Flying lessons from the Hillbilly Jedi

For quite some time now, my co-worker Britton, aka. hillbillyjedi, has been offering to take me for a tandem paragliding ride but circumstances never allowed me to go in the past. This Saturday the planets aligned just right, and I was able to go. All I can say is "WOW!"

We left drill a little early...Shhh, don't tell anyone! I met up with Andria and the kids in Hackett and we drove to Talihina, OK to Buffalo Mountain which is where one of the launch sites is located. Britton had gone on a little before because he knew we would be pressed for time.

When we arrived, Britton had everything laid out and ready to go, all I had to do was strap into a harness, hook up to the paraglider, and jump off the side of a mountain...easy enough right? We ran about 5-6 steps and we were immediately airborne, with no sound except the rushing wind, it's really quite relaxing once you get over the whole idea of jumping off the side of a mountain!

The leaves are really starting to change and the colors were really bright and beautiful. All the red, green, yellow, and brown leaves makes an really awesome sight from the air!

Britton being the brave instructor that he is, gave me the controls and let me fly the wing all the while giving me instruction on what inputs to give the wing to make it do what I wanted. It's very easy to fly and really, it's quite inexpensive in terms of having the ability to fly. Compared to the cost of owning even a quarter of an airplane, this is cheap flying and it's extremely fun! I'm considering it, but not sure how Andria will take it since I change hobbies like I change underwear! "Yes, that is everyday, sometimes twice! I know, Too Much Information!

What I really need to do is combine all my hobbies. So it would go something like this...I would ride a motorcycle pulling a trailer with my paraglider, my 4 wheeler, my golf clubs, my camera, and my hunting gear up to the mountains. I would launch my paraglider to scout for deer from the air and then take pictures with my camera. As I got close to the landing site I would pull out my driver and use it like a polo mallet to hit a few golf balls before landing the paraglider. I would then land the paraglider at the bottom of the hill and ride the 4 wheeler back to camp to grab my deer stand and my rifle. I would then go to where I spotted the deer, put up my stand and hunt. After harvesting the biggest buck in Arkansas, I would load up all my stuff and take a relaxing motorcycle ride back to Greenwood, stopping along the way to take pictures. How's that for combining a whole bunch of hobbies into one day....Oooh, I left out scuba diving, I'll have to somehow work that one in the scenario even though I haven't been diving in several years, oh well! Andia is always getting on to me about my numerous hobbies and the gear or machinery that usually accompanies said hobby! Men are just looking for adventure, nevermind the scuba gear sitting in mini storage, or the deer rifle that gets used a few times a year...ha ha

We flew back over the launch site and waved to Andria and the kids and then flew all along the ridge for an hour or so before setting up for a perfect landing. As we flew over the landing site Britton asked if I wanted to do some tight spiral turns, to which I replied "Absolutely!" We did some tight spins which puts a small amount of G-force on your body. It was no where close to the 9 G's that I pulled during my F-16 ride but it was still a thrill.

This is a picture of the wing while we were flying. I thought it was cool because of how blue the sky was in the background.



This is a picture of the landing site

When we were about 50 ft above the ground, I slipped out of my comfortable seat and hung in the harness in preparation for landing. At about 10 ft above the ground I began running in mid air and then just like that, we were running along the ground and then stopped before I really knew what had happened. Overall, it was a great way to end a stressful day at drill and see God's creation from a totally new perspective. I highly recommend giving it a try if you ever get the chance.

Below are some more photos of Buffalo Mountain, I really like the changing colors of the Ozarks in the fall.

Proverbs 21:13 "He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor Will also cry himself and not be answered."