| Hang Gliding - Proving the Wright brothers wrong in Majahua |
by Mike Robertson
February 2004
December 17th 2003 marked the 100 year anniversary of the famous ‘first powered flight’ at Kitty Hawk. Many regard this as the beginning of flight.
A glorious achievement sure enough, but to many aviation purists the Wrights took a wrong turn that sidelined sky sailing for seventy-five years. Without meaning to diminish their contribution to the air age, as after all the Wright brothers were behind some major breakthroughs, they were wrong to malign flight without power. And they were wrong to discredit the ‘true’ grandfather of flight, Lillienthal, on the basis that weight shift control could never work. After all, Lillienthal made hundreds of flights ten years before the Wrights; his ethos was at the time contrary to the goal of personal aviation: he disliked the idea of adding power. He dreamed of flight for the average guy, and envisioned the masses flying from mountains just as they now do on hang gliders and paragliders.
The Wright brothers were remiss in ignoring what is surely the coolest aspect of the entering the air. They were so focused on the goal of powered flight they probably didn’t notice how groovy gliding was. The exhilaration found during free flight is fantastic. The famous and prolific aviation author and long-time pilot of everything with wings, Richard Bach (Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, etc.), said “One’s enjoyment of the air is in inverse proportion to the speed and height one flies over the ground.” In an article he wrote for the New York Times he professed his passion for paragliding. Tons of other ‘heavy iron’ pilots fly hang gliders for fun, because flying is a feeling, and hang gliding lets you feel you’ve grown wings. Personal flight can be seen as a metaphor for flying without wings. It is a type of yoga, a physical meditation. The peace that one feels floating effortlessly for an hour on the air currents is a perspective-altering experience. In ‘Running From Safety’, Bach says the human spirit also craves at least the illusion of risk to feel alive. The therapeutic value of flying freely is an unexpected bonus: we had a student who lost 50 lbs and gave up his anti-depression drug dependency once he became an air junkie.
Sky sailing is a regular Joe’s virtual reality. If you wish to free your body and mind and fly like the birds, High Perspective Inc. (www.flyhigh.com) is offering tandem (certified pilot and passenger) discovery flights through Jaguar tours (5532862) at Majahua Beach just North of Troncones. Here’s how it works; you’re in a prone position, harnessed beside your certified pilot, who briefs you about what to expect and explains that a hang glider is controlled by weight shift. The glider, which is certified in the US to carry 5,000 lbs, is on wheels so no part of your body touches the sand - go barefoot! A $30,000 hydrostatic, hydraulic winch powered by a 4 cylinder car engine is 750 meters up the beach. When all is ready, your pilot instructs the winch operator to begin, and the glider is pulled toward the winch and lifted effortlessly into the air. When the desired altitude is reached (normally about 750 feet), the winch line is released and the glider is free to soar like a bird. Flight altitudes of 1500 to 2500 feet can be easily achieved by ‘stepping’, and time in the air varies with the air currents and height achieved. It could be anywhere from 5 to 50 minutes but the experience is not about time; it’s more about the feeling of floating effortlessly on thermals, and the amazing view of ocean and countryside it offers.
Mike Robertson is a hang-gliding veteran currently based in Troncones, where he operates a unique flying school. With 40 years in the business, Mike has trained over 10,000 students and flown 12,000 tandems without a scratch - he actually invented several safety features for the sport. In fact, you’ve probably already seen him on the big screen as the hang-glider pilot who flies with geese in the movie ‘Fly away Home’, and who in 1988 flew off the world’s tallest building for Diet Pepsi. |
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