Melbourne Paragliding

I recently completed a 9 day paragliding course with Airie and team from Melbourne Paragliding. The knowledge and passion displayed, for the sport, immediately made me feel comfortable and as times went on, replaced by confidence. At some point on the training hill, I experienced some challenges and started feeling very discouraged, but Airie continued being positive and told me failure is not an option. This got me to problem solve and push through. Needless to say this worked and the next day we were flying solo off the big hill and the rest is historyIf you have an adventurous spirit, I can recommend this spot and this school 100%

received a voucher for a tandem flight w Airie for christmas and had the absolute best time,, the experience was a perfect mix of adrenaline-inducing & meditative, not to mention informative!! can't recommend enough

Worst instructor and teacher I ever saw in my life. His paragliding skills and experience may impress at first. But they are quickly shifted into irrelevance by his arrogant behaviour and complete absence of basic management skills.A day of “ground handling training” on Kilcunda beach is a good example of Airie’s approach. You try to launch your glider 2-4 times, 10-15 seconds each run. Than you wrap your glider, walk in deep sand back to starting point, unwrap glider and spend next 10 minutes untangling dry sea weeds and lines. Repeat. At the end of day, you spend 12 hours (including 4 hours driving), for 40-50 minutes of GH training. And pay your hard earned money for this “training” day.The real course cost was about $3000, rather than advertised $2300 (Need to add the cost of motel in Wodonga for Gundowring site and cost of petrol). The amount of driving for this course (2,000+km) is tiring on its own. If you are in the Melbourne West side, the “close” locations like Kilcunda beach, Mt. Broughton are 320 – 370 km daily drives. Full Gundowring trip alone is 1,000km.After waking up at 5am and driving for 4 hours you expected to walk up the training hill in +32°C under harsh Australian sun 5.. 10.. 15 times. As long as you can. Or until you are completely exhausted, disoriented and injured yourself on landing.Some men, even relatively young, in their 30s, had enough and quit at this stage. Without even attempting high flights. Just drove back to Melbourne. Does it make Airie to think a little bit? No way. It’s always somebody else fault. After all, he has already got the full money for the course. No problem.Some people got exhausted and gave up for the day. But even if you don’t give up and do all 7 high (400m) flights from Gundowring, that means nothing for certification. Because the most important thing for certification is to be silent. No matter what Airie says or does.The choice Airie makes between the equipment quality and cost is obvious. When pointed to one of the harness several shortcomings, he just says “It’s a known problem for this harness”. And walks away.His arrogant, jerky behaviour pisses off a lot of people. When he is not around, people tell it as it is. But as soon as he is back, nobody say anything. Because nobody wants to loose $3000 and walk away without the certificate.It looks like the word is spreading in Melbourne about Airie’s PG2 course. For the next course after our group only 4 people applied, 50% drop in numbers. Meanwhile PG2 courses at both Bright paragliding schools are fully booked for the next several months. It tells a lot. I would rather wait for a course at Bright too. If I new what I know now.

What an incredible experience! The PG course ran over 9 days including theory and multiple flying days; Airie is the chief flight instructor, he has decades of experience & knowledge about the sport and his passion for flight is obvious, and contagious!The approach to learning was also easy to follow and understand; I went in never having seen a paraglider up close and built up knowledge and practical skills to the point I now feel confident and safe to assess conditions, manage gear, and operate a paraglider as a novice PG2 pilot. Between the theory, we spent multiple days ground handling and flying (30+ flights over the whole course) building up to our stunning high flights with amazing views.The equipment is also in great condition, all high quality brands. It was a fantastic trip with a great group of like minded people (we had a blast camping too), I couldn't recommend this course enough for those looking for an adventure and to safely learn this life-changing sport!To Airie, his amazing family, and the awesome additional flight instructors Marie and Gio; I cant thank you all enough!

I recently completed my PG license course with Airie, Gio and team. Its been a amazing journey and unforgetful experience. I was also fortunate to have had a great group which made the learning so much fun and enjoyable.The course started with general theroy and ground handling, we had a slow start due to our melbourne weather, we were so eager to get flying and get our feet off ground but Melbourne weather had other plans. We also had our first experience with shore side ground handinling.Things took a much positive turn when we decided to camp away from melbourne and train there. First day was low hill training, which gave us the joy of being flown off the ground and in the air. It was a great feeling. What we had in store for the next 2 days were magical, we are up there top of the hill 400 m from landing area and the conditions were so perfect, had the first high hill flight of soaring in the sky. Its been a amazing journey from day one meeting at the park to day 9 of exams and course completion.I highly recommed Melbourne Paragliding for their professionalism and Airie is an air bender he just floats in the air. He makes it look so simple and mesmerize. Gio our other instructor is a gem of a person, gentle soft spoeken and yet another air baby. Their combination of skill, knowledge expereince and teaching is second to none. It is not just about flying, it also includes the descipline, respect, fun and your new found super power of being one with the air.

Just completed my PG2 course with Melbourne Paragliding (Airie). One of the best things I've ever done in my life and so glad that I found this company to train with. The 9 day course was ran in a very professional, safe and personal way with great support and equipment.Airie is a great instructor who is friendly and has loads of experience to learn from. I'll be continuing my training with Melbourne Paragliding over the coming years as I get higher up in each PG rating.I highly recommend this company to everyone and I'm very thankful for the experience I received with them.Thank you so much MP :)

It was a life changing experience with one of the most skilled and supportive instructors in the industry.I signed up for Airie’s course hoping to walk away with a paragliding licence, but that in the most unexpected of ways, was just the tip of the iceberg. Doing my training with Airie had me learning with someone insanely experienced and talented at teaching, of experiencing my first solo flights, of new friends, and a sense of personal fulfilment I couldn't have imagined.I genuinely could not recommend Airie's course highly enough. It was absolutely five stars, and in so many other ways - priceless!For the details, read on. But in short, you won't be disappointed if what you are looking for is to learn from someone that can adapt the lesson to what you need, and that will support you to work intensively on the skills you need to succeed. I have no doubt that Airie and his team will likely deliver more than you could have hoped for.Airlie, Marianna, Gio, and Marie were fabulous. Everyone was so invested in making sure that we were all comfortable, that we understood our lessons and were safe, and didn't hesitate to make themselves available for guidance or to explain a theory or to repeat our practice without affecting the learning of others in the group. They kept everyone in harmony, and levelled out the natural highs and lows of buzzing excitement vs repeated frustrations during practical training until it all ‘clicked’ consistently with each of us and we were all flying solo.Airie and his team introduced us to the world and community of paragliding. They gave us information, lessons and contacts not just from their own experiences or their own services, but that of other pilots and clubs throughout Melbourne and interstate. They encouraged us to get involved and support other pilots, to widen our network, and to become a part of a community that takes care of each other, and that maintains the high integrity of the sport for the benefit of everyone.There was a lot of theoretical learning to take in, but surprisingly, the pace was great. Airie delivered the theory with visual demonstrations, practical demonstrations, written textbook references and further reading, and even used reference to everyday experiences that everyone has outside of flying, to make sure that we all got the maximum understanding and retention from the otherwise challenging and dry material we needed to learn before attempting our flights. Airie's team was patient with questions and delivered an amazing balance of serious focus time and cracking a joke (or four) to bring us all back to earth and chill before hitting the next round of study.Airie and the team always returned to the practice of mindfulness and self-awareness, reminding us novices that good flying requires not only that we are conscious of our own experience, but of how our decisions will impact on the environment and experience of other pilots that we share the launches and skies with. They taught us to always look out for each other, the future members we will encounter, and to be supportive and helpful at all times to ensure that the sport is one that everyone can participate in safely.I have never met a group of instructors so dedicated to making sure that each one of us was heard, that everyone was informed, and that everyone was always comfortable - even if that meant learning or progressing at our own pace to be sure that we had the confidence that we were really ready before attempting our first flight. With Airie, I never felt rushed or like a statistic. His team was always intensely present and focused on what was needed for each of us, every step of the way.Hands down the experience was amazing. I'm not the most social of people, but I left this course with fun memories that will last a lifetime and with friends who I enjoy spending sunny weekends or chatting with almost weekly!Airlie's experience didn't just help me to train for my paragliding licence. It genuinely opened the door to a new chapter in my life that I never saw coming.

I recently completed the 9 day paragliding course with Melbourne Paragliding, and I loved it! I signed up for this course having absolutely no experience, so I was a little nervous, but Airie and Josh were very welcoming and supportive. They are both extremely knowledgeable and dedicated instructors, who highly value ensuring that people are actually understanding and learning. I left the course feeling genuinely prepared to start my paragliding journey as a PG2 pilot :)I am extremely grateful for this experience and I highly recommend to anybody looking for a flight school!

I recently completed training with Melbourne Paragliding and I love flying my paraglider. I couldn't recommend Airie Merlin and Melbourne Paragliding highly enough.The training with Airie and his team was very thorough, with each stage built on a strong foundation. This gave me the confidence I needed to leave the ground with the expectation to land safely! They supported everyone to master the basics before moving on to higher flights.Airie's knowledge of the practice and theory of paragliding is comprehensive and he clearly and patiently imparts that for the class. Discussion is invited and concepts are carefully explained and demonstrated.Airie has a lot of experience and high capability with managing a group and his assistants are top notch instructors too. Everybody gets generous support and opportunity to learn. Each day includes a debrief with feedback given and invited.Additionally, Airie can advise and sell you the gear you need to get started and will tell you how to join into the community of paragliders for friends to fly with.When invited to give feedback on the course as a whole I was actually unable to fault it or even suggest improvement.I felt very well prepared for being an independent paraglider pilot by the training from Melbourne Paragliding and I highly recommend them for your paragliding license.

Fantastic and informative school to learn at. Airie was patient and very informative and shared nothing bit knowledge and good times! Highly recommend