Travel and Tour Guides

Many of our travel guides offer extensive information about what to do, where to stay, and how to get there.

UP, UP and AWAY

By Carole Herdegen

Did you ever imagine or dream about running down a steep hill and taking off like a bird? Or maybe think about what it must have been like for Orville and Wilbur Wright when, for the first time in history, they lifted off the ground for a full 12 seconds in their flying machine? Perhaps, you even pondered about what it would be like to fly through clouds like a bird or to actually touch a cloud.

Did you ever want to experience the adrenaline rush of free falling from an airplane - or, to hear the wind catching the Dacron wings of your hang glider or ultra light plane? Today, these are all very realistic adventures now available to the novice thrill seeker because they are offered as safe, tandem activities.

In December 1903, the Wright Brothers chose the sand dunes of Jockey Ridge at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on the Outer Banks as the testing site for their new flying machine. The high sand dunes on these barrier islands, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Sound, have consistent wind conditions and provide relatively soft sand landing conditions, perfect for launching a flying machine. Last December, we celebrated the centennial anniversary of their successful attempt to become airborne in a heavier-than-air machine.

This article is about three extreme adventures I recently and personally enjoyed in which I did not have to take lessons, qualify, become certified or even licensed. After being suited up with the proper equipment and a short drill, I was ready for the thrill of a lifetime - in fact, three thrills.

The Outer Banks, North Carolina is not just about beaches. It is also well known for its steady and consistent winds. In fact, it is the windsurfing capital of the East Coast. Another sport I tried. But, for now, this is about airborne sporting activities.

The sport of hang gliding is also dependent upon these superb wind conditions. Kitty Hawk Kites is the world's largest hang gliding school and has taught more than 250,000 persons how to hang glide from its facilities nearby to where the Wright Brothers first learned to fly. After launching from a sand dune you too can learn to fly solo for up to 15 feet. It's a great way to learn the sport. But it takes time. As a journalist, I wanted to experience what it would be like to complete an even more advanced hang glider rating.

Thanks to Francis Rogallo who invented the flexible Dacron wing in 1948, a hang glider is now able to attain a height of one mile in search of the thermal winds to lift and carry a glider like the flight of a bird for long periods of time.

The North Wing Hang Glider of my tandem pilot, Monty Monta, and I was attached by rope to an Airborne ultralight plane that would tow us "up, up and away". The glider is fitted with two stacked harnesses to lie in and which accommodate the pilot on the bottom and the passenger on the top. After being belted and buckled in,

I put on a type of pilot's helmet with intercom to the pilot. The hang glider has wheels and rolls on take off by being pulled by the ultralight plane. We took off on the grass runway moving quickly until we were airborne. At 2000 feet there are 8 different safety types of releases that could be performed by the hang glider or by the ultralight pilot. After release, there was a total

environment change when the tow line was released because the ultralight engine noise was now gone and our speed was no longer dependent upon being towed but now relied only upon the prevailing air currents and our Dacron wings.

We were now flying like birds on our power - the wind. Below were beautiful white fluffy clouds and below them the green of farmlands and the blue of the sea. This is what hang gliding is all about. Just as I enjoy climbing mountains,

being up in the sky looking down on the wonderful landscape was comparably thrilling. After a few aerobatic maneuvers that to me were death defying, we floated downward and landed comfortably on the green runway just as if we were in an airplane.

As it turned out to be my "day of flight", I was also given an opportunity to fly in the two-seater ultralight plane and experience flight in much the same way the Wright Brothers must have done 100 years ago. An ultralight is similar to a motor bike however with the same type of Dacron wings of a hang glider. The plane reaches altitude quickly flying through clouds. The passenger seat is behind the pilot.

Later that same day, I flew in a 1941 Waco bi-plane that was a World War II trainer plane. Today it is used to give tours over the Outer Banks. I flew this one with some trepidation. "Can this half-century old flying machine be as safe as the newly constructed ultralight plane I had just flown?" The pilot assured me the plane was very safe. Mmmmmm "One rotor propeller engine?" I asked myself. After a twenty-minute flight, I was glad I went. Every tourist with a camera on the island must have taken our picture. It is a wonderful sight to see these old bi-planes flying and in such good condition for passenger rides.

My last extreme experience that can be accomplished with a minimum of training is tandem skydiving. However, to attempt the sport solo requires somewhat more tuition. New Zealand, and in particular, Queenstown, on the South Island is the "Adrenaline Capital of the World", the home of bungee jumping. Unfortunately, I was too apprehensive to step off the bungee platform, but I certainly was ready to sky dive in tandem from 12,000 feet.

I had just concluded a "live" radio broadcast from Nelson, New Zealand in which I interview Paul Davis, head of tourism for this South Island artist colony when I admitted my failure to bungee jump in Queenstown. Paul suggested a dive from a plane at the Nelson airfield would build far more adrenaline than a bungee jump. Before I had time to say "NO", he was on the phone making the necessary arrangements for my skydive.

At the airfield, I was dressed in a jumpsuit, helmet, goggles, and gloves and off I went to an open door plane used solely for skydiving. My tandem partner, Ryan, was a tall American.

Climbing aboard and scooting on the floor of the completely stripped interior of the plane, Ryan started making all the connections between the two of us and our parachute. We would climb to 12,000 feet.

There were 4 pairs jumping that day. At the prescribed moment, the twosomes inched forward on the floor and sat, legs dangling out of the plane. "Three, Two, One, Jump". Next, "Three, Two, One, Jump".

Next, "Three, Two, One, Jump" and then it was me. I scooted to the door and then, I said to myself, "Why did I let myself get talked into this? It's a long way down!" At 12,000 feet, nothing is recognizable. "Oh, I don't want to do this. How can I get out of this now? This is not like being chicken on the bungee platform. What do I do now?" "Three, Two, One, Jump". Guess what? I didn't jump. I was pushed. What a feeling it was to free fall. Face down, lying vertical with my expert sky diving tandem partner on top. What I can remember most about the experience was the air pressing against my chest and the sense of enormous speed. There is nothing to compare to this experience. The exhilarating rush is overwhelming. I could have closed my eyes but I would have missed the experience and I probably would never get enough courage to go on another sky dive again. And, I'm a journalist. I need to experience this to tell others. The free fall seemed forever but it was just short of one minute. The ground kept getting closer and closer and now I was beginning to recognize things like the airfield where I had just taken off. At that moment, Ryan pulled a cord and I felt I was going up. I really wasn't. I was just slowing down very quickly as the parachute unfurled and we slowly floated to the ground. This part lasted the longest and was like a ride at Disneyland. No heart-pounding, scared-to-death feelings anymore. Ryan said "knees up" and the tall American landed for me. It was another airborne experience of my life.

For information on the Outer Banks contact...
     Outer Banks Visitors Bureau
     One Visitors Center Circle
     Manteo, NC, 27954
     Website: www.outerbanks.org
     Toll Free: 877-OBX-4FUN

To participate in a hang gliding course on the Outer Banks contact...
     Kitty Hawk Kites
     Website: www.kittyhawk.com
     Toll Free: 877-359-8447

For information on bi-plane flights contact...
     Dare County Regional Airport
     In Manteo, NC
     Tel: 252-473-2600

For tourism information in New Zealand click on...
     Destination Queenstown at www.queenstownNZ.co.nz
     Latitude Nelson at www.nelson.net.nz
     Skydive Nelson at www.skydive.co.nz

Visit our store for more maps to North Carolina and New Zealand.

« Back