Hang gliding has been compared to flying like a bird. The sport uses wind and (like our feathered friends) thermal currents – localized regions of warmer atmospheric air – to stay aloft. “It’s almost like being Superman,” says Daniel Lange of Hang Glide Wisconsin, which offers flights with an instructor at Twin Oaks Airport in Whitewater.
What hang gliding does not require is superhuman fitness. The company’s Tandem Discovery flights – in which participants are brought up to altitude by a tow plane – are suitable, they say, for total beginners and people of all physical abilities. Packages range from flights 2,000 feet high (a 10-12 minute ride) to a mile high (30-35 minutes). $169-$345. Lessons are available, too.
