It has been a busy spring season here in Paradise, and we have performed hundreds of tandem hang glider flights above the sparkling waters of the Florida Keys. Among them have been 2 separate video shoots for production companies from the Travel Channel and the Discovery Channel’s Velocity TV. In both cases, we received phone calls out of the blue from the producers requesting a time slot to come film with us. Needless to say, we were delighted to say YES.

On January 13, the crew of the Travel Channel’s “Trip Flip” descended upon us with the cast  of 3 and crew of 8 for an afternoon of hang gliding action. With a chase boat provided by Capt. Dennis Fantasea Charters, we headed out into Florida Bay with Tom & Crystal Nix, of Denver CO as the flying guests, and host Bert Kreisher. The glider was literally covered with GoPro Hero 2 HD cameras, as well as a number of larger shoulder mounted video cams and sound equipment. It was quite an endeavor and a lot of fun.

In the end, hours worth of interviews and hang gliding footage were scrapped in favor of about 1 minute of mostly uninteresting  video clips. Nevertheless, we were pleased to get the exposure, and a number of customers contacted us who literally had to play back their recorded show several times in order to get our phone number off the wing of the glider.

Even better was a subsequent shoot for “Making Waves”, which has its season premier on May 3. Using a helicopter piloted by mega-talent Paul Barth , a custom-built camera platform boat, a number of hand and shoulder held cameras, a lot of sound equipment, and of course multiple glider-mounted GoPros, we shot video for most of the  day on April 5. With 3 time US National Hang Gliding Champion and US Silver Medal team member Zac Majors flying the glider, series host Jeff Doyle was treated to a number of flights with one of the best pilots in the world to get all the just-right shots and getting his lines right.

We can hardly wait to see the episode, which we are told should air on the third weekend of May. Be sure to watch our Facebook page and your local TV listings for exact show times.

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Hang gliding in the Florida Keys is fun for dogs with celebrity names. A few weeks back, we were privileged to have taken our local Captain Hammer, his girlfriend Sue, and Jack Russell terrier named Stevie Nicks. As usual, the flying conditions were great, and we captured the event with our GoPro Hero 2 HD.

Maryann edited and produced this cute little video featuring Stevie Nicks and original music by our own Skeeter Biscuit, aka Capt. Richard L. Saunders III. We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.

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The hang gliding here in the Florida Keys has been as spectacular as can be imagined here for the past few days. The seas had 80 feet of visibility. So  much so, that without our depth finder it would have been difficult to discern our depth.

Our passengers saw several rays. Turtles were in abundance today, (they take on an Orange hue from the sky). One of our passengers even described several fish that sounded like Sargent Majors, visible from high in the sky  !!

The wow factor, the smiles, and the pure joy that flying brings to our customers continually generates and feeds our passion for the sport.

Our wish here at Paradise Hang Gliding is that everyone can wear one of those huge grins that is brought on by getting to FLY LIKE A SUPER HERO!

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This past weekend was not the best weather here in south Florida. The grand opening and ribbon cutting for several businesses at the Laishley Park Marina went well but the attendance was relatively poor. Paradise Hang Gliding, Inc. was present in full force with a great looking kiosk under our awning, dispensing information about tandem hang gliding, lessons, and hang glider rides.

Tandem pilot rock star Alex Cuddy came all the way from Jacksonville to to help with the event and be the tandem hang gliding instructor. Florida hang gliding just doesn’t get much better than here in Punta Gorda on Charlotte Harbor, and we were hoping to sign up lots of folks for a tandem hang glide. Unfortunately, high winds, low ceiling, and rain conspired to keep us grounded. The weather also really hurt attendance at the event, even the live band packed up and left early. Next weekend will hopefully bring better weather to south Florida.

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