Tk
; Battalion
IDING
cmg.
uick to the
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I by a tow line. The tow
■ is attached to the truck with
W p< y-out wench, a tension de
ice similar to a fishing reel (but
rjnro luch lar s er )-
-Sl I Ivi, Tlie glider is launched in a fash-
m similar to aero tow, and the pi-
js long-distad* hopefully catches a thermal be-
-ne has tocc: )re ’he road runs out.
Dr of the lnie:® ruce Mauzy, an Austin Air
ports instructor, said the length of
ave invemec 16 roa d and the direction of the
his on top of flailing wind, in relation to the
is no doub;^ h on °f fhe road, often limits
3 school. r ench towing,
and desperai; Jnhn Krueger, a Lieutenant
> further tha-°fcm e l in the United States Air
isive andal orce an h Austin Air Sports pilot,
there is not aero tow i n g and wench tow-
^^■tas allowed hang gliding to ex
am! into the flatlands.
■his also facilitated cross-
ountry, or point-to-point flight,
aid Krueger.
Hit’s not unusual to go 40 or 50
tiles, and you can land basically
■where,” he said.
ummer box office
rings big returns
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s been a
sy summer of Jedis and witches,
uctant brides and randy spies,
jnchy teens and a kid who chats
dead folks — a cast of characters
at helped set a second straight
xarti summer at the box office.
From Memorial Day weekend to
bor Day, the take at U.S. theaters
is estimated at just under $3 bil-
n, shattering the previous high of
1.6 billion in 1998.
A record 11 movies have taken in
are than $100 million each, and a
!th is expected to join the club.
All this comes at a time when the
ernet, video rentals, cable and
tellite television offer more alter-
tive diversions than ever before.
On top of that, blistering heat in
jch of the nation sent people to the
-conditioned comfort of theaters,
d the films were good enough to
ep them going back for more.
This summer’s films also have
d staying power. In summer 1998,
>vies on average took in 27 percent
their total gross in the opening
ekend, Wayne Lewellen, distribu-
n president for Paramount, said,
s summer, that average was down
24 percent, indicating films are
Ting longer in theaters. ‘
“It was so competitive that no
Jtter how good you were, you got
ocked out the next weekend by
other movie,” said Paul Der-
rabedian, president of Exhibitor
lations Co. Inc., which tracks
>vie attendance.
n g to three bC’The usual late-summer doldrums,
en movie attendance usually trails
ick my movies- never materialized, largely be-
movies, all tr^se of Sixth Sense and the surprise
The Blair Witch Project.
[film, For Love
itner returns i.',
ond.
s succeeded
nd Field of Dm
films.
A
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“We had one gentleman that
thought he was landing by a road,
and ended up landing by a railroad
track. He had to tow his glider three
miles to get to the nearest road.”
“We also had someone fly from
here to Fort Worth, which is about
140 miles.”
There are
several safety
factors built into
the hang gliders.
The material
used to build
Austin Air
Sports’ tandem
glider is aircraft
quality, and the
glider pilot has
a primary- and
secondary-re
lease option for
the tow line in —
case of trouble.
In aero tow, the tug pilot also has
dual mirrors that allow him to mon
itor the glider as long as he is being
towed by the plane. And should the
unpredictable Texas weather sneak
up on the crafts, Austin Air Sports
is prepared.
“You realize that
you're not connected
to the ground;
there's nothing to
catch you."
— Niki Patel
gliding student
“We keep an eye on the weath
er,” Krueger said. “But you’re
probably not going very far from
the airport, and you can land eas
ily, in a small area.”
Despite these safety factors,
why do so many people choose to
be towed be-
llll,B,llll, ■ l ^ hind a truck or
plane up to
6,000 feet in
what is largely
a high-tech
kite, and then
released?
Krueger
said his older
brothers were
involved in
hang gliding,
while Mauzy
said it was,
quite simply, a
desire to fly
that propelled him into the clouds.
“This is the closest I’ve come to
flying like a bird,” Mauzy said.
“We don’t flap our wings, but
everything else is the same. It’s
also the least expensive form of
flight.”
Surreal and peaceful were
words that Patel used to describe
her flight.
“It was awesome; I felt really
light on the way up,” Patel said.
“You realize that you’re not
connected to the ground; there’s
nothing to catch you. If you look
down as you’re flying among the
clouds, you could see a circular
rainbow, glory, and in the middle
of the circle was the shadow of our
hang glider. ”
Instead of an adrenaline rush,
Patel said, she received an altered
perspective on living on the
ground.
“We flew through the edges of
the clouds,” Patel said.
“When you get to the cloud
point, you can see the color, and
reach out and feel the wetness and
the change in humidity.”
Patel said gliding changed the
way she viewed the world.
“It gives you a new perspec
tive on the earth, how big the
clouds are, looking at the ground,
and how everything is really very
small.”
IQ
SB
U D E INI T
FOUNDATION
FIRST
GENERAL MEETING
COACH R. C. SLOCUM
will be there to speak
about the new recruiting class
and answer any questions
that you may have.
Date: Monday, September 6
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Rudder 601
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