Hang Gliding

Try your hand at hang gliding without ever leaving San Joaquin

by JEREMY FLETCHER

Rich Palmon has no problem pushing the limits of what others think possible. Take flying for example. Catching a swell of wind and gliding among the clouds might seem a far reach to many, and even scary to others. After his first hang gliding experience, Palmon was already looking for a way to get people in the air quicker and higher. Mission accomplished.

Introducing the Flight Deck at Tracy Municipal Airport, which combines the best of hang gliding (flying, soaring, turning) and none of the worst (crashing, falling, hurting oneself). Created by Palmon, the one-of-a-kind Flight Deck brings together the hang glider and a flatbed trailer. At four points, along the sides, the back, and the front of the trailer, the glider is harnessed to the flatbed, giving the student a chance to feel the lift without… well, lifting off.

Safety-wise, the Flight Deck is just as much about what the glider allows Palmon to do, as it is about what it allows the student not to do. The hang gliding simulator gives Palmon the ability to stand just a few feet away, guiding fliers on the finer points of lift, pull, and roll, while not allowing the glider to slide off the trailer, become airborne, and have the possibility to crash.

“With this system the student can only go so far off course, a matter of a few feet,” says Palmon. “I can tether the student so he can feel the lift and drop of the wind beneath the glider, but without the risk of crashing and losing control.”

Palmon has taken hang gliding from an extreme sport that’s rare and difficult to learn, into a skill the average person can try his hand at before sundown. For fliers that want to master hang gliding, he has also effectively shortened the learning curve from three to four months down to a few weeks. The hardest part of learning an extreme sport like water skiing, or in this case, hang gliding, is the starting and stopping. With this system of pulleys in place, he can teach the various skills in 10 percent of the time it would normally take.

“I am able to stand right up there with you on the platform and correct things as the truck generates wind speed,” says Palmon. “In the past, we’d just run off small hills and it would take months of time to teach that which I can now do in one afternoon.”

 Palmon’s flight school, Dive High, offers lessons in two hour blocks. His “crash course” consists of on-the-ground learning, feeling your way around the glider, learning the proper movements to use once you’re airborne, and simulating the feeling of lift simply through wind resistance on the ground. A safety helmet, straps, and a harness later, and his students are introduced to his creation.

As the sport of hang gliding becomes more and more popular in San Joaquin, Palmon has seen his business take off—no pun intended. Visit Dive High’s website, www.gohangglide.com, for more details about your first flight, as well as videos and facts about how to get airborne.