Learning to fly.

As our season winds down and the cross country potential fades, I begin to focus more on doing tandem flights. I got my tandem rating a couple of years ago to share the sport with my nonflying friends (spare me your smart ass comments). No explination or watching people fly can give you a true understanding of why it is we fly. Not until you have taken to the sky in a hang glider can you really begin to understand what it is that drives us.

After taking a solo flight Saturday afternoon and not able to get any higher than I did off tow I offered to do some tandems and started setting up the tandem glider. I took Jamie up first. Jamie had paid for beginer lessons but was never able to make it out for the course. He spotted gliders on Rick Millers car in the city and wondered over to introduce himself. Rick brought him out to watch us tow. After watching us for a couple hours he was thrilled to have the chance to finally go for a flight. Towing through some light lift gave him butterflys on tow but loved the smooth air once off tow. He's ready to take up his training now.

After coming back to earth the guys pressured Julie into going next. She has a fear of hieghts and was a little reluctant to go. Julie is Cal Neff's girl friend and I could see he was more excited about her first flight than she was. I've seen this in a few of my friends when I have taken thier girl friends for a flight. As I mentioned it's not possible to explain hang gliding to some one, you have to do it to understand. The guys know what the girls are about to experience from thier own first high flights. It's a chance to share thier pasion with some one they care about. For me it's like doing a tandem for two people. Julie was a great passanger. Cal and Julie are an awsome couple and great to hang out with. Hopefully we don't bore Julie to the point she dosn't want to hang out with us.

I'm going to teach a few people to fly doing tandem flights. With any luck we'll have some nice weather this fall.

Facebook Julie Kozak's Photos - Julie in the sky with diamonds