I Did A Thing (part 3)
And what a thing it was...
Note: This is the third part of a four-part anthology on my journey through paragliding pilot training. I’ll be sharing one part each week, so stay tuned! Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed living it.
My biggest fear before I even started my paragliding course was not my fear of heights or the fear of death. I was actually worried about living in a dorm for 2 weeks. I mean, I’m not a very fussy individual but I’m kind of a shy pooper and I like my bathroom to be clean.
So there I was, ready to get started. I felt this nervous excitement which was palpable. Learning something new when you’re as old as me is not easy. We’re set in our ways and we lack patience. Whereas, when we’re young, we have that energy where we feel there’s nothing that we can’t do.
I had to somehow unlock that inner child in me to get through this. And thus it began.
You don’t fly on your first day. In fact, you don’t fly at all for the first couple of days. All you do is what they call ‘ground handling’. It’s nothing but running around on somewhat flat ground, getting a hang of your glider, and trying not to fall or injure yourself. Sounds boring, no? But ground handling is by far one of the most critical aspects of flying.
↓ Here’s my first failed attempt at ground handling. ↓
Flying in itself is pretty easy. It’s the landing and takeoff which take time to perfect. And ground handling is where you learn it all. And it’s hard. And it hurts. For three straight days, across four sessions, for hours at end, all I was doing was running around with the glider over my head.
↓ Here’s a slightly better attempt. ↓
There were flat runs. There were runs from an incline. I even got to ‘fly’ for a few seconds, though, technically, they didn’t qualify as flights, it did give me a sense of what actually flying would be like.
↓ This is that mini flight, which is technically not a flight. ↓
It felt amazing and I was about to make my dream come true.
Once my instructors were happy with my ground handling, it was time to head to the top. Top of the Training Hill. A small hilltop of about 100-150 feet elevation. For my first solo flight. Fuck, yes.
Nervousness crept in as I started climbing. What would it be like? What if I fall? What if I faint? What if I cry? I just kept moving forward. I was not here to give up. I was not gonna walk back down.
And there I was. At the top. The takeoff site. It was windy. I breathed in the air. I looked around. I looked at the highway in the distance. I looked at our landing site. I sat down and looked at other pilots taking off. I felt scared. And, strangely, felt good at the same time.
It was my turn. I got up. Got ready. Checked everything. The harness, the glider, the radio. All good. I got a go ahead from my instructor at the takeoff site. I got a go ahead from my instructor at the landing site. They said I was ready to fly.
Whether I was actually ready or not, I didn’t know.
It all happened in a matter of seconds. I felt a push. I heard RUN RUN RUN RUN. And I ran and I ran and I ran and I ran. I ran until I couldn’t feel the ground beneath my feet. I ran until I was airborne. And then the instructions came “Okay, transit Position B, look around, and take a breath.” And I sat on my harness and I was flying.
↓ My first solo paragliding flight. ↓
I was actually fucking flying. Alone. In the sky. Flying like the birds. My eyes welled up. I looked at the sky. I looked at the horizon. I looked at the Earth below me. I couldn’t believe it. I smiled. And I smiled. I thought I would burst out crying.
What I felt up there was something I’d never felt before. There was nothing on Earth that even came close to what it felt being up there. I felt free. It was another world. And I felt like I belonged.
I continued flying. I followed the instructions. I made my turns. I prepped for my landing. And I landed. The entire experience probably lasted for a minute or two. But it felt like I lived a lifetime up there, flying solo for the first time.
And that was it. I did it. I actually fucking did it. I flew and I flew solo and I made it happen. I couldn’t believe it. I was ecstatic. I was overjoyed. I wanted to go back up again and fly. I was still afraid. Hell, I was shit scared. But I wanted to feel those feelings again. I wanted to get high.
The days that followed were blissful to say the least. My ground handling days were over. The tough part was done. Now it was time to fly. From different hills. Into a new sunset every day. I was fortunate enough to have gotten the chance to fly from four different hills. My flight durations ranged from 15 minutes to 60 minutes. For those few days, I was the king of the world.
10 days, 20 flights, and about 4 hours of flying time.
It took me a while to gather my feelings. And I’m not sure if I have still gotten over it. It was quite something. I think it changed something in me. It changed my life in some way. Changed how? I’m still figuring that out. But I know I’m not the same person that I was before I had this experience.
I don’t know who I should be thankful to for all this to happen but I’m thankful. I couldn’t have asked for more.
I'm so proud and so happy for you. If there's anyone who deserves to experience absolute joy, its you!
This is amazing Rachit! 🙌🏼