About Airtime of San Francisco

Flying and Teaching Paragliding have become synonymous with my life. I am Jeff Greenbaum and my flying enthusiasm started in 1984 with Hang Gliding. By 1986, I was teaching and had found flying was the love of my life. In 1988 I purchased the Hang Gliding school that I was teaching for and renamed it Airtime of San Francisco.

In 1984, I was running the Windsurfing school for San Francisco Windsports (A school that taught both Hang Gliding and Windsurfing). By 1986 I had learned to Hang Glide and earned a Hang Gliding Instructor rating. In 1988 I purchased the Hang Gliding half of the San Francicsco Windsports business and renamed it Airtime of San Francisco. Shortly after this, Paragliding was first introduced to me. I quickly took to this amazing new form of flying. Here was an aircraft that can fly as high and free as a Hang Glider, but fits in a backpack and eliminates the hassle factor.

Airtime was the first school in the San Francisco Bay Area to offer Paragliding Lessons. With Paragliding, you can literally set up your wing, put on your harness and be ready to fly in about 5 minutes. The flying experience in a Parglider is unreal when you consider the dreamlike flying, convenience and ease of operation.

Airtime became one of the most successful schools in the US. By 1992, Airtime was only teaching Paragliding and at the same time, I also began doing tandem flights. In the pursuit of a technical career, I sold Airtime of San Francisco in 1997. During that time, I continued to do some tandem flying and teaching my friends. In 2002, I started up San Francisco Tandem Paragliding with a plan for simplicity, quality, and personalized training (just myself teaching and very small classes). To find out more about my personal teaching style and benefits, please see the page http://www.sftandem.com/About-Teaching.htm In Jan, 2005, I returned to using the name Airtime of San Francisco for the Paragliding School and created another site http://paragliding-lessons.com for this, with the intent to separate the two sites into lessons and tandem.

My flying and teaching experience includes:

Over 2500 hrs. of combined Hang Gliding and Paragliding airtime and over 350 hrs. with passengers.
5 years of Windsurfing Instruction, 5 years of Hang Gliding Instruction, 14 + years of Paragliding Instruction
I have done flights with my own mother, and my own children when they were as young as 4 years old.
I once took a great, great, Grandmother who was 84 years young.
I have taken passengers as large as 260 lbs.

In all of the tandem flights, I have a perfect passenger safety record.

The glider I fly Tandem in is the Ozone "Cosmic Rider". It is certified to 230 Kilos (Over 500 lbs.). Currently, I do all of the Instruction for the school end of the business and have a staff of Certified and Excellent Tandem Instructors.

What San Francisco Tandem Paragliding Offers

San Francisco Tandem Paragliding offers Instruction, Tours, and Tandem Flight Lessons. A Paraglider is a parafoil wing that looks like a parachute, but flies like a hang glider. Paragliders launch like a large kite, and once in the air, glide and soar like a conventional Hang Glider. Steering is done through control lines like a ram air parachute.

Tandem Paragliding is flying in a Paraglider built for two people. The pilot and passenger fly front and back, with the pilot in the rear. Tandem flights are a great way to experience the thrill of flying in a Paraglider. Passengers can even take the controls in the flight and learn about flying a Paraglider throughout the flight. The harness is extremely comfortable and the low flying speed of a Paraglider makes takeoffs and landings gentle and slow. In August 1996, the Outdoor writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, Paul McHugh, wrote a full page article describing his experience in a flight I took him on. To read the article, click here Article .

I also offer complete instruction in paragliding. In these lessons, everything from basic launches and landings to ridge soaring and thermal flying are taught. I provide the equipment for the students and the training sites are in the general area of Pacifica. Please see the rates page for complete details on lessons.

Flying a Paraglider is the closest you can come to the flights you have had in your dreams. The experience is something that words can barely describe. Picture yourself seated, comfortable and gliding gracefully above scenic cliffs. There is a light breeze in your face and freedom in your grasp. You smile because you sense that having this much fun is almost cheating the world.

We have perfect cliffs and great mountains in the San Francisco Bay Area for flying these amazing crafts. My experience includes over 18 years of flying Hang Gliders and Paragliders, 10 years of Tandem Paragliding and 14 years of Paragliding Instruction experience. I also am available for Advanced Paragliding Training and customized adventure Tours.

SFTandem's - Tandem Paragliding Instructors

Arnel Sanchez

Anyone visiting the flying sites of Daly City and Pacifica will quickly notice the flying of Arnel. His flying style is creative and unique and at the highest level. Arnel took to flying paragliders like few pilots do. With respect to Tandem, Arnel has the highest regard for safety and providing safe and amazing tandem experiences.

Rolf Bienert

In 1995, Rolf learned to fly paragliders in Switzerland. He has accumulated several hundred hours of accident free airtime at dozens of places in Europe and in North America. "I launched my first tandem flight 1997 on a ski slope, with 3 miles per hour tail wind and it was only 20°F, yet I had great fun flying with a passenger right away", says Rolf, looking back at his first flight with a tandem wing.

Continue to the photo pages or find out about lesson programs or tandem flights.

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