Es begann als kleines Unternehmen, das in einer Garage arbeitete, aber Bruce Goldsmith Design ist heute ein führender Hersteller von Qualitätsgleitschirmen und Ausrüstungen für das Gleitschirmfliegen. Inspiriert und angetrieben von Bruce, hat die Forschungs- und Entwicklungsabteilung ihren Sitz in Südfrankreich, wo immer die Sonne scheint. Der Vertrieb erfolgt in Österreich und die Produktion in Sri Lanka.
Die BGD-Familie ist stark und wir sind alle durch unsere Liebe zum Gleitschirmfliegen verbunden. Unsere Mission ist es, unseren Sport mit Freunden und Familie zu teilen. Wir lieben das Gefühl, mit der Luft verbunden zu sein, und unsere Produkte sind darauf ausgelegt. Wir produzieren sichere, unterhaltsame und frische Produkte, die immer mit der raffinierten Handhabung und den innovativen Eigenschaften geliefert werden, für die Bruce's Designs bekannt sind.
BGD ist nach Bruce, MD und Leiter des Entwicklungsteams benannt. Fliegen ist in Bruce 'DNA. In den 1980er Jahren lernte er als Ingenieurstudent am Imperial College in London Drachenfliegen und schoss schnell an die Spitze des britischen Drachenfliegens, wo er 1991 die Superleague gewann. Ab 1986 war er ein Jahrzehnt lang Mitglied des britischen Drachenfliegerteams zweimal britischer Meister im Drachenfliegen. Ab 1989 war er auch im britischen Paragliding-Team, wurde dreimal britischer Paragliding-Champion und 2007 WPRS # 1-Pilot und Weltmeister.
Der in London geborene Bruce lebt heute mit seiner Frau Arna und drei Kindern in Südfrankreich. Als Gründungsmitglied von Airwave Paragliders und Ozone entwarf er zwei Jahre lang für Advance, bevor er 2012 die BGD gründete. Bruce ist Autor, Redner und Ausbilder. Er hat eine regelmäßige Kolumne im Cross Country Magazin und ist Präsident der APPI (Association of Paragliding Pilots and Ausbilder).
Arna war die erste Isländerin, die Hängegleiter flog, als sie im Alter von 17 Jahren mit dem Fallschirmspringen von ihrem Vater angelockt wurde. Er kaufte ihr einen Wills Wing Harrier und es war Liebe auf den ersten Blick! Arna nahm an mehreren Celtic Cups in Irland und Wales teil und traf sich mit den Stars der British League. Sie lernte Bruce jedoch erst kennen, als sie sich 1997 auf einem Parkplatz in Südfrankreich trafen.
Als Bruce 'Testpilot abstürzte und ihren neuen Wettkampfschirm Airwave Magic zerstörte, lieh er ihr den Gleitschirm, mit dem ihre Gleitschirmkarriere begann. Arna und Bruce heirateten 1997 und Arna flog viel und begleitete Bruce zu bis zu 14 Wettbewerben pro Jahr. Während sie sich ein paar Jahre lang auf die Familie konzentrierte, trat das Fliegen in den Hintergrund, aber jetzt sind die Kinder erwachsen und sie ist wieder am Himmel, wo sie hingehört, auf einem Magic.
Christophs Flugkarriere wurde zum Teil von seiner damaligen Freundin im Jahr 2002 inspiriert. Er lernte das Paragliden in der Nähe seines Hauses in Wolfsberg, Österreich, und verliebte sich sofort in den Sport, indem er seinen Airwave-Paragleiter auf einigen großen Langstreckenflügen flog und brach damaligen 100 km Rekord mit großem Vorsprung. Anschließend trat er in der österreichischen A-Liga an. Der gelernte Ingenieur war beruflich an einigen großen Bauprojekten beteiligt, unter anderem am Bau von Brücken zwischen Österreich und Serbien für die PORR, eines der größten österreichischen Bauunternehmen.
Im Jahr 2012 lockte ihn ein anderes Leben, er verließ die Bauwelt und schloss sich mit Bruce und Arna zu einem aufregenden neuen Projekt zusammen - der Gründung von BGD. Christoph lebt noch immer mit seiner Frau Mila und seinem Sohn Maximillian in Wolfsberg, wo er vom österreichischen Büro und Vertriebszentrum aus den europäischen Vertrieb von BGD leitet.
Lucas started paragliding when he was 15 years old. He has always been interested in aircraft and how they fly, and studied aerodynamics at ENAC, the Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (National Civil Aviation School) in Toulouse. He works for BGD in research and development.
Bruce and Arna's eldest son, Tyr was born into paragliding and has flourished. He has already won numerous paragliding competitions (US Nationals, Rio Cup, Weightless...) and loves everything related to the air. He is a test pilot and graphic designer for BGD.
César is a professional acro pilot from Colombia. He has been flying since the age of 11, and started working as a tandem pilot at just 14 but acro has always been his number-one passion. From his first competitions at just 19, he quickly rose to the top and has stood on many podiums in individual and synchro categories.
A keen XC and hike-and-fly competition pilot, Valentin his sights set on a PWC Superfinal and maybe one day the X-Alps. He studied maths at the university of Chambéry before following his heart into the paragliding world to become a tandem professional and instructor. He joined BGD as a test pilot in 2024.
Mila lives in Wolfsberg, with her husband Christoph and son Maximillian, where she helps manage the Austrian office and distribution centre.
Maria works in the accounts department in the Austrian office. A mother of two, she loves to travel, and enjoys skiing, snowboarding and tennis in her spare time.
Irena lives in Slovenia, near the Austrian border, and looks after stock and shipping at BGD’s warehouse in Austria. Before moving to BGD she was a wood technology engineer for 25 years. She loves the great outdoors and beautiful landscapes, but she feels most connected to nature through her sports – paragliding, mountaineering, skiing, cycling and surfing.
Kay is a paraglider pilot who is enthusiastic about hike & fly, and a kiteboarder who likes to go far in the sea. He has been a computer programmer since 1994. He lives in Fethiye close to the famous paragliding site of Ölüdeniz, and is here to boost the BGD IT infrastructure.
Nikola has a short history of flying, but a passion for writing long lines of code. An in-house developer, he is responsible for the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, making sure every part of the process runs smoothly. He lives with his wife and his two children next to the oldest lake in Europe, Ohrid. He loves playing guitar and travelling.
Franck learnt to fly after a bet with his brother in 2019 and immediately fell in love with the sport. He is a trail runner, father, and general outdoor enthusiast. He has already flown several nice triangles around his home site of Aix-les-Bains and plans to break the site distance record. He is a specialist in outdoor sports marketing strategy and helps BGD with branding, social media, and marketing.
By age 16 Ant’s passion for adventure led him to paragliding. He has flown competitively since 2004 in acrobatics and cross country. Studying film, business and math he has been with BGD since the start bringing all the wild colors to the products. Ant is currently our graphic and in-house film guy and lives and works out on the open sea.
Charlie’s first paragliding flight was back in 1994, a 21st birthday gift that has kept on giving! She now flies a Echo 2, a far cry from the parachute used on that first tow launch in rural England. She lives with her family in southern France and is a daytime desk jockey who works on BGD’s newsletters, manuals, and brochures.
Agata is a bubbly Spaniard, based in Interlaken. A graduate in journalism, filmmaking and motion graphics, she is also passionate about photography and of course, paragliding. She’s been combining these passions since 2015, and is our social media guru. You'll find her, always smiling, with a camera on take-off, or working behind a screen.
Blaise learned to fly in 2009 and soon after became involved in guiding and social media for PG/PPG brands. A former tree surgeon and windsurfing instructor he has always sought adventure. He works with RISE Paragliding in SIV and ACRO, and this role was instrumental in bringing about the EPIC FreeStyle. Blaise heads up BGD's sales team and looks after our UK sales.
David CHAUMET works with R&D, and runs a service center. He has been flying sailplanes, paragliders, hang gliders, and UL aircraft since 1989 and was part of the French hangliding and paragliding team from 2002 to 2008 winning several world championship podiums in class 5 hang gliders! He's specialized in composite materials and electrical engines for aeronautical applications. Check out his electric Swift and electric paraglider.
Lucas is a medical doctor, and took up hang gliding in the early ‘80s. He flew Airwave hang gliders and paragliders – his first paraglider in 1993 was a Bruce design. He and Bruce have been friends since then, and Lucas has been with BGD from the start. He’s since thrown in the stethoscope to be BGD’s Brazilian importer. “Still working while others play”, he sighs!
Born and raised in Peru but now based in the Austrian Alps, Alex is on a lifelong quest to discover and master all types of flying, from coastal soaring, to acro, hike and fly, and most recently, the Paragliding World Cup. An avid outdoor sportsman, he now manages BGD Sales in Austria where his colourful personality is a match for the most colourful brand out there!
Yan discovered paragliding while in Nepal in 2012, a life-changing experience that led to her quitting her management consultancy career to pursue her love of free-flight. With a background in journalism and public communication, Yan is now a paragliding freelance writer and Chinese interpreter / translator, sometimes she’s even the Chinese commentator / host in flying events. Yan currently lives in Spain, and looks after BGD’s southeast Asia sales.
Mario lives, breaths, and dreams paragliding. He is always smiling and strives to share his passion with everyone. Mario lives and works mostly from home in Nesselwang, Germany.
Another medical man, orthopaedic technician and prosthetics-maker Bene was infected with the flying bug at the age of 16. Powered paragliding is the bug that has bitten the hardest, and Bene is an international competitor in classic and endurance paramotoring. He is also a PPG test pilot and has headed up BGD’s motor division since 2013.
Claudia started paragliding in 1994, and since the beginning of the millennium has worked as a professional journalist and translator specialized in paragliding and paramotor. With a deep knowledge of the sport and the Spanish-spoken scene, she oversees our sales in Spain and Latin America.
Coming from a family of pioneering pilots in Brazil, Flying is part of Raphael's DNA. He has been flying paragliders and paramotors since 2008 and works as an instructor and tandem pilot in Sri Lanka and Europe. He is passionate about XC across Brazil and paramotoring over the Amazon. Raphael knows our paramotor range well and is our international paramotor sales guy.
Anna was born and raised in the Caucasus mountains. She started paragliding in 2007 and was instantly hooked. She is an interior designer by trade but has put her artistic life aside for now and made paragliding her life. Anna is working and traveling all over the world. She is a highly skilled media creator.
Masta, born Francesco Delpiano, was infected with the paragliding virus in 2012 during a trip to Nepal. In 2018, thanks to his friend Malcom Deodati, he started flying under the colours of BGD. He lives with his partner Alessia and his son Theo in the north west of the Alps, works as a show technician and keeps an eye on sales for BGD. If he doesn't answer the phone he is probably smiling under the clouds or on a mountain take-off somewhere!
Half Swedish, Half Iranian, Navid grew up in Sweden and has lived in many places. His background is in mechanical/business engineering, and he has been passionate about extreme sports since he started learning to ride a bicycle. After reaching the top in freestyle BMX riding he turned to the sky. After skydiving and paragliding, now his big passion is paramotoring. Navid is rooted in the paramotor and paratrike world.
Valentin has been flying since the age of 21, first on planes, then moving to paragliders, drawn to it by the simplicity of an aircraft in a bag you can hike with. He loves flying vol-biv with friends, or combining it with skiing or biking – he is an avid cyclist. He studied geomorphology and is cares deeply about our environment.
Born and raised in India, Naveen played competitive basketball until the age of 21. He discovered paragliding at 23, and XC then Acro soon followed. He has worked around the world in social media and completed a BA in International Business Management. Naveen is based in India for most of the year, but works in the UK at a paragliding school during India's monsoon season, and in Ölüdeniz for the same school teaching SIV and Acro.