Hang gliding is usually performed by using air current without an engine power. The pilot is suspended in a swing harness from the centre of the keel and maintains control wholly by weight shift arrangement with the help of airframe. To take off, the pilot runs on a down hill approximately 40-degree slope and is airborne the moment he crosses the gliders stalling speed, which vary from 15-km to 30-km per hour.

Soaring can be done by using ridge lifts created by wind striking the hill face or by hot air columns known as "thermals" that keep rising upward from the sun heated surface. One can fly as long as one wishes once he has acquired good experience. Hang gliding is an outdoor sport and Mother Nature is unpredictable -- weather is always a big consideration. The primary safety factors are personal judgment and attitude. You must be willing to learn gradually and use good judgement and have an appropriate attitude. If you don't, then you can get injured or killed; if you do, then you can hang glide until you're 90.

If you want to touch the skies ans sky is the limit for you, then hang gliding is the sport for you. You jog down a slope and glide away from the mountain. You do not free-fall or jump off of a cliff. Your launches and landings are deliberate and, once in the air, you will probably be surprised by how peaceful the experience is.

Even if you are afraid of heights, it will rarely be a factor, since there is no sensation of falling. Your solo lesson will require more effort physical as well as mental, than your tandem lesson, but it lays the basic groundwork necessary to becoming your own pilot.

Hang Gliding, comparatively a new sport in India, is gaining popularity. India has got thermal soaring effects in the summer months and hill soaring almost year-round. The monsoons are the only months when this sport is not possible in India, otherwise even the winter months are also ideal for it.

Most Indian hang gliding sites have been highly rated and those in the lower regions of the Himalaya are among the best the world has. Hang gliding clubs in India are located at Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Shimla, Devlali and Bangalore.

Hang Gliding In Himachal Pradesh:
Hang Gliding is a new sport practised at Billing, 14-km from Bir and is said to be among the finest sites for hanggliding in the world. An annual hanggliding tournament is also held over here. Situated in Dharamsala, Dharamkot is situated at 11, 800 ft and requires a 2-km trek from the nearest roadhead.