Let your spirits Soar by Jim Jocius Superintendent of Recreation

JIM JOCIUS

Gliding is easy if the wind is right.

Come Fly With Us is the theme of the Stream-wood Park District's new sky sailing class, putting sled hills to nearly year-round use is one of the special benefits.

The basic sky sailing class consists of seven to ten hours, four hours of ground school instruction and four to six hours of flight instruction. The ground school instruction covers the basic design and construction of the sky sail, (a triangular-shaped dacron wing), facts about winds (5 m.p.h. to 15 m.p.h. steady winds are the optimum) and safety musts. The flight instruction progressively takes the student from running with the sky sail on flat land to finally sailing off from the highest points of the park district's sled hills.

Sky sailing, although new to the Midwest, has been popular for years on the West Coast where it is called hang gliding. The sky sailor actually hangs within a harness attached to the tubing under the sky sail and shifts his weight forward, back, left or right to make the sky sail glide down, up, left or right respectively.

This shows the actual attachment to the persons body.

The above sounds very simple and effortless, but in reality requires a great deal of practice, skill and good judgment. In fact, a crash helmet, sturdy shoes or boots and durable clothing are necessary to protect the flyer. Residents are only required to weigh a minimum of 100 to 125 pounds and be young at heart. Teenagers, housewives, and retired men all have been testing their newly-acquired wings.

Several companies are teaching this sport in the Midwest. The Streamwood Park District is lucky enough to be the home base for one, the Apollo Sky-sailing Centers, Inc. The company provides trained instructors, helments and different styles of sky sails. The park district provides the hills, previously used only when good snow cover was available.

If you want to play the Jonathan Livingston Seagull role, try sky sailing, and you can let your spirits soar too.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 7 September/October, 1974