Introduction to hang gliding

The earliest inspiring memory that attracted me to aviation came from an episode of the ancient TV series Eight is Enough when David, played by Grant Goodeve, competed in a hang gliding competition in an episode entitled Marriage and Other Flights of Fancy. That episode aired in 1979 when I was barely old enough to breath. I was equally impressed, also in 1979, when spandex-wearing Captain America’s motorcycle transformed into a hang-glider that he then rode off the edge of a cliff to evade the bad guys. That vision was extraordinarily overpowering and more than my infant brain could take, and was more than my imagination was capable of at the time. I think that my interest in hang gliding (and aviation in general) was fused into my psyche at that point in time.

Edit: Thanks to modern day YouTube, here’s the clip of Captain America that I referred to above. When I found it this morning, I watched it for the first time since I was a kid.

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Fast forward to present day (2004!).

A friend and I hired a Piper Tomahawk and flew the Sydney scenic coastal route known as Victor One. I enjoyed it – as I always do – but I was extremely bothered by the aircraft’s trashy interior, the heavy David Clark headsets, the cracked canopy windows, the painfully loud Lycoming, the battered and worn interior and the lack of any real freedom behind the perspex and metal. What hurt even more was the price tag to go with it. The unjustified dollars seemed to dampen the little enjoyment I got from the flight. As we exited the coastal route towards Stanwell Park the sky was littered with hang gliders and paragliders. The colored confetti canopies and sails against the backdrop of the ocean and rugged escarpment was an inspiring sight. These guys were doing what we could only dream of – flying! They weren’t limited by motion-lotion or the weight of their wallet; they were only limited by the weight of the winds, and their airtime was only limited by the sunset. Now that was real flying.

I immediately turned to my friend and reminded him of Captain America’s glider-bike. He wasn’t impressed.

I don’t know what it is exactly that captures the imagination of young children and keeps their hearts firmly set on a career as a pilot before they’re old enough to go to the toilet unaccompanied. I think I speak for most pilots when I say that 5-year-old Marty wouldn’t be overly impressed with what I’m doing now. Despite the fact that I love my job, it’s not what I envisaged when I was a kid. If flying is an art, then aviation is a political discipline; and aviation is most certainly what I’m involved with now.

The sight of those hang gliders was enough to inspire me into the sport that afternoon. Why it took me so long is beyond me.

Coming from an instructional background myself, I researched the National hang gliding schools thoroughly and Tony Armstrong’s reputation preceded him – even when talking to his interstate competitors and peers. When I visited the Sydney based hang gliding manufacturer Moyes to pick up a textbook and research the purchase of a glider, I was impressed when they also recommended Tony above all others. I was warned, however, that he’s fanatical about excellence and has a habit of getting cranky when weather confines him indoors! That was enough for me.

Tony Armstrong

Tony Armstrong is likely the most spirited and passionate man I have ever met in aviation. Although he’s been hang gliding virtually all his adult life, he has a long and illustrious sporting history on the ground a well. Tony played with Canterbury, Western Suburbs and Cronulla in the NSW Rugby League competition from 1979 until 1986 and he earned himself the prestigious Dally-M award in 1984. In 1986, a knee injury forced his early football retirement, although this steered him in the direction of full time flying. He set up Active Air Sports (that is now trading as Hang Glide Oz) and completed a Sports Science degree at Wollongong University. Tony later achieved excellence on the international and national gliding circuit with a spot on the Australian Paragliding team and he became the Australian Freestyle Hang Gliding Champion in 1992. Tony is also an accomplished skydiver, snowboarder, skier and surfer. While I flew with him, Tony always seemed more focused on the flying, satisfaction and gliding industry rather than the financial rewards that almost went with it. He always seemed truly passionate about the sport.

Greg O’Brien is one of Tony’s companion instructors. Greg is another moderately eccentric South Coast character and, like Tony, has a history as a sportsman; but he makes his other living as a professional musician. When not teaching, surfing or riding around on his yacht, Greg entertains at Irish Pubs in the Sydney Rocks area on most weekends.

Another advantage of flying with Tony at Stanwell Park was that he was only 45 minutes drive South of where I lived. Once I was ‘licenced’ I needed a 25-hour period of supervision before I would be awarded a certificate. The 25 hours is essentially the same as the supervised solo time in the circuit that is accrued when training for a private pilot licence. Purely from an administrative and convenience point-of-view, it made sense to fly with a local right from the very beginning rather than traveling interstate to an accelerated residential school. Stanwell Park offered ideal training conditions, spectacular coastal scenery and cross-country opportunities that are envied and highly regarded by glider pilots worldwide. It wasn’t until quite late in my training that I started to appreciate the location for the fantastic networking opportunities since the pastime attracts a wide variety of aviation personalities and globally recognised hang gliding professionals.

Next Time

My first taste of the sport was at Hill 60. That blog will follow next time.

This blog was initially published in a flying magazine in 2004. It has been reformatted for this blog.