Let’s talk about hang gliding for a second. It’s obvious that as action fans we have some sort of strange infatuation with heights. Base Jumping, Sky Diving, Bungee Jumping, all of these take heights and combine them with artful falling to create an experience filled with pure adrenaline. Still, all that it is, is artful falling. If you want to talk about flying Hang Gliding is about as close as you can get. With the right air currents, you can stay in the air almost indefinitely, and other than you, the only thing that is aiding you is your harness and of course your glider, which is essentially a massive kite with a triangle stapled underneath it.

Speed Gliding

Almost any extreme sport is cooler when it is faster, and these guys have applied that theory to the art of Hang Gliding. Altering the wings of their gliders to be less a giant cloth and more a wing of a stealth bomber, these guys take normal gentle hang gliding and turn it into a sport of pure speed. The altered wings allow them to cut through the air like butter, diving much like a falcon would. The drawback? It is a bit harder to stay aloft, and more to the point, harder to catch height with these gliders so more often than not they steadily drop to the ground, but it’s worth it to have your own personal slide made of air currents and speed.

Jet Gliding

How do you make a man powered personal flying (well almost flying) contraption even cooler? STRAP A JET ENGINE TO IT! These guys managed to attach a jet engine to their hang glider so that they can take off from a grounded start. No jumping off of cliffs or out of planes here, just absolute raw speed and engine power. Innovative… loud but innovative.

Tandem Gliding

Too scared to take the plunge yourself, try a tandem gliding session. In a sense Tandem Gliding is safer because an inexperienced glider can do it with an experienced glider and avoid crashes and other forms of horrible bone breakage. On the other hand, its two people flying on one glider which is more than enough to give an adrenaline rush. Double the load means double the glider size (sometimes) and can mean double the screwups.

The Best 0f the Best

If you want to see some of the best Hang Gliding the world has to offer look no further. This is a video of the 2006 hang gliding championships. Here you will see gliders of all kind performing maneuvers of all kinds. Some even fly only a few feet over the heads of the audience. This is as much of a rush as you’ll ever get in a crowd of like minded individuals with a love for flying.

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