Profile – Félix De Place
At Supair, we love supporting passionate young pilots who represent the future of paragliding. This time, we’re thrilled to welcome 14-year-old Félix de Place to our Family Pilots. A young man from Grenoble who’s crazy about outdoor sports and already very comfortable flying his LEAF 3 Light, Félix lives out his passion with a determination and enthusiasm that’s sure to put a smile on your face. We’ll let him introduce himself in his own words:
Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
Hi! My name is Félix, and I'm 14 years old. I'm in 8th grade at a middle school in Grenoble. I do a lot of sports, like freestyle skiing and snowboarding, wing foiling, skateboarding… and, of course, paragliding!
When and how did you learn to paraglide?
At age 3, I was already doing tandem flights with my dad. Then, at age 6, I started practicing takeoffs with his speedriding wing.
When I was 11, my dad, Rody, and I went to Castelluccio, Italy, for 8 days so I could make my first solo flights. As I was climbing up to the launch site, I was a little nervous, but once I was in the air, it reminded me of the tandem flights, and Rody was on the radio to reassure me.
When I came back from Italy, I had to wait a little while for my father to get me a special exemption so I’d be insured and could get my first solo flight certificate, which would allow me to fly on my own in France. Since then, I’ve been doing everything I can to train and fly as often as possible!
At the beginning of the year, I joined CODEVOLI, a club for young pilots supported by the FFVL. It’s so much fun: I’m improving really fast, and we’re starting to do short cross-country flights—always in a great atmosphere.
What are your plans outside of paragliding?
My dream is to join the paragliding youth team when I start 10th grade, and eventually to become a world paragliding champion.
I’d also like to do a little rock climbing, because it helps with flying in turbulent conditions during cross-country flights… and it’s fun, too 😉
Where can we follow your adventures?
On Instagram!
@fefe__de_place
