Monday 5:30 AM  Heading up the mountain where we spent the morning doing ground schools and towed ground launches. First thing we noted was the buggy and its design. It is like flying in a chaise lounge, very comfortable and felt very secure. Long morning and afternoon with lots of information.

Got back to hotel for a great lunch and time to rest.  We met back in the lobby to head out for first flights, launching off Mt. Baldy at 5,000 feet.  We could only take two so we drew straws. Eric and I were the lucky winners.

Driving up Baldy was an adventure in itself, thinking back to all the times I had downhill skied this mountain. What a treat. Once on top, the guys went about getting the buggies set up and when ready, loaded us in. My tandem pilot, Nick, had me go through the entire checklist like I was the pilot, insuring steering lines were cleared and all line groups and risers were positioned correctly for launch. Once ready, our two assistants gave a push and we were in the air within three feet. It was so clean and stable. Immediately, we were flying the ridgeline.

Once up and gaining altitude, we continued to soar the ridgeline looking for thermals so we could gain more altitude. Nick, within minutes of liftoff, began getting things ready to turn the canopy controls over to me. We spent a few moments on the twin toggles at first so I could feel his inputs with the steering lines. Then he released and let me go.

Having had a fair number of canopy rides from my skydiving days gave me some confidence but pretty quickly I could discern a few differences between the two styles of canopies. A skydiving canopy, compared to these paragliding canopies, was strictly a deceleration device, controllable, but coming back down to mother earth. The paragliding canopies were truly a soft wing aircraft designed to climb thermals and soar. You could immediately feel when you entered a thermal and use it to gain altitude. What a rush. I had not been under a canopy in 16 years, but immediately I felt comfortable and pretty much back home.

Nick continued to teach the entire time we were aloft and allowed me plenty of time on the toggles flying us around. When he was flying, I could see his steering inputs and hear his explanations for every control input.  After 40 minutes we began to head back down to the valley floor thousands of feet below.

Nick allowed me the simple pleasure of bringing us home. He had me doing controlled “S’ turns to bleed some altitude and set us up for our downwind leg. At about 500 feet above the ground he took over the controls for our landing, turning us to a base leg, then executing a 180 degree turn back on the base leg, with our last turn to final and a nice soft four wheel touchdown. Our landing was clean, nice and soft with a short roll out. My first time back under canopy could not have gone any smoother and Nick could not have been a better instructor.

This first generation buggy has a lot going for it. Comfortable, stable and I felt very secure through the entire flight. Sun Valley is really a beautiful place to fly. The folks at ABLE Pilor have spent a lot of time and effort designing and refining a vehicle that truly opens the sport of paragliding to the disabled community. Are the refinements done? Not by a long shot and these folks are already working on them. The skies have always been limitless to me and now even more so with ABLE Pilot and the best part is this was only day one. We have three more days and plenty of learning and flying ahead.