On Launch With: Hans Petit

When I was younger, I used to fly a lot of radio-controlled aeroplanes. And when I was 13 I wanted to fly but I was too young for planes or gliders. I found paragliding – Jean-Baptiste Chandelier’s videos were a big influence. 

I was hooked from the beginning. I did my course in the Baronnies at 13 then did a full year of groundhandling because in France you can only fly when you’re 14. Where I lived in Avignon there’s a lot of wind, so I’d groundhandle non-stop for hours.

My first wing was a Niviuk Koyot 3 and I started flying the small mountains in the Baronnies, which are 1,500m high but have strong thermals! So...