and you are forced to land in a field somewhere, you really have three options. You can hike it back, leave it there, or call for help. Depending on terrain and distance to your vehicle, hiking may not be an option since your wing plus motor gear is bulky and could weigh 55lbs or more. Leaving it there and coming back with a vehicle would certainly be easier but there aren't many situations I would feel comfortable leaving my most expensive toy behind where someone could walk off with it. Of course, having a friend or family member on standby would help you avoid these scenarios, but for that option you would need to have someone at the ready for each flight. You might, but I just don't know anyone with that kind of patience!

Additionally, in Paramotor, you not only bring your gear, but a wise pilot brings tools and spare parts just in case they need to make field repairs. Unfortunately, two-stroke motors are known for their untimely issues. There are four-stroke and electric motors available but they are considerably more expensive and a lot heavier than their two-stroke counterparts.

Wanderlust

I don't mean to beat up on the Paramotor experience so let me tell you were they truly shine. Paragliders are relegated to just a few options for launching, flying, and landing. That's why established flying sites are the norm in the sport. Plus the frequency of pilots visiting these sites means that landowner relationships must be firmly established through waivers, insurance, and overall trust in vetted and experiences pilots. This is done primarily through our national organization USHPA and local clubs. Additionally, we need to be educated and mindful of airspace restrictions.

But, with a Paramotor, the options are much more plentiful. Since we carry our own source of lift, we do not need terrain features to generate lift opportunities. Any wide open space with unobstructed wind flow could work. We do still need to consider the land owners and airspace regulations since we don't want to get into legal trouble, but many pilots just find an option and launch without permission. I'm not saying this is okay, it is simply the reality of Paramotor. Some beaches and BLM lands are great options without anyone to ask for permission in the first place. Goes great with camping!

Having a motor on your back means you can fly directly to areas of interest and allows a pilot to fly at whatever altitude they want. It's great for exploring and sight-seeing in ways that you just can't achieve without a it. Sort of like having a cheat code in a video game, you can go where you want on any flight. It is a great thing for sure but consider what happens to a particular flying site when you have this ability.

Long-term Enjoyment

It is true that Paragliding pilots will fly the same site for +20 years while Paramotor pilots will grow tired of a site after just a handful of flights and may only be interested in flying if it involves a new location.

This is because, just like a video game with a cheat code, you can do all that you want on your first couple of flights. As humans, we love familiar but we also seek novelty. Flying the same spot every time, even if it's gorgeous, soon becomes mundane as you struggle to find ways to make it different than the last times. As Nietzsche said, man is a creature that can get used to anything. Even activities that were initially exciting can become predictable and boring if we keep pressing the pleasure button too much.

So, why is it different for Paragliding? Well, put simply, it's more about skill-progression than Paramotor. Every flight is an opportunity to get a little better and this incremental progress keeps piling up over the days, weeks, months, and years. A 15 year Paragliding Pilot can do things that are literally impossible for a pilot in their first few seasons.

It's kind of like surfing. The conditions are always changing and since we are using those very conditions to fly, we must learn new abilities, fine tune them, and use effective strategies to keep flying. It's like a puzzle to solve each time we are in the air, it's engaging and rewarding when our skills and knowledge open up new possibilities.

Now, some sites, like coastal sites, are way too easy to fly and so most Paragliding pilots will get bored of them at some point. But the mountain sites... well it's almost never the same even by the hour. Flying to a new part of a familiar site is only possible through a growing process, a combination of knowledge, skill, and experience that develops over a long time. You have to put in the effort to get there.

COST

More equipment equals higher cost. You didn't think those motors were cheap, did you? A specialized flying backpack will run you about $6-8k while a Paragliding harness is closer to $1k. There are differences in the wings but there are also hybrid wings that you can fly with or without a motor. Regardless, a canopy usually costs about $4k these days.

Add to these the costs of a reserve canopy, about $800, plus lessons around $2500, and the entry for Paragliding is about $7500 and for Paramotor about $13k. Consider that there is also an ongoing, maintenance cost in Paramotor although generally not too expensive unless you break equipment often. We have a saying in our sport. Lessons are cheaper than hospital bills and new gear.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I can't imagine a life without either Paragliding or Paramotor. My recommendation is, if you have the means, do both! The seasonal nature of Paragliding can leave pilots feeling desperate for airtime and that's the perfect time to get your Paramotor going. And when the flying is good in Paragliding, it's just a much easier and cheaper way to get tons of airtime.

Take a look at this video which covers a few more differences between the two that were not discussed in this article. Let me know in the comments if I helped you understand things a little more or perhaps helped you make a more informed decision about your goals in general.

I hope to see you in the air someday and if you want to get started with us at FlyWithJordan, we would love to show you the magic just a few feet off of the ground!

Paramotor vs Paragliding

Start Your Journey Now!

-Jordan