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Show ParaPlaning Proves Fum, Exciting and Easy by Christopher Madding Forum staff writer One early Saturday morning, I woke before daybreak, and asked myself, Why? Oh yeah, I was scheduled to learn to ParaPlane. Why do I do these things to myself? I said as I stuck my head under the facet to scare the sleepy monster out of my body. Soon I was on the road, still wondering what brought me to do this. Oh yeah, the thrill. Before I go on, let me briefly describe the ParaPlane itself. The ParaPlane has four basic parts. The airframe, which is basically a with a seat. The powerplant, which sits behind the seat and powers the propellers. The plane has two props I walked into the mobile home, where I was greeted by a cup of coffee and a series of forms to fill out. Along with the forms, I also saw two movies. The first of which gave basic instruction on operation of the ParaPlane. It told how easy it was to operate and that it is the safest form of flight today. The second film showed a lawyer saying no matter how safe a machine co-own- T-b-ar ht between and Grantsville, all I could see was a trailer 1-- 80 When it Comes to Good Punk Rock Music, Just Say Yes to NoMeansNo by Whitney Germaine Forum photo editor This is undoubtedly the first and last article that I will ever be writing for the Forum, but nonetheless, I had to share with all of our readership an experience thatyouregrettably missed. February 12th and the Speedway Cafe brought us what I would certainly consider the best concert of the new decade the exalted demigods of music, NO MEANS NO from Vancouver, B.C. For those of you not familiar with The band NoMeansNo played to a small, enthusiastic crowd at the Speedway. Issue 17 February 20, 1990 er T-b- ar placed directly behind the engine. It has the body of an ultra-ligwith one exception, it has no wing. Instead the ParaPlane is suspended in air by a parachute. The chute makes it the safest form of flight. If the engine dies you simply float to the ground. With this in mind I was ready to try it. I mean, Ive visited L. A., it cant be much worse than that. As I pulled up to the site, somewhere is, there is always the risk. . . Please sign your life away at the bottom of the page. Nelson came in and asked me if I still wanted to go. I said yes; the other two men who watched the film backed out, which left me wondering. There were a couple of people in front of me, advanced flyers well call them, which gave me the opportunity to see what I was getting myself into. After about 45 minutes the ground of man, George Sanders, ParaPlane Flight Center, motioned to me. Without a fraction of fear, call me crazed, I approached him. After a quick review of the controls and flag signals, they strapped me in. At this point I must admit a slight worry passed through my mind as I sat on a with nothing under mer Nevertheless, I put on the head set, a radio connection between the pilot and the ground, and gave the go signal. Sanders gave me the signal to start my approach. As I pushed the throttle to the half-wa-y point the vehicle began to move forward and the canopy filled with air. My approach was straight on, so I was given the signal for full throttle after which I was quickly airborne. As I looked down between my legs, the ground was getting further away. "This is no time,for paranoia, I said to myself as my body began to shake. When I leveled out at 300 feet, it was time for my first turn. Controlled by my feet, I banked into a right hand turn. Upon completion, the body of the plane swayed back under the chute. This shook me at firstbut soon I became comfortable with the feeling of flight. It is hard to describe the feeling of being 300 feet in the air, by yourself, in control of every move you make. It is a new sense of freedom, floating with nothing but air between you and the, ground. ' I used the rest of the flight to familiarize myself with the ParaPlane. I flew laps around the track while descending and climbing back to flight altitude, turning figure eights, and practicing approaches for the landing. When I came in for the final approach fear entered my body. I had seen everyone before me land, and it looked easy, but when the ground approached rapidly I began to wonder, Was this really a good idea? As I touched down and made it past the initial bump I coasted smoothly to a stop and realized I was still alive. When I unbuckled myself I decided it was all worth it. Getting up early, driving to somewhere U.S.A. and listening to a lawyer tell me that my life was in my own hands. I wanted to go up again immediately, but there are other days and at that point what I really needed was sleep. My flight in the ParaPlane brought a feeling of freedom, an escape from the real world. This new sensation is one I suggest to anyone with a sense of adventure. good parcel of items from their new slab o wax entitled WRONG. (Ironically two ofthe members have the last name Wright, two Wrights DO make a Wrong...) Despite the consistently , inconsistent sound system at the. Speedway everything sounded quite crisp and clean, talent never fails to shine through adversity, (although it might just have something to do with the fact that I was parked right in front of a 12 foot stack of speakers...). Opening for NO MEANS NO were local acts SWEE RHINO (whom I missed), and DINOSAUR BONES. For a show that only cost five dollars, I sincerely give it a good twenty or thirty dollar rating (move over Grateful Dead...heh heh...)Andyes, theres more. The normally obnoxious bunch of scene leeches failed to show their faces and with an intimate little crowd of forty or fifty, it was much like a private family party. Good feelings and no fights that I noticed. Besides a rousing, fist in the air request for the song DAD, a graphic song dealing with child abuse, there was little or no conflict between band and audience. The guitarist asked cautiously if all of you testosterone laden young men realize what youre cheering for. It was good to see talent from out of town as the winter months slow down the flow ofout of state bands on tour. This is the fifth consecutive time that Salt Lake Sludgy has been For more information about " graced with the presence of these three ParaPlaning, contact Linda Nelson dynamos. In short, this author from Bonneville Skybase at her office at Neptune Divers, (801) says....Hats off you guys. 466-051- Forum 3. Page 7 |