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W
e arrive at a small village
at the foot of Vien Nam
Mountain in Hoa Binh prov-
ince at noon. The paraglid-
er packs, each weighing up to 30kg, are
unloaded and local people carry them
to the launch destination at over 400
meters above sea level. The empty area
on the peak is ideal for taking off and
landing. Helmets are donned, the para-
gliding wings are spread, and harnesses
are checked. One by one the pilots take
to the skies as I look on in awe.
40 year old Nguyen Viet Ha, the
Vietwings’ leader, has trained in the
sport since 1996 and flown frequently
since 2007 with the Vietwings Hanoi
team. Ha gives instruction to trainees
before takeoff and once in the air, ham
radio allows them to keep contact with
the ground pilot who will help them
to steer.
Dang Thanh Chung, another of the
team’s leaders, takes the position of a
ground pilot. He usually flies a paramo-
tor for the national centre for air search
and rescue training, but with Vietwings
he now flies all over Vietnam.
Pham Thanh Nam, the oldest mem-
ber of the team, celebrated his 61st
birthday recently. Nam came to the
sport 5-6 years ago and now flies every
week. Being a skillful pilot, he helps
other to land safely.
Over the last two years the number
of people who have approached the club
to learn has increased dramatically. Now
the number of enquiries far outstrips
their capacity to train new pilots or even
satisfy the demand for tandem flights.
“We flew in a small group of 5-7
people at the beginning and now Vi-
etwings’ has 40 members, of whom 12
are women,” says Ha. For new pilots,
lots of instruction from ground pilots
is necessary.
“In other countries, flying under
the height of 300m does not require
permission. But in Vietnam, the limit is
just 50m,” says Ha, adding that permis-
sion is provided to the organisation,
not to the individual. Some have faced
punishment due to this rule, such as
the Hungarian Lethen Victor Bruno who
took off in Ba Ria Vung Tau province
last year.
Guillaume Humbert from France
found Vietwings Hanoi last summer. He
took his first training course under the
tutelage of an experienced captain of
timeout
LIFESTYLE
HOBBY
THE LIMIT
Most weekends VietWings Hanoi head out of the capital to fly their paragliders
over Vietnam’s countryside. Timeout’s
Hong Nhung
tags along to learn more
about their adrenaline sport.
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