Why the cool kids do it....

On Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 11:58:25 PM UTC-6, Paul Villinski wrote:
Paragliding is the only soaring sport that's actually growing, and this pretty much explains it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjxkXNC31Z4
Or, any other vid by Jean-Baptiste Chandelier.

I started out flying sailplanes at 18 and that started my aviation career which I still make a living at today. I use to ride my bike 20 miles one way to the glider field just to soar and I would love to jump off a dune with a PG, it is so simple and free. But today I put my ship together, that takes time and effort, I get a tow and let go, that costs money and then with my O2 in my nose like a man on life support it is up to me how far, how high and how fast I go. It never seems to get old, sitting at 15000 feet looking down or screaming across a mountain top knowing I am only separated from falling by a piece of glass and my ass. My smile goes from ear to ear when I am strapped in to my cockpit and yes sometimes my butt will pucker when I make a bad call or fly out into the open blue in hopes of some lonely thermal but in the end to me I am flying with all my skill and knowledge of the sky and it only this that keeps me from falling out of the sky.

Yeah...

On 3/10/2015 2:18 PM, wrote:
On Thursday, March 5, 2015 at 11:58:25 PM UTC-6, Paul Villinski wrote:
Paragliding is the only soaring sport that's actually growing, and this pretty much explains it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjxkXNC31Z4
Or, any other vid by Jean-Baptiste Chandelier.
I started out flying sailplanes at 18 and that started my aviation career which I still make a living at today. I use to ride my bike 20 miles one way to the glider field just to soar and I would love to jump off a dune with a PG, it is so simple and free. But today I put my ship together, that takes time and effort, I get a tow and let go, that costs money and then with my O2 in my nose like a man on life support it is up to me how far, how high and how fast I go. It never seems to get old, sitting at 15000 feet looking down or screaming across a mountain top knowing I am only separated from falling by a piece of glass and my ass. My smile goes from ear to ear when I am strapped in to my cockpit and yes sometimes my butt will pucker when I make a bad call or fly out into the open blue in hopes of some lonely thermal but in the end to me I am flying with all my skill and knowledge of the sky and it only this that keeps me from falling out of the sky.

--
Dan Marotta