The dinner was from Smokey Mo's BBQ. Following dinner, the Flight Captain
reconvened the meeting. A motion was made and seconded to accept the Minutes of
the past meeting as written.
Dan
Waddle introduced our guest speaker, Jim King, also known as Sky. Sky had always
wanted to fly, and about eight years ago, he took a course in powered
paragliding. To take off, you run as fast as you can with a 70 pound motor. With
6 MPH air over the wing, you can retract your feet. Landing is easy with just 2
steps to stop. Everything can go into the trunk of a car. Paragliding is safer
than riding a motorcycle, but not as safe as a car. Is the thrill worth the
risk.....it is a resounding yes. The fatality rate is about the same as general
aviation. Sky has landed in cactus, stickers, and a tree, but walked away from
all of them. The tree looked pretty good after avoiding a baseball backstop and
a tin building.
Some rules he has learned: fly only within 3 hours of sunrise or sunset. Don't
fly into trees, they are not as soft as they look. Stay within gliding distance
of land.
About 5% of the pilots are women. Some women and some men use a wheeled dolly to
support the weight of the motor. It works well if you have a smooth surface. The
motor is strong enough to get you airborne. Another advantage to this type of
flying is that there is no license, and no medical, and all you have to do is
stay out of controlled airspace. Common sense is a must; so don't annoy people
with your low flying. The mother of a teenage daughter taking an outdoor shower
complained about low flyers. (I'm sure both were surprised.)
Sky has been to a couple of events where there were about 200 pilots. Powered
gliders have been used in search and rescue and cattle round-ups, but you can't
use them for commercial uses....just for fun. Sky flies about once a week, and
the thrill is still there after 8.5 years. It's the view, the wind in his face,
and truly a dream come true.
The Flight Captain closed the meeting
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