Protect flying sites
We maintain trusted landowner relationships, honor site agreements, support responsible access, and help care for launches and landing areas.
Explore the sites →
ROCHESTER · FINGER LAKES · ELMIRA
ONE REGION.
ONE SKY.
Rochester Area Flyers is a volunteer-powered hang-gliding and paragliding club that protects flying sites, develops pilots, and brings the free-flight community together across Western New York.NO DATE YET · STAY IN THE LOOP
Join the interest list
No public date is confirmed yet. Create one interested-in-learning account and RAF can follow up when volunteer capacity and a genuine opportunity are available.ROCHESTER AREA FLYERS
THE FRONT DOOR TO
FREE FLIGHT.
RAF is not a commercial flight school or tandem operator. We are a member-supported club: pilots, students, families, landowners, and volunteers sharing the work required to keep responsible free flight possible.
Our regional planning system brings seven flying sites into one clear starting point. It does not replace the controlling club, landowner permission, pilot ratings, local briefing, or the decision made at launch.
A shared sky.
together.
Room to soar.
WHAT THE CLUB ACTUALLY DOES
WE KEEP
FLIGHT POSSIBLE.
Flying days are the visible result. Behind them is year-round work by members, instructors, site stewards, landowners, and volunteers.
Develop pilots carefully
RAF's seasonal volunteer hang-gliding program builds judgment and skill step by step, with instructor supervision and documented progression.
Explore the student journey →Support HG and PG pilots
We connect hang-glider and paraglider pilots with site knowledge, weather evidence, local contacts, safety resources, and a responsible way in.
Review membership and visiting →Prepare for the real day
Site work, equipment care, emergency planning, briefings, and clear operating information help the community make sound decisions.
Open safety resources →Build the club together
Meetings, work parties, mentoring, events, administration, stories, and small acts of help keep RAF welcoming and durable.
See club life →SEVEN REGIONAL SITES · EACH WITH ITS OWN REQUIREMENTS
EVERY WIND.
A WAY IN.
Use the live board to see what is available today, available later, or unavailable. A forecast never replaces launch observation, local permission, or a pilot's decision.
01 · RAF
SEE THE TIME-AWARE REGIONAL LAUNCH BOARD →Bristol Mountain
South Bristol, New York
Good SW–WNW (225–290°) · Best SW–W (225–270°)Flight deck →02 · RAFDansville
Dansville, New York
Good SW toward WSW (225–240°) · Best SW (225–235°)Flight deck →03 · RAFHammondsport
Bath / Hammondsport, New York
Good NW–N (300–360°) · Best NW–NNW (310–325°)Flight deck →04 · RAFPadgham Hill
Farmington / Victor, New York
Good W/NW/N (270–360°) or E (60–90°) · Best W/NW/N (286–360°) or E (70–90°)Flight deck →05 · FSFHarris Hill
Big Flats / Elmira, New York
Good WNW–NW (290–330°) · Best NW (300–325°)Flight deck →06 · FSFIndian Cliffs
Big Flats / Elmira, New York
Good N–NE (350–045°) · Best NNE (010–020°)Flight deck →07 · FSFKatydid
Chemung, New York
Good SW–W (230–270°) · Best WSW (240–260°)Flight deck →LEARN WITH ROCHESTER AREA FLYERS
DON'T JUST
WATCH THE SKY.
RAF has taught student members through its all-volunteer hang gliding program since the 1970s. The seasonal program normally runs April through July and combines ground school, equipment knowledge, weather, safety, launch and landing skills, and supervised progression toward a USHPA H2 rating.
RAF's current club instruction is hang gliding. Paraglider pilots are part of the wider RAF community and use the same culture of careful site access, weather judgment, mentoring, and continuing learning; PG instruction and ratings must come from an appropriately qualified instructor.
RAF does not offer tandem discovery flights. Training dates, capacity, eligibility, and official club notices control.INSIDE RAF TRAINING
SEE HOW
FLIGHT BEGINS.
See the real equipment, hill work, wire crews, and volunteer instruction behind the student journey. This is careful progression, not a shortcut or a tandem attraction.
EXPLORE THE RAF STUDENT PATH →ORIGINAL RAF TRAINING FILM · HOSTED ON YOUTUBE
MEMBERSHIP + VOLUNTEER POWER
YOUR PART
MATTERS.
Membership dues, donations, and volunteer time support the unglamorous work that makes every good flying day possible: site care, training equipment, safety systems, communication, and long-term access.
REGIONAL PARTNERS + SHARED HISTORY
RIDGES WITH
HISTORY.
RAF's Rochester and Finger Lakes community and Free Spirit Flight's Elmira pilots share generations of free-flight history. Free Spirit pilots have protected and flown Harris Hill, Indian Cliffs, and Katydid for generations. These are serious mountain sites shaped by landowner relationships, local accompaniment, changing landing zones, seasonal closures, and Elmira Class D procedures.
The clubs are working toward combined stewardship. Until each step is formally completed, the current controlling club, permissions, insurance, closures, briefings, and published site protocols remain authoritative.
Explore the Elmira sites →
Wings of cloth and aluminum. Air that lifts. A regional community built to keep the dream alive.
THE PEOPLE · THE PLACES · THE FEELING
THIS IS
FREE FLIGHT.
Training mornings, mountain launches, wire crews, long glides, and the friendships that bring everyone back. These photographs celebrate the people and places behind every flying day.
OPEN THE RAF STORY ROOMFilms, photographs, people, places, and generations of free flight.
EXPLORE STORIES →REGIONAL FIELD LIBRARY
THE RIGHT SOURCE.
WHEN IT MATTERS.
Start with the essentials here, then open the complete library for training, safety, emergency, and club reference material. Live site decks remain the source for today's operating information.
PILOT REFERENCE · RAFRules of the airOPEN OFFICIAL SOURCE ↗BOOKS + HANDOUTS · RAFTraining libraryOPEN OFFICIAL SOURCE ↗ONE-PAGE PLAN · FSF SOURCEEmergency action planOPEN OFFICIAL SOURCE ↗REPORTING · FSF SOURCEIncident reporting protocolOPEN OFFICIAL SOURCE ↗NATIONAL REFERENCE · USHPAUSHPA learning centerOPEN OFFICIAL SOURCE ↗
OPEN THE COMPLETE RAF RESOURCE LIBRARY →ROOTED HERE. READY FOR TODAY.RAF and Free Spirit stories, media, rules, and safety knowledge keep their origin visible. Current permissions, closures, weather, ratings, and launch briefings always control the day-of-flight workflow.
YOUR NEXT BEST DAY STARTS HERE
FIND YOUR WAY IN.
HELP KEEP IT FLYING.
Come meet the people, learn how free flight works, plan a responsible visit, become a member, or offer the time you genuinely have. This community grows one good experience and one cared-for flying site at a time.