I heard about that guy who crashed a powered paraglider into the torch on the Statue of Liberty and I went to

http://www.poweredparagliders.com to learn about the sport. I decided that I would definitely learn how to paraglide when I got older and got a job and my parents couldn't control me.

But then I thought that it would be kind of unethical to learn how to use the powered equipment before I got into the natural flying. So I figured I'd learn how to hanglide first then learn how to powered paraglide.

My question is, has anyone here done it? I've gone around the Internet and found out that you need about $6,000 worth in lessons and equipment to get started. How fast do you need to be able to run? Is it easy to catch thermals and ridge lift?