Featured Members

This months featured member is Linda Salamone

Some questions we've asked Linda to help our community members get to know her even better!

 

1. Tell the community something about yourself.

I am the daughter of a doctor who loved to fly airplanes, and I have a mother who still doesn't really get it. I am the mother of two girls and a boy; the girls are on their own, the boy is still mine for a couple more years. I have a sister who flies hang gliders and trikes, and two of my other siblings have taken tandems. All of my children have tried it, but only the oldest girl took it to the training hill. I work in biomedical research now, but I began my vocational journey as a veterinary technician and a zookeeper. So, I have lots of pets....
 

2. What got you interested in Hang Gliding?

My sister got a job as a ground crew for a guy who opened a hang gliding operation in Prescott Valley, Arizona. I was headed out there for a much needed vacation (escape) from home (abusive husband) and she asked if I wanted to try a tandem flight. It was 1995 and I was in a miserable place in my life so I said sure! During this epic tandem that began as a truck tow, we flew 10 miles across the valley, gaining over 7,000', and landed after more than an hour near a great Indian restaraunt. At one particular moment during the flight, I had my epiphany. I knew right then that I had always wanted THIS- I just didn't know until now that it was called hang gliding. As a child, I had tried to fly by jumping at the exact right point of the arc on a swing-set. Many twisted ankles later, I gave up because I grew up and forgot the dreams I had.

I went home and told my husband that I intended to learn to fly hang gliders. He said that no wife of his ever would. (He was so right).

I took lessons locally in 1997. The Rochester Area Flyers has a great training program, but I was the last one to get airborn and struggled for years with fear and finances. As a single working mother, I just didn't have the time and resources to make it really mine. The men at my local sites coddled me, and no one really spoke about fear - they were GUYS, after all- except for me.  After 4 years of mostly sled runs, I finally zipped up my harness in flight, and committed myself. Things started to improve after that and I really owned it.
 

3. What do you like the most about hang gliding?

Cross country flying is the most awesome aspect of this sport. It never gets boring. I mean, hang gliding itself is great; buffing a ridge for hours is fine if I haven't had any airtime in a while. But going XC is really where it's at for me. Competing just gives me a goal to reach while flying XC, and an almost guaranteed ride back! I feel like Superman. I can fly like I flew in my dreams as a child (only a lot higher....).
 

4. What is your pilot rating?

I am a hang 4 and a foot launch instructor. I was the 2006 and 2007 Women's National Champion. By default- meaning there was no women at the 2008 Nationals- I guess the title was still mine. In 2009, I didn't attend King Mountain Nationals, or Big Spring- I was recovering from a broken arm that happened during the Flytec Race and Rally. My best showing at a meet was at the East Coast Championship in 2007- I came in 2nd place and actually won some money!! But the one I am most proud of was coming in 6th at the 2006 Women's World Championships at Quest Air in Florida. 
 

5. Type of gear you own?

• Litespeed 3S
• Moyes Matrix harness
• Flytec 5030
• Garmin 76map GPS
• 4Flight helmet
• Yeasu FT11R radio (with the most kick-ass PTT system that a friend made) 

6. Your most memorable experience flying?

 I could probably say when I broke my arm- because I am reminded every day of that flight. But that's not memorable in a good way, so I'll tell one of those. There are so many to chose from.... Passing through Picacho Peak over Rte 10 in Arizona late in the day after grovelling low along the cultivated fields for more than an hour. The sun was low illuminating the red peaks magically and I was finally getting some decent lift. The air, the light, my singing vario, the birds that were escorting me upwards, the desert landscape as a backdrop... I remember thinking how incredibly lucky I am to be able to experience something so beautiful and unique. It puts the rest of my life into perspective- flying does. I can leave the trivial or troubling details of my life on the ground, and be so very present in the air, even if just for a little while.
 

7. How can our members find you /contact you?

I am on Skype as linda.salamone, I have a blog at www.gottafly.blogspot.com, I'm on facebook (who isn't?), I have a Twitter account as Lindasalamone but I've never Tweeted. Maybe I'll try that in Germany. My local club is Rochester Area Flyers and they are on the web. I use my gottafly@frontiernet.net email most because I get e-mail on my Blackberry for free- especially in Germany!!!