He’s been working on the idea for some years, as a way to solve transport problems on landing. Paragliders who fly regularly from Combe Gibbet have flown as far as the South Coast, but have to hitchhike or arrange to be picked up when they land.

“The bikes are getting lighter, and the wings are getting lighter, so in about five years I think they’ll be about the half the weight they are now,” he said.

But after the flight, he seemed less sure if the extra weight was worth the effort.

"It could be done again, but probably with lighter equipment,” he said, adding that his paraglider - a U-Turn Obsession - had performed well under the extra weight.

"I’ve set the ball rolling, but I might wait for the equipment to get lighter before I try it again.”

The bike, donated by ATB Sales at St Leonards on Sea, will instead be sold, with the money split between the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance and The Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading.

Now in his third decade of paragliding, Mr Hibbit, 60, has lost none of his enthusiasm for the sport.

“You can be wing tip to wing tip with red kites which fly around here. There really is nothing better,” he said.

Paragliders fly by finding and circling columns of rising air, known as thermals, which lifts them to altitudes of 5,000 feet.

Once they have reached cloud base, they can travel cross country by moving between thermals.