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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Soaring With The Birds Hang Gliders’ Skyward Flights Provide High-Altitude Adventure

Nathan Joyce Correspondent

Adrenaline junkies who get their kicks from extreme sports may want to give hang gliding a miss.

“Adrenaline junkies seem to come and go real quick in these sports,” said Dale Sanderson, a certified hang gliding instructor and owner of West Inland Air Sports, based in Spokane. “If they have any sense at all about them or any self-preservation skills in their brain, they scare themselves at some point and then realize this sport isn’t for them.”

Those interested in learning to fly need to be patient and learn the many technical aspects of this sport, says Sanderson. A hang gliding veteran of 22 years, Sanderson has taught many of the 200 or so people who engage in the sport around the Inland Northwest.

“It’s the closest thing to becoming a bird without growing wings,” said Justin Hughes, one of Sanderson’s students. “There are words by Leonardo Da Vinci, who said, ‘Once you’ve flown you’ll walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you’ve been and there you long to return.’ It really applies to hang gliding. Once you’ve done it, you’ll never look up in the air the same way again.”

For $400 to $600 you can get started with lessons, a textbook, use of equipment and the chance to be certified with a beginner’s ranking by the United States Hang Gliding Association.

Beginners start by running with the glider on the ground - learning to make the wind work for them - and taking short flights attached to a wire and controlled by the instructor. Three days of ground school are also required to start learning the subtleties of the weather.

Next, the student tries for a novice ranking. With instructor supervision, the pilot begins to take higher altitude flights trying to master “ridge soaring.” When wind hits the base of a mountain it is forced upward, creating conditions the pilot can soar on all day.

As hang glider pilots become more experienced, they become schooled in meteorology, physics and topography, skills vital to mastering the sport.

The advanced pilot, using skills gained from time as an intermediate pilot, learns to catch “thermals” - pockets of air that rise - and ride them to the cloud base.

Cross-country hang gliding is also something an advanced pilot begins to master. According to Sanderson, flights of up to 100 miles aren’t unusual in Eastern Washington. Learning Federal Aviation Administration regulations are also required at this point, as many hang gliders will come in contact with small planes.

“When you nail your first cross-country flight and fly 70 or 80 miles, or the first time you nail a thermal and make it all the way to cloud base; when you suddenly start freezing in the middle of summer; when the haze starts getting around underneath your glider and the ground completely hazes out and your wires start to ice up in the middle of July; it’s a thrill. An earned thrill,” said Sanderson.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: TOWING HANG GLIDERS ON END OF TETHER PROVIDES VALUABLE TOOL FOR INSTRUCTORS Tow hang gliding, which has been around as long as traditional hang gliding, is increasing in popularity. It’s origin has been traced to Australia in the late 1960s and migrated to Texas and Miami in the early ‘70s. Towing can occur off either a boat or a truck. When the vehicle gains enough speed, the glider is released on a tether and flies up to 2,000 feet. When the pilot is ready, he can release the glider and fly back down to the tow and do it all over again. “All instructors are starting to recognize towing as a valuable tool,” said Dale Sanderson of Spokane, a certified instructor. While teaching traditional hang gliding takes a lot of time with the instructor running after the student to help drag the glider to the top of a hill, towing in tandem with the instructor rids them of this problem. There is an added benefit when towed by a boat, as a glider equipped with pontoons is easier and safer to land and increases the speed and ease in which the student learns, Sanderson said. Towing also has additional recreational and educational values. A pilot can use the towing systems to help launch flights for trips covering several miles. Curious parties can go up in tandem to see if they are interested in taking up the sport. - By Nathan Joyce

This sidebar appeared with the story: TOWING HANG GLIDERS ON END OF TETHER PROVIDES VALUABLE TOOL FOR INSTRUCTORS Tow hang gliding, which has been around as long as traditional hang gliding, is increasing in popularity. It’s origin has been traced to Australia in the late 1960s and migrated to Texas and Miami in the early ‘70s. Towing can occur off either a boat or a truck. When the vehicle gains enough speed, the glider is released on a tether and flies up to 2,000 feet. When the pilot is ready, he can release the glider and fly back down to the tow and do it all over again. “All instructors are starting to recognize towing as a valuable tool,” said Dale Sanderson of Spokane, a certified instructor. While teaching traditional hang gliding takes a lot of time with the instructor running after the student to help drag the glider to the top of a hill, towing in tandem with the instructor rids them of this problem. There is an added benefit when towed by a boat, as a glider equipped with pontoons is easier and safer to land and increases the speed and ease in which the student learns, Sanderson said. Towing also has additional recreational and educational values. A pilot can use the towing systems to help launch flights for trips covering several miles. Curious parties can go up in tandem to see if they are interested in taking up the sport. - By Nathan Joyce