everyWEDNESDAY
The weekly feature page of the University Daily Kansan October 18. 1977
Wind Riders
"When you are up there the feeling is unbelievable." Eighty members of the KU Hanggliding Club enjoy that feeling almost whenever the wind is right.
"Everybody dreams of flying," says Randy Hansen.
But Hansen and about 80 other members of the KU Hang Glding Club don't just play football.
Soaring gracefully through the sky, hands gripping the handles of a large kite attached to a harness on their backs, most flyers experience a feeling they never had before.
"It just blows your mind," Hansen, Lawrence senior and club president, said recently. "It's a great feeling when you're in it." The team's president, not named, never talked to anyone who didn't love it.
"The first time you get a good flight, you're hooked," he said. "you're amazed with the view."
Despite the "simplify," the beginners must go through rigorous training before they are ready.
Greg Brimhall, Salt Lake City senior who started flying last spring, said he had a dream of making his resume.
"Flying takes a complete knowledge of everything before you can get off the ground," Rich Sales, Chicago graduate student and instructor教师, said "We to teach these students how to fall on the ground. If you without the knowledge, you'll just hurt yourself."
Initial lessons in hang gliding are done in the classroom. Here the beginner learns the basics.
After a student has gained confidence in running with the kite, the next step is a jump.
The next step of training is ground school, where the beginner gets practical instruction in setting up and taking down the kite. This part of the preparation, which usually takes place on a parking lot or at the top of a hill, also includes preparation for flying the kite, taught how to run with the kite and how the body, harness is connected to the elider.
covers about 20 feet and the flyer rarely gets more than two or three feet off the ground.
Relatively small hills and light winds are necessary for beginning hang griers. At the edge of a slope, the student faces the wind and begins running as fast as possible into it. He begins to ease the nose of the kite as it airs with air, and the flyer becomes airborne.
The initial flight creates a feeling of euphoria, which sales described: "The first time your mind cannot handle it. You're flying, it's a kick."
James Sharry, Lawrence sophomore, said, "The first time you are amazed at being off the ground; it's hard to comprehend. 'It's more of a blank feeling of disbelief.' It's exciting to be able to run off a hill and take off."
But hang gliding is not something to be taken lightly no matter how much fun it is.
The club meets every Wednesday in 2002 Learned Hall for class sessions and goes to a nearby hill to fly as often as twice a week. The club also is planning trips to Heavenly, Oka., during Thanksgiving with Wildmaker, Utah, during spring break.
"It requires a clear conscience," Hansen said. "You have to have your head together because you can lose it fast. You can't be thinking of something else."
Story by Blake Gamprecht
Almost amazing as the flight itself is the growth the club has experienced since it was founded. The team started with two members but the number soared lash spring to 50. This fall, 80 members are paying dues, which are $13 a semester to cover the cost of kits and other expenses.
Cynthia Piel, Winfield sophomore, gets the fee of holding and running with the kite during one of the ground school sessions.
"It's a growing sport, it's in the public eye," Hansen said. "Different people are attracted for different reasons. Some do it, some don't. Others do it because it looks interesting."
Photos by Paul Rose
Rich Sales gets in some last words (left before one of the beginning students takes her first flight. After a good day of flying (above) the gliders are packed up and everyone goes home to think about the next time.