About Sulidae Paragliding

Hi,  I’m Jeremy. I’ve spent most of my life involved in some form of aviation and flying  airplanes — first teaching myself how to fly model aircraft, then learning to fly smaller airplanes, then as a commercial pilot, flight instructor, airline pilot, and now free flight pilot. I am still active flying airplanes, but since stumbling into paragliding, have spend the majority of the time in free flight. It is the purest form of aviation I have ever been involved with, and there is something about the simplicity of carrying your gear, never knowing what the day will turn out like, landing almost anywhere, and flying with the birds no other form of aviation can replicate. It is as close to being a bird I think any person can be.

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It did not take long until I wanted to understand how the wings and gear are built and repaired. Some of that motivation comes from flying in the desert — Extreme heat, UV, cactus, sharp rocks and my ability to damage a lot of equipment… After fixing my own gear more times than I’d like to admit, I realized I should probably get better training and skills before I repaired something incorrectly. After damaging a wing (again.....) I searched for someone to repair it. That process was miserable. Ship here wait 6 months we will get back to you. Can you make a line this long for me? No, we don't work on that brand of glider. Those responses led me to the Association of Paragliding Pilots and Professionals (APPI). APPI is a worldwide organization offering standardized repair training, that is recognized and accepted by major paragliding brands.

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I was lucky to be able to attend a class  in the United States,  and spent over a week learning to sew fabric, lines, and other repairs with a glider designer from Gin, the head seamstress from Nivuik, and other manufacturer representatives. After completing the tasks in the class and passing the tests, I spent almost another year being mentored and overseen by the class instructors. In December of 2025 I was able to obtain the qualifications to become an Official APPI certified repair and check center.

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