(Party poopers)
Whether or not you get anything out of it depends on you, on your frame of mind.
Now, if you prefer group flight, it helps to fly with people who have a positive outlook on life. And it is vital…
(Not really, but it sounds more important)
… that the wing commanders, the aviators at the two extremes, be pros.
I have taken 'flying without mechanical aids' all over the world: Rome, Paris, London, Bled (Slovenia), Budva (Montenegro), Melbourne, Montreal, New York, Malton (Yorkshire, England), Los Angeles, Curry Mallets (Somerset, England), Sharon (Connecticut), Blue Hill (Maine), Punta del Este (Uruguay), Buenos Aires… and many other places.
(He knows a lot of wacky people)
And I have flown with friends and total strangers alike, most of whom have sent me postcards and even photographs of their flight experiences from the four corners of the world, some having taken flight to places I had to look for on the map.
I have even flown with Lola!
(It’s a lot scarier than he makes it out to be, believe me)
I even know two men who met their future wives during group flight. One of them, who said he’d never laughed so much in his entire life, later asked me to be the godfather of his first son. I was seriously chuffed.
I have emptied restaurants and bars of diners and drinkers who didn’t know each other, taken them outside to fly together, and then watched them stroll back inside laughing and talking to each other like old friends, the atmosphere in the restaurant or bar no longer so hushed nor quite so individualistic.
People are only too eager to fraternise and communicate with others - they want to - no matter who they are or where they are from. It just takes someone to break the ice. It’s like belonging to a club. It really is. The simplicity of 'flying without mechanical aids' is what makes it so appealing. It’s an excuse to socialise, to make new friends, a chance to kick loneliness in the teeth. A lot of us need a push, that small charge of courage to start up a conversation with a total stranger. We all know the desire is there.
Start by standing on something that will permit easy take-off. It doesn’t have to be very high; a chair, a low wall, or even the edge of the curb will do very nicely.
For take-off, you must stand erect, feet together, with your arms straight out to the side at ninety degrees to the body (see photo top right, of the lovely Martine Allard flying off the steps of Montreal Cathedral).
If you are trying group flight, with multiple aviators, all of you must stand erect in a straight line, arms around each other’s shoulders or waist, with the wing commanders holding their free arm up and out, like a wing, prepared to ‘flap’.
You are now ready to fly.
(Sounds silly, but take my word; it isn’t. I once came very close to convincing a cute little cocker spaniel bitch to fly with me. Her name was Cleo, and she was very hot to fly. We were ready to take off when her fat mistress showed up and pulled her away. It was THAT close. I wonder where she is now)
And I have flown with friends and total strangers alike, most of whom have sent me postcards and even photographs of their flight experiences from the four corners of the world, some having taken flight to places I had to look for on the map.
I have even flown with Lola!
(It’s a lot scarier than he makes it out to be, believe me)
I even know two men who met their future wives during group flight. One of them, who said he’d never laughed so much in his entire life, later asked me to be the godfather of his first son. I was seriously chuffed.
I have emptied restaurants and bars of diners and drinkers who didn’t know each other, taken them outside to fly together, and then watched them stroll back inside laughing and talking to each other like old friends, the atmosphere in the restaurant or bar no longer so hushed nor quite so individualistic.
People are only too eager to fraternise and communicate with others - they want to - no matter who they are or where they are from. It just takes someone to break the ice. It’s like belonging to a club. It really is. The simplicity of 'flying without mechanical aids' is what makes it so appealing. It’s an excuse to socialise, to make new friends, a chance to kick loneliness in the teeth. A lot of us need a push, that small charge of courage to start up a conversation with a total stranger. We all know the desire is there.
Start by standing on something that will permit easy take-off. It doesn’t have to be very high; a chair, a low wall, or even the edge of the curb will do very nicely.
For take-off, you must stand erect, feet together, with your arms straight out to the side at ninety degrees to the body (see photo top right, of the lovely Martine Allard flying off the steps of Montreal Cathedral).
If you are trying group flight, with multiple aviators, all of you must stand erect in a straight line, arms around each other’s shoulders or waist, with the wing commanders holding their free arm up and out, like a wing, prepared to ‘flap’.
You are now ready to fly.
(Sounds silly, but take my word; it isn’t. I once came very close to convincing a cute little cocker spaniel bitch to fly with me. Her name was Cleo, and she was very hot to fly. We were ready to take off when her fat mistress showed up and pulled her away. It was THAT close. I wonder where she is now)
TO BE CONTINUED
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