- Acro
- Acrobatic flying — deliberate manoeuvres like wingovers and spirals. Advanced territory, not for tandems.
- APPI
- Association of Paragliding Pilots and Instructors — the international rating system Indian schools use. P1–P4 are APPI-style progression levels.
- Brakes
- The control lines in each hand — pull to turn or slow. Not for stopping in midair despite the name.
- Cloud base
- The altitude where thermals condense into cloud — the practical ceiling for a soaring day.
- Collapse
- When part of the wing folds under turbulence — modern wings recover automatically; training teaches the response.
- EN rating
- European safety standard (EN-A to EN-D). A is stablest (student), D is competition. Tandem wings are typically EN-B.
- Ground handling
- Controlling the inflated wing while standing on the ground — the core skill P1 drills.
- Harness
- The seat you fly in — includes back protection and the reserve parachute container.
- Launch
- The take-off — a run into wind until the wing lifts you. Not a jump off an edge.
- Lift
- Rising air — ridge lift (wind hitting a slope) or thermals (heated air rising). What keeps you up.
- P1–P4
- Pilot rating progression — P1 is ground school, P2 novice, P3 independent, P4 advanced.
- Reserve
- Backup parachute in the harness — deployed if the main wing fails. Repacked on a schedule.
- Ridge soaring
- Flying in the lift band where wind hits a slope — Kamshet's main mode.
- SIV
- Simulation d'Incidents en Vol — course that teaches recovery from collapses and spins over water.
- Tandem
- Two-person flight — passenger in front, pilot behind controlling everything.
- Thermal
- Column of rising warm air — how pilots gain altitude away from the ridge.
- Variometer
- Instrument that beeps pitch-rising as you climb — pilots fly partly by ear.
- Wind dummy
- A test pilot who launches first to read the day's air — the honest origin of the term.
- XC
- Cross-country flying — distance flying between sites using thermals. Bir Billing's specialty.