Articles

Call for Articles

Warren sent this in, by his daughter Sally.  Submit articles to Pete.

My First Flight

by Sally Ann Puckett (age 12)

It was my first time to hang glide and I was scared.  I was hang gliding in Chattanooga, TN (Lookout Mountain on June 26, 2001.) I was nervous and worried—worried I was going to get hurt or killed.  I got this idea when I was signing the tandem papers and read that I could die or get injured.  I nearly backed out.

My dad talked to me and said, “Sally, you know I would not even think about sending you flying, if I thought I you were going to die.  I have been doing this for about 24 years and I don’t want you killed.”  I felt better and signed.  I wondered if I was doing this stupidly or if I was going to like it.  I kept saying, “I can do this… I can’t do this.”

Later that afternoon, I went down to launch field and I got really bad butterflies (when your stomach hurts because your nervous).  I stood around for a while just doing nothing. When my dad asked if I was ready, I screamed no and ran to the bathroom.  After I got out of the bathroom, my dad made me watch one tandem flight to make sure I wanted to go through with it and that I liked it.  I thought it was really high!

I finally was ready and went to get my stuff on to go.  I got to get my helmet and saw that the one I needed was not there.  I thought I could get out of it now. Then the helmet came back.  I was really scared again. I meet my instructor and he was really nice.  The lady that just off the last flight, was jumping from foot to foot.  I asked her if it was fun.  She said, “Your scared at first, but then you just…it’s so fun! Your just like a bird!”

He had to go over the rules and stuff about hang gliding tandem before I went.  I remembered the most important thing.  It was… you had to hold on to him (Mike.)

I started crying and my mom had to get my inhaler because I have asthma. She got a fast ride to the car in a John Deer golf cart.  I got it, took it and was better.  I could now breath.

I got hooked into the glider and Mike kept talking to me to calm me down.  I was a little better.  I asked if we could only go for about 20min. But when we came down, I wished that I could have gone up longer.  He told me to hold on to him and I did.  I closed my eyes and he said, “Here we go!”  I wanted to scream, but I did not want to scream in his ears.  I opened my eyes and the wind was blowing in my face. My hair was going back and it felt so good.  I remember this time when I ride on my dad’s motorcycle.

I was just off the ground and the fear was all out of me.  I was so happy!  I looked down and I saw trees, little roads, hawks, barns, houses, dirt mounds, and little-itty-bitty people.  It was cool.  I asked Mike why some trees where dead and some were alive.  He told me it was because there was a little beetle and the winters where not cold enough to kill them, so they eat the beautiful pines to stay alive.

When we where up flying, I kept asking how high we where.  I think he got tired of me asking him and he told me to look at this odometer thing.  It was telling us how high we where. When we reached 2,000 ft., we where going to let go of the plane that was taking us up (the towing plane.) “At 2,000 ft., we are going to let go of this metal bar called a brake bar.  This is so we release the towing plane and we can start going down slowly.”

“Is this going to bump when we let go?” I asked.
“A little bump, but that’s it. Okay, 1..2..3!”
“Oh-my-gosh!” It scared me at first.

After we let go of the towing plane, we took about 18 pictures of us flying, and I got the roll of film developed.  It was only the second time my parents would let me have film developed for the 1 hr. thing.  The only other time we used 1 hr. developing film was when my sister was born.

Landing was easy.  It looks like your face is going to hit the ground. It is easier than what my dad has to do.  He has to run to stop.  He does not have wheels.  All we have to do is sit and wait for the wheels to stop and you stand up.  When I was done with my fight, I was jumping from foot to foot, just like the lady before me.  When I got back to our hotel, it just kept going through my mind how I felt like a bird right after I took off.  I really want to go again.  If I can, I would love to go again this summer.  Also, if you go, on the top of the mountain in the shop, you can get a shirt that says, “Is this a good idea? My First Flight” about to jump off a cliff.

I liked telling you what I was like going on “My First Flight”.  I think you should tell your story.  If you would like to share your “First Flight” with me, you can send it to my dad’s email, wpchem81@aol.com or send it through mail to 2816 Edgewood Lane Bedford TX 76021.  I hope to hear from you!

—Sally Ann Puckett