Irene Revenko
Advanced Instructor

If the video does not play, CLICK HERE Video by Clémence Boulloud

In the fall of 2002, Irene Revenko joined Fly Above All as a basic Instructor, and in the winter of 2004, she earned a new set of wings and is now an Advanced USHGPA Instructor.

Irene describes her flying and approach to teaching:

"I began to fly in the Alps, in the "Queyras" in 1993. It was right away a passion, but during these years I was not able to fly regularly because of school, work and so on. But I have great memories of my flights in Corsica, especially the incredible flights from 'le col de Teghime', smooth and peaceful rides looking at the Mediterranean Sea and the sunset.

At that time, teaching techniques were pretty archaic and I smile when I think about my limited experiences on the local "training hills" (grassy nice fields in the mountains, what could be better though?). It is only in 2001 that I really began to fly on a regular basis, in Santa Barbara. That year I participated in the Paragliding National Championships in Chelan, WA and was very lucky to finish 3rd woman.

I love to fly because of this very special and specific sensation of being in the sky. I love to fly because it is a constant technical challenge and I will hopefully always be able to improve my skills. I love to fly because, to a great extent, it is in harmony with nature (and no, I am not a big fan of towing and paramotors!). I love to fly because it brings together people with very different backgrounds, and it is always fun and interesting to share these moments. And my favorite flight is always my last one, because I love each of my flights!

Since I really enjoy teaching as well, I decided recently to become an instructor. I believe that the safety of this sport could increase a lot considering the constant improvement of the instruction programs and instructors. As the mother of 2 children, safety is especially important to me and I would like to transmit as much awareness as possible to every pilot, from the very first day.

The key is really for each of us to know what we can do and what we cannot do at the level where we are. The challenge with this is that, contrary to a lot of other sports, we cannot take too much risk to progress ( I remember my skiing instructor when I was a kid telling me that if I wanted to progress I had to fall!). The solution is probably, at least, to learn a lot from good pilots, to progress very slowly, and to take time to enjoy."

Fly Above All congratulates Irene Revenko on becoming an Advanced Paragliding Instructor.