Hang-Gliding
Insider Info
A form of motorless flight, hang-gliding allows humans to soar, to control
their own fabric wings and take an unobstructed look at the world from above.
Avid hang-gliders say this sport is as close as you'll come to flying like
a bird.
Hang-gliders use their feet to launch themselves into flight. Suspended
by a harness attached to a set of framed wings, these pilots run toward a
cliff or off the edge of a high hill and then, when they feel the air pushing
them off the ground, they begin to float.
Thermal winds -- strong vertical winds, or updrafts -- can make a single
flight last three hours or more. Ultimately, this is what most pilots are
after.
When hang-glider Lynn McLaughlin started flying, she was told by a friend,
"You will look at the world differently now than you ever have." And her friend
was right -- McLaughlin's constantly looking at the sky.
"Part of the problem is that you may walk into trees because your face
will be looking up!" she says.
Gliders have to be able to read clouds and winds in order to know when
it's safe to fly. So, gazing at the sky becomes a necessary pastime. "You
go through a lot of training to read the conditions and understand what's
going on," says glider Kerry Grant.
"So if the conditions just aren't right, you don't fly....If you're flying
under good conditions and you're following all of the different rules and
protocols, you're not going to have a scratch on you."
Not a scratch? Twenty-five years ago, nobody would have believed it. During
the '70s, hang-gliding gained popularity as a daredevil's sport, one reserved
for adrenaline junkies.
Guys would order kits from magazine ads and put their gliders together
at home. Some even crafted their own wings using the family sewing machine.
The sport was unregulated and people were eager to figure it out on their
own.
However, too little was known and too many fatal mistakes were made. There
were practically no instructors around to teach people how to fly safely.
So, most pilots were self-taught and they learned to glide through trial and
serious error.
Hang-gliding has come a long way since then. Most importantly, it's much
safer in the 21st century. Gliders are now made to strict standards and instruction
has been standardized.
The United States Hang-Gliding Association (USHGA) has developed a pilot
and site rating system. This means that gliding sites are assigned a skill
level -- much like ski hills are rated with a green circle, a blue square
or a black diamond.
On regulated sites, pilots aren't allowed to fly without showing their
official rating. Hang-gliders may apply for pilot rating through the USHGA
.
Kris Greblo has been hang gliding since 1986. "The knowledge
has come such a long way that it's almost a changed sport than it was back
then," she says.
Still, several fatal hang-gliding accidents have occurred in recent years.
And injuries such as broken bones can happen when winds push a glider into
an area not fit for landing. You must be extremely safety-conscious to succeed
in this sport. "There is risk," says McLaughlin. "It's aviation."
Perhaps the most important thing that pilots are learning in 2000 is judgment.
A good pilot has to be willing not to fly in conditions that aren't right.
A pilot, says McLaughlin, has "to be able to go up to launch, after driving
two or three hours, wanting to fly more than anything in the world and then
look at the conditions and say, 'It's not safe. Today, I don't fly.'"
Regulations and safety precautions haven't changed the beauty and excitement
of the sport one single bit. "Flying is flying," says Greblo. "Flying through
the air like Superman hasn't changed." Most hang-glider pilots are still in
it for the rush and the feeling of accomplishment at the end.
Others go on to pursue careers as instructors or as designers and makers
of hang-gliders and accessories.
There is definitely a competitive edge to the sport as well. For example,
each year hang-glider and paraglider pilots from across Canada gather in Golden,
British Columbia, for the Western Canadian Hang-Gliding Championship.
In 2000, Grant and his son, Allan, set a new Canadian record for tandem
paragliding at the nationals in Golden. They were in the air for 4.5 hours
and traveled a distance of 73 miles-- the longest flight of its kind ever
in Canada.
Around 1986, there was a shift in soaring sports from hang-gliding to a
relatively new sport called paragliding. The main difference between the two
sports is in the design of the glider.
Hang-gliders are typically capable of much higher speeds and they require
the pilot to lie prone (flat, with his face downwards). Paraglider pilots
are suspended in a sitting position.
Many pilots do both sports, while others, like Grant, have switched over
completely. The main reason for the switch, suggests Grant, is that paragliders
are simply easier to transport. They fit into a backpack and typically weigh
about 30 pounds.
Gliding sports don't demand a lot of physical strength. After running to
launch, the pilot mainly uses their arms to pull on toggles, which manoeuvre
the wings. After hours of flying, however, your arms will certainly be burning
with exhaustion!
People in wheelchairs have flown with great success, though it's not common.
The pilot needs an off-road wheelchair. As well, the pilot will need some
assistance in stabilizing the chair and getting set up for launch
A paraplegic man in British Columbia, Canada, became a certified novice
pilot in 1999. Grant explains briefly how it works.
"When the conditions are good, he starts rolling forward and gets the glider
inflated. [He] just keeps rolling along down the hill and the glider picks
him up and off he goes. Once he's airborne, he'd be every bit as good at controlling
the glider as somebody who has use of their legs."
According to Grant, there aren't nearly as many female pilots as there
are male pilots. He estimates that, for every woman in the sport, there are
at least five guys.
Getting Started
What do you need to get started? Most importantly, you'll need lessons.
"Without lessons, a person is really asking for trouble," warns Grant.
Learning to fly, say expert gliders, isn't all that difficult. According
to FlyBC Airsports, a paragliding school, it takes about 30 supervised flights
before a student is competent enough to fly without much guidance.
This sport isn't cheap. A full set of lessons generally runs around $1,000.
However, this gets you to the point at which you're safely able to fly solo.
While in training, you'll use the school's gliders. But eventually, you'll
need your own. Gliders can be rented for about $200 per day and can be purchased
for between $2,500 and $6,000.
Keep your eyes open for used gliders as well. There are many second-hand
beginners' gliders out there that have barely been used. "You can have it
checked out by an instructor to make sure it's fine," says Grant.
Harnesses -- which must be custom-fit to each glider -- are sold separately
for $200 to $750. Most gliders wear helmets ($100) and most choose to carry
altimeters and wind meters while they're gliding.
Many gliders also wear backup parachutes and protective gear, such as helmets.
These add to the cost, but their safety functions are priceless.
If you think this sport might be out of your budget for the time being,
you're probably right. In fact, there aren't too many kids involved in this
sport because of the costs involved, says Grant. "Most of the people in the
sport are in their mid-20s to 40s," he says.
Greblo adds, "I think if I was going to college and tried to do it now,
it would be out of my range."
In addition to some spending money and a sense of adventure, you'll need
a grasp of hang-gliding terms to get started. The sport has developed a vocabulary
all its own.
Associations
United States Hang-Gliding & Paragliding Association
Internet
:
http://www.ushpa.org/
Links
Gliding FAQs
Everything you wanted to know and more about hang-gliding and
paragliding
How Hang Gliding Works
Learn the science behind sailing across the skies
Back to Career Cluster