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