Turkey's Kırantepe becomes a new destination for paragliding enthusiasts

Kırantepe Civil Aviation Center in Serdivan district of Sakarya province, which sits at an altitude of 1,235 meters, hosts paragliding lovers thanks to its suitability to flight and closeness to metropolises like Istanbul.

The course attendees who join the paragliding training held by Sakarya Civil Aviation Club paraglide in the sky after learning theoretical education.

Sakarya Civil Aviation Club trainer Abdullah Yıldız noted that there are training schools that serve in every level in Sakarya. "Today, the meteorological conditions were so proper for both beginning and intermediate level flights. We conduct different works in different regions," Yıldız said.

Explaining that paragliding makes use of a systematic education, he continued, "We rely upon a schedule. We use both the experience that is provided by the system to us and also the developments in the wider world and Europe. The beginning education for paragliding continues for six or seven days on average. Two or three days of it pass in the classes while the next two to three days are spent on land to learn control. Then, attendees practice in the air for other two-three days. Students can paraglide from a 200-meter height under the control of a trainer between seven and ten days on average."

The trainer reported that students are alone during their flight and they are directed by trainers on the land and peak through two-way radios.

Paragliding has been performed in Kırantepe since 2004 and Yıldız highlighted that the hill is the best one in the region in terms of meteorological and physical reasons. He drew attention to the fact that Kırantepe is a hill which is close to the Black Sea coast. "You can perform training flights in every season. It is a very suitable area, you can nearly have active flight days in 200 days of a year. This is a serious rate of use. We perform our flights almost every day and return to our houses, which are only a few kilometers away by walking."Inviting people from across Turkey to visit Kırantepe to paraglide, Yıldız stressed, "They should watch the activities here without any prejudice. If there are 50 people here now, 45 of them come from Istanbul. We don't want it to simply be like this. We also want people in Sakarya to come and protect it."