ULTRA-LIGHT FRIGHT FLIGHT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: STARGATE
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96-00792R000700480001-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 5, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 27, 1988
• Content Type: NSPR

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Ultra-Light
Fright Flight
By Mariah Burton Nelson
"' 'M T00 YOUNG to die," said.Larry
Fox, another Weekend writer. "You
go
That's 'how it came about that I flew in a -
flimsy, open-cockpit aircraft not with nor-
mal trepidation, but with death on my mind.
Before liftoff I talked with Bruce Peters,
owner of Washington Sky Sports, a compa-
ny specializing in tiny, dragonfly-shaped air-
craft called Spectrum Ultralights. Peters
has 12 years of piloting experience, he as- ':
_sured me. Even if the engine goes out, the _
plane can safely glide down. It can land in a .
cornfield. "You're in for a treat,? he prom-
ised.
The day of liftoff we drove to a short run-
way behind a southern Maryland trailer
park. I wore my aviator shades and my clos-
est approximation of a flight jacket; Bruce
flight inspection, I did my own. Much to my
horror, I saw plane parts fastened with .bun- '~
gee cords, zippers and duct tape. ("Non-
essential rts "Bruce explained) Made of
Pa
Dacron, the wings were sewn in the zig-zag Bruce Peters in an open-cockpit ultra-light plane.
stitch I used to use in home ec. Maybe it's longer in my reckless teens or roaring
me, but I fmd it difficult to trust an airplane twenties, I have noticed that the more in-
constructed on a Singer. tensely I love life, the less romantic I feel
To make matters worse, Peters, a about an early death.
dimple-cheeked man with the springy step yet I can't play it safe just because cau-
of a Muppet, is only 25 years old - whiph, tin1~S rnlleam~Pg and hnmamade airnlaneg
- since that's younger than I am, is very a_..
petrify me. "I don t need. to fly because fly-
f
i
2
T
hi
years o
exper
young.
urns out
s 1
ence ing doesn't frighten me; I need ~
F
h
or t
began on a hang glider at age 13.
e to fly even though it frightens
past six years he's been performing loops, me," writes Diane Ackerman in
stalls, and wingovers in Stearman biplanes On Extended Win s the saga of
First we hopped, baby-bird style. Taxi
down the runway, nose up, wheels off the
ground, wheeee ...and set her down. "Do
that again," I said, a child tossed in the air.
On >:he second hop, I was grinning like a
toothpaste commercial. On the third, we
abandoned the earth altogether.
I can't speak for Orville Wright, but I'd
bet that the first time he soared -not that
12-second, 120-foot skip but his first real
flight - he felt, along with elation, another
primal feeling: terror. After all, many of his
predecessors died in the attempt. Flying is
-not natural, despite the ubiquity of flying
dreams; anyone with sense should be, at
very least, nervous. Flying in an ultralight is
like heading toward the heavens on a lounge
chair. You're not even in the plane -there
is no "in." You're seated, legs outstretched;
lean to the right or left and a seatbelt is the
only thing keeping you. from your .first and __.
last skydive.
But it was, indeed, a treat. Cruising di-
rectly into the wind at 3,000 feet, I felt sus-
pended, motionless, like an Amelia Earhardt
actress with a fake earth below. ~Ve peered
at the shimmering Potomac, its yardstick
bridges, Monopoly neighborhoods. I looked
for cornfields, just in case, and spotted in-
stead our own shadow, surprisingly beau-
tiful as it bumped over trees and houses.
My stomach plunked into place as if, after
abandoning it on a hundred youthftd Ferns
wheel rides, I fmally caught up with it.
plate: Vader 1) carefully and confidently, _ Bruce showed me how to turn the plane
even slowing to the required 5 mph through ` "and how to keep it level. After a while he
the trailer park. He spoke with knowledge put his hands on my shoulders. "Congrat-
and humility - a rare combination at any ulations," he said. "You've been flying the
age -about weather patterns and the plane for a full minute:'
physics of flight. "Don't. you dare have a heart attack." I
Before I knew it I was strapped into the answered.
dragonfly, head protected by a The truth is, I like to be scared, though I
helmet ("If we crash, should I prefer having been scared. So when. we
try to land on my head?"), con- touched down, returning to the conspicu-
DAYL! f E
in Bealton's Flvin~ Circus. My fate was in ,.,,_ r,,,;.,,,,o~~,,.,~ gT? mo .o.,i ,.
the hands of a kid who gets his jollies flying 11`1 "yu`s "~?'~~~. ~ ~ llll., .~ui .,o?~age ' . .
p _ has to do with keeping one's passion for life
u "Today is a good day to die for all the tact, one's curiosity at full stretch, when
n one is ally hemmed in by death disease
things in my life are present, saihl~.~~i~e~6~~n~31-~~e44~~11~~c~d~d:
Horse, which was very evolved of ,
when it came to the possibility of my etc- it was as good a day to die as any.
rh~mm~rt lifo fnr nno ~irhnrno thrill tnrhsr AISn I tn1S1Pi1 Rnlff S?n t}1P WaY tf1 the
~ trol stick between my knees. In ously flat two-dimensional world, I was all
fr.,.,t ..f ...o .n~c ~ mntnrrvrla_ci~arl wind- ,,,ao:~ ~,.~;,, - cr~rnfl ~alv - ~n~ nr~tcfnl
a..~..a~. v~ua.v .. ..... sii LLll.~' Pij41ia ~wa~u .aui~ uiiu Sa u~~.a ua
shield; behind me was Bruce, now elevated` for another risk taken and survived.
to the status of savior. "You've got controls .Thanks, Larry.
/~-b'ack there too, ~n h7t?" I s ueaked into the 0~ sroN sKV sPORTS offers introductory
M~a ~ ~~~~~~~~D~sSo'or $29.95 and promises solo proficiency for
control stick in my right hand, the throttle $1,200, which includes an unliuuted member of lessons.
in my left, and the modals under my f~~t ~u ultraugnts~re cola for $~,90oxg $rs',0ioo: Contact
, nrrr ff 11 IIi.L.6.li Tl~... P~~Gi. one nton.. inn