Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 23

We were supposed to take turns flying,
but he always seemed to find a willing
lady on the hill to watch the baby when it
was his turn.
-Tina Jorgensen

E

xpressing her joy at being part of a flying couple,
pilot Milly Wallace says, “There is no better
person out there to be thermaling with, wingtip
to wingtip, than the love of your life!” Most agree
that sharing the magic of flight with a loved one is a huge
privilege. Logistically, you can easily sync up your lifestyles
around flying, and emotionally, you both just “get it.”
But it’s not without complications. How do you reconcile
different skill levels? How do you share advice? Who will
watch the children? And, perhaps most important, who is
going to drive retrieve?!
For this article, I found seven couples willing to disclose
their successes and struggles with sharing the flying life. But
before I delve into their answers, I’ll make my own admission:
I nearly break into an allergic rash upon hearing flying advice
from my partner. My basic credo is that unless I’m about to
launch with my legstraps unbuckled, it’s best for him to keep
quiet.
I was relieved to learn I’m not alone. “There is some weird
chemical process in our brains that makes it hard to accept
advice from someone you love,” Ivan Ripoll explains.
Perhaps we know too well our partner’s foibles, or perhaps
we just consider ourselves peers. For myself, I know too well
the way my decision-making gets dangerously distorted
when I mix flying with my need for love and approval. After
buckling in, I must exhibit a sense of full-on Go-Girl independence.
Still, I envy some of these couples who have figured it out,
those who freely give and take advice and rarely bump heads.
For some, it hasn’t always been that way—which gives me
some hope that I’ll eventually lose The Attitude. But until
then, I’ll just enjoy all the other pleasures that surround the
shared flying life: hiking together to launch, the post flightBBQs, and the traveling.

At the end of the day, there isn’t a right way to be a flying
couple. It’s whatever works.

Wayne ♥ Paula
Wayne and Paul Sayer met at a hang gliding meet in
Slovenia. Wayne was a wind dummy and slightly intimidated
by Paula, who was one of the officials. A couple of years later,
they met again in Europe when Paula offered Wayne a ride.
Screaming over the clatter of her old Nissan diesel van, they
spent two weeks sharing their life stories and, as Wayne puts
it, “something happened.”
Does flying enhance your relationship?
Wayne: It helps that we’re both passionate about the same
thing. It’s really just a part of our lives that we share, like
skiing and biking. On those rare spectacular days, there is
more of a connection when you share them with your partner.
Paula: It’s good to have the same interests up to a point,
especially when they can be as time-consuming as flying. It’s
nice to be able to discuss an amazing flight afterwards. Also,
we travel places to fly and there often isn’t much else to do.
Do you share advice with each other?
Wayne: We often discuss different techniques, outcomes,
and options. We’re always both looking out for each other
and not afraid to let each other know.
Paula: Flying is a personal act, so whatever decision I
make is only mine. When flying in the Owens Valley, Wayne
has got up by thermaling low over the back, and that’s not
something I’m often willing to do. Luckily, Wayne knows
better than to te