Welcome to the Isle of Wight Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club

We love flying on the Isle of Wight and hope you will too!

Flying on the Isle of Wight has played a significant part in the history of Paragliding and Hang Gliding. Airwave Gliders was born here, way back in the 1970’s. Many top British pilots trained here, Including Rob Whittall, John Pendry, Bruce Goldsmith, Barney Barnes, Innes Powell and  Sarah Fenwick.

Just off the south coast of England, the Island has a good proportion of flyable days in a year. It is reputedly one of the sunniest places in Britain.

The club looks after more than 12 sites, catering for most wind directions and benefiting from land and sea thermals. You can choose from the challenging 35km cliff run through to cross-country and ridge soaring. On great days it is even possible to cross the Solent to the mainland!

For more details on the flying our sites, visit the Sites Page or download the Sites Guide here.

The IOWHPC is affiliated with the BHPA – the UK governing body for hang gliding and paragliding.

We hope you will find all the information you need on this website. If you need to know more, please do not hesitate to contact one of us.

If you are interested in flying and want to try out an Air experience, look at High Adventure’s website.

Or, you can also watch these short films by Will Rome (a local pilot) about flying on the Island.