Your First Tandem Flight, Minute by Minute
What actually happens from the moment you arrive at the meeting point to the moment your feet touch down, written for people who are quietly nervous about it.
Almost everyone who books a tandem flight is a little nervous, and almost nobody says so. Here is exactly what happens, so there are no surprises.
At the meeting point
You arrive, we check your booking and weight, and you sign the waiver. Your pilot introduces themselves and talks you through the plan for your specific flight. This takes about ten minutes. If the weather is marginal you will already know, because we message before you set off.
The ride to launch
Ten minutes in a 4x4 up a service track. It is bumpy. Use the time to ask questions, this is when most people's nerves settle, because you realise your pilot has done this several thousand times.
Getting clipped in
You step into a harness that sits like a chair. Your pilot clips you to them at four points, checks each one, then checks them again out loud. Helmet on. The wing is laid out behind you in an arc.
Launch: the ten seconds that worry people
This is the part everyone imagines going wrong, and it is genuinely the simplest part. Your pilot says run. You take four or five steps down the slope. The wing comes up above you, you feel it take your weight, and then your feet are simply not touching anything anymore. There is no jump and no drop.
Nobody has ever told me afterwards that the launch was the scary part. Every single person says it was easier than they expected.
In the air
Quiet, much quieter than you expect. You are sitting comfortably with your legs dangling, the pilot behind and above you. On the Standard package it is a smooth, wide glide down the valley with a couple of gentle turns. Fifteen minutes goes very quickly.
If you booked the Extreme package, your pilot will ask once more whether you want the manoeuvres before starting. Say no if you have changed your mind, nobody will be offended, and it is the same 15 minutes of flying either way.
Landing
Your pilot tells you to lift your legs and keep them up. You come in on a shallow approach, the wing flares, and you touch down sitting in the harness. Then you stand up and immediately want to do it again. That is the usual sequence.
Common questions
It is extremely rare, and there is nothing you can do that would affect the wing, your pilot has full control from behind you. If you want to land, say so and your pilot will bring you straight down.
Yes. Use a retaining strap, or your pilot will hold them for you in a zipped pocket.
You need to be able to walk a short distance on a slope and run four or five steps. That is the whole physical requirement.
