Next time you’re stewing in peak-hour traffic, look up because you might spot a smug paraglider soaring alongside a wedge-tailed eagle named Reggie.

The morning commute from Murrumbateman to Russell, for Defence contract worker Paul Shipley, usually coincides with a detour to Spring Hill (near Poachers Pantry), where he squeezes in a 10-minute flight before work. Often riding the thermals alongside him is his wingman, “Reggie the wedgie”.

Reggie has taken to joining Paul and other members of the ACT Hang gliding and Paragliding Association regularly and serves as a sort of weather beacon or windsock, letting members know the wind conditions.

“He’s really friendly and he’ll sit on the power pole and squawk at you and then go off flying,” Paul said. “When we’re looking to fly, we want to see the thermals and be able to gain height. If we’re on a hill getting ready to fly and we see Reggie’s out front of the hill, we watch him. When you see him in the lift and he’s circling, we follow him.”

But don’t let Reggie’s friendly demeanour lull you into a false sense of security, because the local eagles at the club’s other flying site – Lake George – aren’t so cute. It’s worth remembering that wedge-tailed eagles are the largest flying raptor in Australia. These birds of prey are powerful, carnivorous hunters and they can spot their next meal from two kilometres away.

“There are some quite miserable ones at Lake George,” Paul said. “We’ve been attacked, and I’ve had holes in my wing. One of them is very territorial to the south of our takeoff. It’s worse in nesting season but I think it just doesn’t like paragliders. They’re just saying get out of my territory.”

Paul’s had to patch up a couple of holes on his paraglider as a result of air attacks, though fortunately, none have caused him to crash land. The paraglider is pretty resilient and quite a few cells can be damaged before it affects its flight.

If a wedge-tailed eagle does look aggressive, Paul said the best course of action is to “just talk – don’t shout – say hello eagle and then just turn away out of its territory and it should leave you alone”.

Paul’s close encounter with wedge-tailed eagles would make naturalist David Attenborough envious, and he’s even managed to film Reggie flying alongside his paraglider. 

“They’re quite intimidating but when you fly with the one here at Spring Hill, it’s amazing,” Paul said. “I think he’s probably two meters across in wingspan, very majestic. I’ve seen him flying with his family – his partner and an adolescent – and he was teaching him how to fly in high wind. It was amazing to watch.”

The sport of paragliding isn’t always action-packed, however. Paul (who learnt to fly with the British Army) said you need to have the patience of a saint, “a lot of the time it’s para-waiting”.

“One of the things with paragliding is that you can wait a lot on the hill for the right conditions but it’s amazing sitting on the hill and looking across to the Brindabellas. It’s an amazing view and then the eagle comes out and flies around – we’re very privileged.”

Membership of the ACT Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club (plus powered paragliding) is currently 129 and they’ve set some impressive long-distance records. One hang glider flew 318km from Lake George to Whitton, NSW. Another paraglider flew 188 km from Collector to Kyeamba in the Riverina.

For the most part, Paul usually flies from Spring Hill before or after work, weather permitting.

“It’s a good way to start the day or end the day,” he said. “A sunset flight on a Friday evening at Spring Hill is pretty fantastic.”

Canberra is one of only two places in Australia with a paragliding simulator, located in Lyneham. Beginners can fly a paraglider (virtually) in a harness and rotate 360 degrees while only a couple of feet off the ground. Paragliding instructors also run courses in the ACT.

For more info, visit ACT Hang gliding and Paragliding Association on Facebook or acthpa.org.

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