Back in my "Springsteenesque" high school days on the Jersey Shore, I followed in my brother's footsteps as a beach lifeguard, goofing off in the constant festival of sun and surf. Eventually it occurred to me that people actually "paid" for the pursuit of fun, and that landing the job in ECU's outdoor recreation department was an "accidental extension."
The college program offered some pretty amazing experiences in its highly subsidized "outing club" allowing me to "write the book" as their premier guide. We hiked up many sections of the Appalachian Trail including all of North Carolina, we rafted the French Broad and the Gauley. We did hundreds of miles of river including nine days down the Edisto River during spring break with a dozen college kids who had never even camped before. By the time we ended up at the Atlantic Ocean, their minds were blown with fun. What a cool job!
It was during this time that my department held a job fair and I booked an interview for what I saw as a dream job... twenty hours a week cleaning park bathrooms in exchange for free housing where I needed to be, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As fate would have it, the park ranger never showed up so I ended up talking to the guy in the next booth down. When he told me that he ran the hang gliding school inside the same park my exact words were " No f_ing way!" Excuse my language, but it hit me like a ton of bricks, an opportunity to pursue a life-long dream to fly. It parallels my attraction to the water, it's about being weightless and soaring and gliding. The idea of learning how to really fly, to break the bonds of gravity, appealed to me so strongly, it was hard to concentrate on school. A selfish pursuit of mine, hang gliding is peppered with loners such as myself; pilots who are for the most part fulfilling their personal desires. Luckily we can teach others to fly and even share the experience with amazing tandem flights.
Something else also occurs during the lessons, though something less focused on the sport of hang gliding and more focused on the learning process, the laughter, the trusting, the high fives, and the " See, I told you that you could do its." It's about fear and confidence and success and accomplishment and triumph. It's a deeply meaningful experience to teach this skill and it's all centered on a good time.
And so again, another accidental extension of selling fun. There is no place on earth like the sand dunes in Nags Head, North Carolina. It is full of positive and wonderful uplifting feelings... so much stoke, good flying, colorful kites, r.c. gliders, it's just really, really cool.
I'll wrap this saga up now. You're probably late for class, but consider the industry that surrounds this concept. Pursuing a career in commercial recreation could work for the right type of person. Chances of riches are slim to nil, but it is a vast and ever expanding industry with limitless potential and untapped ideas that are fun to pursue. The bottom line is that people will be thrilled to pay you to show them a good time, and offering a service like this is something the busy people in your community will appreciate.
Andy has been teaching hang gliding for over 11 years, and he has attained a Hang IV rating (Advanced rating- that is like being "Yoda" or at least "Obi-Wan"). Along with thousands of other lucky students, I have had the pleasure of fulfilling my dreams of powerless flight with his guidance.-ED.
Hang gliding is something that anyone with the desire to fly should do. However, it is not a sport that you just go out and learn on your own. Like any sort of flying, it must be learned from professionals. You should choose a good school with instructors certified by the U.S. Hang Gliding Association.
Hang Gliding Schools
Learn at the world's largest hang gliding school:
Kitty Hawk Kites - Outer Banks, NC
Eagles Flight Hang Gliding School - Phoenix, AZ
Flyaway Hang Gliding - Santa Barbara, CA
Windsports Soaring Center - Sylmar, CA
Torrey Pines Gliderport - La Jolla, CA
Mission Soaring Center - Milpitas, CA
San Francisco Hang Gliding Center - Berkeley, CA
Quest Air Soaring Center - Groveland, FL
Lookout Mountain Flight Park - Rising Fawn, GA
Morningside Flight Park - Charleston, NH
Mountain Wings - Ellenville, NY
Oregon Hang Gliding - Corvallis, OR
Go... Hang Gliding - Austin, TX
Wasatch Wings - Sandy, UT
North American Flight Design - Seattle, WA
Raven Sky Sports - Whitewater, WI |
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