By Jon Pople, PSU Call Control | Customer Care | Cheltenham
"I started flying in the early nineties. I guess it was a passion born out of a childhood fantasy of mine. As a kid I used to watch the birds surfing the cliffs on holiday and dreamt I would one day wake up with a pair of wings and join them. It took 28 years before my chance finally came. I leapt into the air on something that can only be described as a mattress on lines and I was bitten by the bug. Thirteen years later I have flown Paragliders in locations that stretch from Argentina, North America, Europe and all over the UK.
There are few words that can describe the feeling of rising up towards cloudbase on a thermal. Turning with the rising air mass, feeling it tug at the wing tips. It transcends everything and catapults you into a world of freedom and expression that few people experience. You look across the void between you and your friends, the brightly coloured gliders, chasing each other around the rising column of air, turning together, hooting and shouting, whistling and laughing all sharing the moment.
And then your off, everyone checks out, we’re at the top of the stack and its time to head off cross Country peeling away from the thermal in search of more rising air. Wisps of cloud swirl above and below you. Cloudbase is a special place; the temperature drops dramatically, condensation forms over everything. Suddenly sunlight flashes into view and you pop out from under the cloud, wow this is just surreal.
I have always gone in search of thrills, it just seems to be in me and there’s not much I can do about it. I learnt to skydive in the States some seven years ago and more recently spent two years in South East Asia as a professional Scuba Diving Instructor. I have spent the last two years with PSU, job description still to be agreed (Joke ED) but if you ring Call Control with a problem I'm at the end of the line with my best friend Leanne to help you !
If there are any would be adrenalin freaks out there who fancy giving it a go then check out the BHPA (British Hangliding and Paragliding Association) website http://www.bhpa.co.uk/. It contains all the information you need on clubs and training. Go on give it a whirl !!"
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