Scot Trueblood<<paradisehanggliding>>
writes:

Here at Paradise Hang Gliding, we are doing our part to
participate in the USHPA-sponsored nationwide promotion of the movie Rio. Last
Friday, the opening day of the movie, we invited members of the local media out
for a day of tandem hang gliding. One local TV station, WINK News, one of the
largest in the area, took us up on our offer.

We met reporter Lauren Pastrana and her cameraman John at the Lovers Key boat
ramp, where we first did a LIVE interview before her flight, with the boat,
glider and crew in the background at the dock. Then we took Lauren for a 2500'
tandem flight above the Gulf of Mexico. The conditions were great, with
perfectly smooth air and plenty of wind to make for an easy tow. It could not
have been better conditions for such a high-profile flight. We had plenty of
altitude and time aloft to give her a real good taste of hang gliding, and I did
some big, sweeping turns with the coastline in the background for our glider
mounted GoPro to take in. On final approach to land next to the waiting boat, we
flew directly over a pod of 5 dolphins playing at the surface, and Lauren was
quite thrilled.

Lauren thoroughly enjoyed her flight and was a very good passenger. The typical
nervousness vanished within moments of lifting off from the boat deck, and was
replaced by genuine awe and appreciation of our sport. At one point, she even
told me she felt like a weenie for having waited so long to try hang gliding.

Even Lauren stated that the segment could have been better if they had been
allocated a bit more time, I felt as though some of the best interview footage
was not used, and the cameraman had some great stuff from the boat as well, not
to mention our GoPro footage. And maybe someday, I can teach Lauren how to say
HANG glide, instead of HAN glide. Nevertheless, it turned out great, and I've
gotten a lot of good feedback from friends and family, not to mention a few
calls from people wanting to go flying. Stay tuned, in another day or so I will
finish the editing on our GoPro video of the flight.

Http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2011-04-15/A-birds-eye-view-of-Southwest-Florida