Bunny Hill video
Step 1
Bunny Hill
First short flights with the focus on launching, flying straight and landing.
Milpitas, California
Ed R. Levin County Park - Our Training Site
A Bay Area park with a long connection to hang gliding — and one of the places where generations of pilots have learned what it feels like to leave the ground.
More than a training hill
Ed R. Levin County Park sits against the hills above Milpitas on the eastern side of the Santa Clara Valley. Santa Clara County describes the 1,558-acre park as a regional park with trails, lakes, picnic areas and a designated hang-gliding launch area. Hang gliders and paragliders have become part of the landscape here, visible from the park and from the valley below.
For hang gliding, the significance of Ed Levin goes beyond the scenery. The hills have been used for decades as a place where pilots could progress from basic training flights toward higher launches and more independent flying. That progressive character is still what makes the site remarkable: the same hillside can introduce a new student to a first low flight and, with experience, lead toward much higher launches above the valley.
Training progression
Higher hills as skills develop
Ed Levin gives students a rare step-by-step progression from short training flights to launches high above the valley.
Step 2
150' Hill
First turns “on purpose” and flying high for the first time.
Max on the 300' Hill
Step 3
300' Hill
More altitude and a longer flight as the student progresses.
Step 4
600' Hill
A real flight over the park and out toward the landing area below, with a brief stop at the 150' hill.
1750' top-launch video coming
Step 5
1750' Top
The top launch completes the visual progression. We’ll drop in the right flight clip when you find it.