BLIND FAITH - by Marette Corby

COMMENTS BY CHRIS BOYCE

We often get caught up in the whirl of our own busy lives, but every now and again something slows us down enough to allow us to reflect on something outside our own little world. For me, this happened when a lady wished me to take her friend to fly in a hang glider. Not very different from the usual except for one thing she was blind.

During our flight, Marette made me aware of things I hadn't taken much notice of previously. The warmth of the sun when we turned towards it, the sound of the water below and how fortunate we all are to enjoy such a great activity. This flight was something special for me, I hadn't enjoyed a flight so much in a while. Thanks Marette.

Chris Boyce

I was here as a result of a dare and I wasn't going to back out. The waiting was definitely the worst part. We arrived at Stanwell Park and had to wait for the wind to increase, I didn't actually fly for some hours and spent that time feeling excited and scared in equal amounts. Flying for the first time is scary for anyone, but for a person who is blind like myself, it was absolutely strange and wonderful.

I have virtually no sight. I have less than 0.5% vision in my right eye and nothing in my left, I can see the difference between light and dark and sometimes shadows. I didn't even know what a hang glider looked like. My friends allowed me to feel a set up hang glider and it felt like two large bird's wings attached to some metal. It had a very solid frame and I could start to imagine what hang gliding involved.

It was impossible for me to imagine how to take off. I was told that Chris and I would take a short walk, turning into a jog, towards the cliff edge where the wind would pick us up and we would start to fly. As the time for take off drew nearer, I became even more excited and impatient. I just wanted the whole thing over and done with. My excitement grew until my harness was finally put on. I stepped into the harness and this was when my excitement turned into fear.

The harness felt quite safe. Chris showed me how it worked which reassured me just a little. I had to hold on to Chris for take-off and we went through the procedure once before the real thing. Chris then helped to attach me to the glider and asked me to assume the position we would take during flight, so I'd know what it felt like. Then we were ready to go. My friend, who'd dared me to fly, was standing just behind us, telling me that it was nice to have known me and I was absolutely terrified. I really didn't know what to do. Chris assured me that if I wanted to scream I was quite welcome to. We started to walk, then jog towards the cliff edge. I concentrated completely on not falling over the harness. Suddenly, there was a strong gust of wind and I realised we were flying.

The first words to leave my mouth were "I'm flying" and Chris responded "We sure are". I allowed my feet to stretch out and there was certainly no ground beneath me. Strangely enough it wasn't frightening at all. I felt so safe in my harness and I felt like there was no way I could possibly fall. It was the most wonderful floating sensation, like having only the wind all around me. Incredible.

Chris then showed me what turning felt like and the best way to explain the feeling is to compare it to being on the back of a motorbike. You leaned the way you wanted to turn and the glider swung around. Absolutely amazing! I felt completely in control. My own movements determined which way we were to fly.

Next, Chris showed me how to speed up and slow down. It was like looking into a fan and increasing the speed. The wind became a lot stronger. It was exhilarating to know you could also control speed. I could not imagine that there was anything below us or what it must look like, but Chris explained to me how far we were up and how everything looked. I was still in the standing position when Chris asked me to try and lay down in the prone position he had shown me on the ground. It had seemed easy to do on the ground because there had been no wind pushing me up. It was more difficult, though not impossible, to do while flying. I eventually laid down and it felt something like lying on a waterbed, and yet very different. I could feel myself bouncing and floating along with the wind as I moved around to get comfortable. There was this pressure on my underside, like the wind was pushing me up, reassuring me there was no way that I could fall. The wind was so strong and it felt so safe.

I had been talking to Chris for the first few minutes, but now I went quiet. It was so relaxing to be alone in the sky. I was in a different world. I've been told that there is a completely different world under the water, but I now realise that this is also true for the sky. It is entirely different from being on the ground.

We then flew out over the water a bit. The noise of the ocean was incredibly loud. When we were on the ground I couldn't hear the ocean at all, but in the sky our wings seemed to create an amphitheatre to magnify the sound. There was no feeling of water and yet it sounded like the water was all around us. It was amazing.

Time seemed to literally fly while we were flying, but it was soon time for us to come down. Chris told me that we had just flown about twenty kilometres, although this too was impossible for me to believe. When you can't see things moving beneath you, it doesn't really seem like you are actually moving. Chris asked me to go back to the standing position. Initially, this had been very comfortable, but after laying, it felt really strange. I was nervous about landing. Images of hurtling towards earth and crash landing were in my head, but Chris told me that it would be easy. Like stepping down a stair, and it was. It was very soft. My feet just landed on the sand, I over-balanced and fell to my knees. It was so strange to suddenly feel ground beneath me again and I really wanted to go back in the air again.

Chris unharnessed me and walked me back towards the grass. As we walked along the beach, he stopped to pick something up and he presented me with a feather as a souvenir of my first flight. It had been the most amazing, exhilarating and yet relaxing experience of my life. I had experienced a different world where I was free.

I strongly recommend hang gliding to anyone and everyone. Tandem flying is great, especially when you have a good instructor who can reassure you that everything is just fine and then deliver it. I flew and I landed, and I am still in one sane piece.