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OC Keith's first
Powered Paragliding flight 11-16-2008
November 16, 2008 OC Keith learned to fly his
new powered paraglider with world famous Bob Armond out of Thousand Oaks
California. We all met at the Salton Sea in Southern California. We got
there on Friday and it was windy and nasty out... it did not look good.
We got up on Saturday morning and did a couple
hours of classroom instruction all about what can kill you and what can keep
you alive. Then we did some dry runs on the quad (without the glider) up and
down the sand to learn how to throttle the brakeless beast, where to place
our hands and a bunch of other stuff. Then late in the day we attached the
paraglider to the quad and did some taxi runs until we had it down. Learning
to taxi is one of the most important parts.. it is when you are under power,
but not off the ground yet and you have to control the glider high above you
and keep it straight up in the air. If you take off and it is off to the
side... well, you can figure it out!
On Sunday morning, we did one more taxi run to
freshen up and then I got to go first for our first solo flight. I strapped
myself in and hit the throttle. It's a little intimidating when you are
bouncing around, looking up in the air and can't see where you are going,
the roaring of the engine and trying to control the throttle and brakes. All
of a sudden, you are 2 inches in the air and you are flying and it is so
awesome. In just a couple of minutes you are well over 500 feet in the air
and everything is getting real small. You can dangle your legs and let go of
the controls and you just glide and the wind takes you.
SPECIAL NOTE: It sure would be cool to
see some of you that might be interested in this sport to get a glider and
join me in the desert. They don't cost any more than a quad and WOW... what
a blast! If you have any interest at all, just visit my website and contact
me: www.ParaglidingDepot.com
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