Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 26

and what we do. The flying culture is a healthy community—
almost tribal—and we believe that it’s a great place to raise
children. Having kids made me a better pilot. I can’t leave
a kid an orphan, so if I’m going to do loops, they have to be
really good loops.

C.J. ♥ George

so we could fly together. But that came with a good side effect:
Our kids grew up with a huge advantage over other kids their
age, because they were around the flying community and
learned how to appreciate people from all different walks of
life.
Aaron: Whose gonna drive?
What advice would you give to other flying couples?
Kerie: Don’t skip out on the kid part, if you were going to
because of your flying. Things work out. Also, never take for
granted how special it is to be able to have a partner that you
can share something so awesome with.
Aaron: We’ve seen some people give up flying in favor of
personal relationships or when kids are born. That’s a personal
choice, but for us that wasn’t an option. Flying is what we did

George and C.J. Sturtevant met at a rockclimbing site long
before they’d even seen a hang glider. Ten years later they took
lessons together, bought a hang glider that was a bit too small
for George and a bit too big for C.J. and took turns flying it at
the training hill. Then they got their own gliders, learned to
fly paragliders, and eventually were celebrating their 30-year
anniversary while flying a 40-mile paraglider flight within
shouting distance of each other in Iquique, Chile. “For us,
there couldn’t have been a more perfect way to celebrate our
years together,” says C.J.
Does flying enhance your relationship?
George: When we first took hang gliding lessons, we had
lots of activities to keep us busy. But the scuba diving, motorcycle touring, mountain climbing and other stuff just disappeared into the hang gliding addiction. So I guess you could
say that a lot of our relationship is flying.
C.J.: Flying has been a focal point of our recreation for 32
years. I’m not sure it has “enhanced” our relationship, because
we had a strong “togetherness” bond before we started flying,
but it certainly introduced a new element of adventure that
neither of us had ever anticipated.
Do you share advice with each other?
George: I think we’re pretty secure about being able to share,
but I’ll be interested to see if C.J. agrees with that assessment.
C.J.: Our flying skill levels have advanced pretty much at
an equal pace, so we can discuss issues without either of us
feeling like we’re being talked down to or lectured. George is
stronger on the technical things—he fixes my PTT, downloads our tracklogs, and scopes out sites on Google Earth.
I tend to be the one who suggests trips or events, bakes the
cookies, and makes the social connections.
Do you accept risk differently?
George: C.J. is more willing to push the envelope; how else
could she make the U.S. women’s hang gliding team four
times? And she’ll fly in those killer comp gaggles—when my
reaction to more than one other glider near me is to go find
some other part of the sky.

ABOVE C.J. and George Sturtevant accepting the Cloudbase Country Club award for 30 years of service to
the NW hang gliding community, April 2013. OPPOSITE Becky and Justin Brim celebrate landing at the lake
in Valle de Bravo.

26

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE