How did I get involved in this unusual sport? Over thirty years ago I became a member of the South Dakota Air National Guard, and I had a Chief Master Sergeant named Allen Berg for a supervisor. Al introduced me to the idea of flying ultralight aircraft. Al was a co-owner of an Eipper weight-shift-control aircraft. As he described his experiences he planted the seed within me. I had no idea that one day I would have an opportunity to fly in such an aircraft.

Then in March of 2007 my family and I went on vacation to Hawaii. We were on the island of Oahu, heading for the North Shore and as I was riding shotgun and navigating,  I was reading a brochure of tourist attractions when I came across an advertisement for Powered Hang Gliding rides.  I told everyone that I had always wanted to fly in one of those ever since my boss described them to me in the '70s.  They put me on the spot and said "so why don't you do it?"  Although I am afraid of heights I made the call to Paradise Air Hawaii and a great new adventure began!  I took a Discovery Flight with Tom Sanders at Dillingham Field on the northwest corner of the North Shore.  Tom and his wife Denise fly Airborne XT trikes with 912 four stroke Rotax engines in them.  They fly like a dream and they are as Tom and Denise call them the "Ferrari" of trikes.  I told Tom before we took off that I was afraid of heights so we might need to make this a really short Discovery Flight.  Well, within minutes of leaving the runway, I told Tom that I was now ready to fly the entire hour, flying the complete North Shore.  Tom gave me an excellent bird's eye view and tour of the North Shore, pointing out every point of interest item that he could for the whole hour.  We flew over countless sights that I would visit with my family when I was back on the ground, driving them around later.  Check out their website at paradiseairhawaii.com and when you visit Oahu make sure you visit them, it is safe, so peaceful and you will never forget the experience.  After I flew with Tom, I was like the proverbial big-mouthed bass, I took the hook, line and sinker.  Upon returning from vacation, I started surfing the net to read everything I could find about Trikes or Powered Hang Hliders or Weight Shift Controlled Aircraft.