Hang Gliding

Dale Wallace has left the Earth on a hang glider more than 150 times. This is how he describes it:

"Hang gliding is about as free as one cab fly. Standing on a cliff launch, you can feel the muscle, brain and will of the aluminium bones of the glider like a 65-pound butterfly on your back. You peer into and through the transparent realm, sensing currents by feel and clues."

Age 6 to 86 have flown a hang glider TANDEM. That means two people fly together on one glider - one person with lots of experience and the other person with no experience at all!

Human-Powered Flight

Paul MacCready invented the first human-powered plane. A small person with big leg muscles can get his plane to fly a few feet above the ground for as far as 22 miles.

He also designed the first sun-powered airplane, called the Solar Challenger. These days, at 74, he's as active as ever, working on a solar-powered plane that will fly very high up above the clouds and remain there for a few monthes (since it never has to come down for gas!).

Skydiving

One of the youngest people to jump out of a plane with a parachute strapped to their back is Gary Hardbird from East Devon, England. He jumped right after his 16th birthday (16 is the legal skydiving age).

The oldest skydiver ever was 92 when he jumped. Herb Tanner from Ohio, U.S.A, said of his jump, "I'd love to do that again, but not now."

You don't have to jump out of a plane to find out what skydiving feels like. To practice their moves, skydivers wear a special suit and get blown around by a giant jet fan.

Sky Surfing

Sky surfingis the next step to skydiving. Instead of just falling, you have a board, like a snow board, strapped to your feet, so you can ride the wind like a wave. Viviane Franciska Wegrath was one of the first women to sky surf. She's 28.

Check her out at www.vivisurf.ch. The Generation Freefly School of Body Flight teaches skydivers to learn TOTAL BODY FLIGHT. This means using all of the body's surfaces to "fly" through the air as you fall. You learn to sit, stand on your head and use your back and belly. Soon, they say, "the positions begin to blur together and one experiences pure human flight." Go to www.generationfreefly.com.