http://www.zip-designs.com/content/zipglider

Take flight with Zip Glider! Experience the sensation of hang gliding under
controlled conditions as you soar down the mountain. Once reserved for only the
most adventurous zipline enthusiasts, the Zip Glider now allows anyone to
experience the sport in its purest form.

Brad Kushner <Brad> writes:

Raccoon Mountain in Tennessee used to have an early version of
this ‘ride.’

The purpose was to give wuffos or wannabees the opportunity to ‘fly a hang
glider for realz’ without actually taking any lessons.

Little old ladies did it. 4-year-olds did it. And a whole lotta regular folks
did it. Back in the 1980s, they charged 5 bucks a ride. I even used it as a
flight simulator and did a parachute deployment half-way down. This was in
~1986. (I have photos/slides of this event in my collection somewhere, not yet
converted to digital.)

I believed then, as I do now, that this device has great potential to give the
casual public a positive hang gliding first-experience with a very low threshold
to participate. Even if very few of them actually go on to try hang gliding for
real, I think most of them would find it a positive, educational experience, for
what its worth. A little positive PR with the general public, at the very least.