Jeff Goin and Dennis Pagen contribute to the community, again.

The Powered Paragliding Bible is the most comprehensive, and practical reference ever written for the sport, produced with quality rivaling coffee table picture books and encyclopedias.  How, or more appropriately, who would put that much production value into a book for such a minuscule market?  Read on.

In a few short weeks since its release, the PPG Bible has become the essential standard issue text at PPG schools around the globe.  Pilots with years of experience are amazed by what they didn't know.  Jeff Goin, the author, writes with a fresh clear style that is surpassed only by his 100 magnificent full color photos and illustrations.

The editor/publisher of the PPG Bible, Dennis Pagen, requires no introduction.  For over thirty years, he has authored a library of excellent reference books, which have made the name Dennis Pagen synonymous with expert knowledge in the foot launched and ultralight communities.

Jeff had already made enormous progress towards educating the PPG community through USPPA's Risk and Reward DVD, hosted by William Shatner.  However, Jeff felt that greater breadth and depth coverage of emergency situations would further improve safety.  The trick was to get the information into the community in a way that would be accepted and utilized.

Jeff's idea was to package the safety information into a full-blown reference guide for starting and succeeding in powered paragliding, thus creating an essential tool for schools and a very powerful value proposition for existing pilots.  Dennis's response was concise as ever, "Great idea, Jeff.  You write it, I'll edit."

So Jeff went to work.  Uniquely qualified, Jeff is an airline captain for Southwest with all the discipline and sophisticated training, along with years of PPG flight time in almost every wing and paramotor ever manufactured, in flight environments ranging from foot drags in Chicago snow to free flight thermaling in the California mountains.

However, Jeff's most important resource was his circle of friends in the powered paragliding and free flight community, the flight instructors.  For months, chapters of the book bounced back and forth between Jeff and more than twenty experts on towing, engine maintenance, aerodynamics, triking, ground handling, and more, searching for the absolute latest and definitive information.

Meanwhile, the visual content needed to be created.  Fortunately, Jeff is an avid photographer.  If you want to find Jeff in the sky, look for a pilot with a brake in one hand and a camera in the other.  Actually it's usually no brakes and two hands on the camera.  For the many unique photos he could not shoot himself, Jeff put the word out and hundreds of photos poured in ranging from amazing crashes to pets going tandem.

The key to a good reference book is illustrations that clearly support the text.  Jeff stretched his abilities with Photoshop to the limit to produce a unique blend of graphics and photos that create a real life yet instructive perspective.

Finally, it was time to edit.  Jeff's informal writing style put Dennis Pagen's skill, and probably his patience, to the test.  It was imperative to Jeff that all the information was practical, tidbits that you could easily take out into the field with you and actually use them.  In fact, Jeff personally tested every bit of knowledge out in the field to make sure it was correct AND clear.

As a newbie, getting the PPG Bible is a no-brainer.   From choosing equipment, your first solo, or the thought process in an emergency, this book has it all and more.  Even for experienced pilots, just one tip from this book can save you a lot of hassle and money and pain.  Free flight pilots transitioning to powered will find the Bible very valuable.  Because the book is well organized by subject, PG pilots will be able to quickly find and brush up on subjects like airspace, engine maintenance, and an entire chapter dedicated to PG to PPG transition.

Veteran PPG pilot Michael Purdy of World Talk Radio's Powered Paragliding Show summed up his read of the PPG Bible, "I didn't know what I didn't know."  Great job, Jeff, Dennis, and all those who contributed to this amazing work.