We had to cancel twice before b/c of wind direction, but when we called this day, Fred the Flight Instructor peered through his binoculars to the top of the 3500 ft mountain and told us to come on out. Katie and I grabbed Atom and were in Sylmar a short 35min later. We hopped in the full size '88 Chevy van that had 330,000 miles with 3 paragliders filling the back seat. 80 yr old retired glider 'Rome handled the curvy dirt roads with ease all the while sharing opinions of birth control water fountains, government regulation of who bares children and burying mexican family members in the nearby hills.
The top of the peak was cold; Katie put on every piece of clothing she had just to stay alive...and to avoid any paparazzi.
She flew first and without any hesitation ran herself off a cliff (really, I think I was more nervous than she was).
Adam and I then went down the mountain to fetch katie and reload 2 gliders onto the van rack. Unfortunately, Atom had to go see if he would get the opportunity to create a bone structure for a T-rex, but luckily the Q had just arrived in LA 3.6 minutes before Team Glide closed the van doors and headed up for round two. It was my time to fly!
I got teamed up with Andy and the Q with Fred (teh old timer who flew with Katie). Gliders are 2nd only to a fighter jet, they can hold up to 4Gs and -2Gs, which is slightly less than Naomi Watts experienced in King Kong's battle versus the T Rex. Q and I were stoked in anticipation of what was surely to be one of the greatest flights for the Crusaders.
Instructor Andy allowed me to help set up the glider poles, kite and run the safety check with him. The Q and Fred were ready first and off the cliff they went. And immediately soared upward and banked.
I could not wait any longer. To be like a bird, to be free of the earth and to taste the freedom of the skies for but a moment. To move in 3D space!
You can see in the video where he lets me take control of the glider. I steered up until we had to prepare to land. We caught a thermal, soared back over the top of the take-off point and then cruised back along the ridge of the mountain about a dozen times. I piloted turns, dives and even a stall that made my stomach a bit queasy.
Its all rather simple to get the hang of it, the real trick is just moving your entire body to one side of the glider (meaning you get a slight core workout). It was a great 15 minute flight, though it could have been longer, but it started to rain on us and we lost all upward thermals. When you start to descend at 1200ft per minute (which is difficult to tell while in the glider, except for the constant beeping of the fancy shmancy computer. Normal descent is about 200ft per minute on a good day). I was a bit sad, but to be honest, it was a great flight and the rain was coming down so hard I couldn't see anymore. Andy got pretty nervous being in the clouds and the color of them, so he pulled the bar close to his chest and we soared toward the landing strip. 
A most exhilirating ride. Thanks Rock and thanks Sids for the chance to soar to the heights of Icarus.
3 comments:
oh that looks totally mcawesome!!
awesome!! so glad you got to do that!!
that is really cool. I want to try. was landing hard? :)
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