1/3/2024 0 Comments First hang glider![]() As usual, he would be crammed into a seat with his knees up around his ears where he would have to wrestle for an armrest and endure a seat back being lowered into his lap. He was going home the way most of us do, aboard a commercial airliner. ![]() ![]() I was headed to my next stop and Gray was headed home. Instead, we went back to the hotel and took showers, filling the bathtub drain with about two pounds of sand. The instructors did not let go of the tethers and Gray did not get his opportunity to fly away. He would’ve circled the dunes a few times, smiling down at us, ignoring our pleas to land, until an unexpected updraft pushed him even higher and he was a mere speck to us, 29,000 feet up over Albemarle Sound, heading toward France, a powerful wind behind him. He would’ve pulled the cross bar in, gaining loft, grinning maniacally as he ascended into the clouds. They would’ve yelled at him to push the cross bar out, to stall the glider and drop, but Gray would’ve ignored them, seeing the opportunity to test the capabilities of the craft. To avoid pulling Gray off to one side, the other instructor would’ve had to let go too, and Gray would’ve been on his way. We nodded nervously and got into position.Ī park service employee gives a lecture about the Wright Brothers first flight at the Wright Brothers National Monument at Kitty Hawk. They not let us be carried off by the wind. We were going to have to push and yank on that cross bar like a slave ship’s oar if we were going to make any headway in this gale. Today, however, they told us to forget all that. One of the most common mistakes beginners make is to be too abrupt with the cross bar, thrusting and jerking on it, when what’s required is a soft touch. By gently pulling it toward you, you catch the wind and ascend, by pushing it away you slow and drop. You hang suspended from a harness beneath the kite within a triangular control frame. Our instructors agreed to instruct us.įlying a hang glider is a subtle business. We were leaving the next day and would not be returning. One by one, our fellow students threw in the towel. As Gray was reaching the end of his flight a sudden gust caught his wings, lifting him higher, nearly pulling one of the instructors off his feet.
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