Learning to Hang Glide at the world’s largest hang gliding school

By Travel Inspired Living
Jul. 09, 2018

You can learn to hang glide in the Outer Banks at the world’s largest hang gliding school. At Jockey’s Ridge in Nags Head, the largest dune along the east coast pairs with Atlantic Ocean breezes to create the kind of setup that makes for a memorable adventure. Whether you want hang gliding for beginners or tandem hang gliding in the outer banks, Kitty Hawk Kites’ Hang Gliding Training Center can help make it happen.

Vacation is, without question, one of my favorite words. A good vacation lets you put real life on pause for an entire week.

Forget the normal routine.

Forget the clean-eating plan.

Forget which day it is.

Forget your first name.

Forget your last name.

Forget everything that existed before vacation.

Vacations really do have that kind of magic. If I were choosing the itinerary, I’d happily do absolutely nothing the entire time. I’d sleep until noon, embrace the joy of no obligations, and commit fully to doing zero. On my latest trip, that was mostly the vibe. I swam, soaked up sun, sipped margaritas, and hung out with my favorite family. Somehow, though, my mom talked all of us into leaving the vacation house for one activity, even though I really did love that vacation home. It happened near the end of the trip, which made it slightly more acceptable, but honestly, this was not the outing I was hoping for.

After a week of total relaxation, I had become deeply lazy and had no interest in leaving my bikini, the pool, or our beautiful house. Still, I went. I knew it was something I should experience, and if it all went terribly wrong, at least I wouldn’t need to show up for work on Monday. Clearly, a win-win. As I mentioned in the post I wrote last year about my surfing experience with Kitty Hawk Kites, I usually do not turn down adventures. This one counted, too.

So what was the surprise adventure? The Outer Banks Visitor Center arranged hang gliding lessons for us at the world’s largest hang gliding school. Woohoo! Funny detail: until that vacation week, I had been mixing up hang gliding and parasailing. In my head, I pictured parasailing with someone attached to me while safely connected to a boat. Then my mom clarified that we would be hang gliding by ourselves, not attached to another person. Tandem hang gliding is an option, but that was not our plan. Great. Still, I had already been skydiving, so I figured that if I could jump out of a plane, launching from a dune was probably manageable.

Learning at Kitty Hawk Kites’ Hang Gliding Training Center

Here’s what happened. We arrived for hang gliding training with everyone’s nerves running high. Josh, my older brother, had missed the previous year’s vacation and had backed out of skydiving with me because he is scared of heights, so hang gliding had him pretty freaked out. Which is funny, because this same guy is trained to squeeze through tight spaces and rappel into dark elevator shafts for work. If he had bailed, I would have teased him forever. No joke. Livea, who was there for the shark sighting during surfing, was also very nervous. In short, all of us were acting like death was imminent. Dramatic? Definitely, since we were only jumping from the largest dunes along the east coast, but whatever.

Flight School began with a video that explained what to do and how to position our bodies. After that, we went outside, put on hang gliding helmets, and geared up, which instantly dropped our attractiveness to about -5’s. Then we walked out to the hang gliding course on the dunes. It was time. I’ll be honest: climbing that dune was rough. After the first trip up, I was already dreading the idea of doing it again and again. But I lived, and it really was worth it. Once I accepted that I was terrible at hang gliding and that almost everyone else was, too, it became SO fun.

Our instructors, Charlie & Nolan, were absolutely AMAZING and incredibly kind. They politely overlooked the fact that my entire family was awful at this, with the exception of dad, who has a janky knee and still did better than the rest of us. They kept encouraging us and acted like we were doing great. They were friendly, personable, and helped everyone feel more at ease with something none of us had done before.

Each of us flew down the dune 5 times, which felt like a good amount. That was enough time to understand that we were bad at it, begin figuring out what we were doing wrong, and realize I should probably spend more time on cardio machines and less time lifting weights. The first trip down, if it even counts as a flight, was rough for everyone. Nobody went very far, which at least meant the walk back up was shorter. After that, though, every attempt felt a little more natural. I definitely was not a pro by the end of the lesson, but I was no longer worried about landing face first in the sand. I can probably speak for my family when I say we would absolutely try it again, except for Livea, who would definitely NOT repeat it unless the weather was much cooler.

Tips for your first hang gliding lesson

• Schedule your Kitty Hawk Kites’ Hang Gliding Training Center reservation early in your trip. Hang gliding depends heavily on the weather, so if conditions do not cooperate, you will want enough time to reschedule.
• Bring sunscreen, sunglasses, lip balm, and plenty of water. You will want every one of them.
• Be ready to hike. Climbing those dunes is serious work, especially when it is hot, but you can move at your own pace, which helps a lot.
• Carefully read the instructions Kitty Hawk Flight School sends with your reservation confirmation so you know how to dress.
• Purchase sand socks and leave the shoes behind. They help keep your feet from getting too hot, make running through sand easier, and save you from having to empty sand out of tennis shoes later.
• Remember to tip your instructors. They help you feel a little more confident, and they also carry the hang glider back UP the dune after every flight. We are a family of five, and each of us went down the hill five times. Do the math. I thought walking up the dune five times was hard.

Kitty Hawk Kites has several lesson options, including hang gliding for beginners, and they supply all the hang gliding equipment needed. For details about how old you have to be to hang glide, how much does it cost to hang glide, Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding, and hang gliding Nags Head dunes at Jockey’s Ridge, visit their listing. Kitty Hawk Kites is also an Official Seaside Vacations sponsor, so Seaside Vacations guests can receive discounts on hang gliding lessons, kayaking, and more. Read Seaside Vacations: Vacation Rentals in the Outer Banks to see just how great our vacation home was.

Categories

• Family Fun
• Outdoor Enthusiast

Tags

• Kitty Hawk
• Nags Head

Author

Travel Inspired Living began in 2009 under the name The Traveling Praters, and it was never meant for a public audience. While living in a 31-foot motorhome with her husband, three homeschooled teenage children, and a rescued pound puppy, founder Tonya Prater started the blog as a hobby and a way to stay sane.

Almost nine years later, Tonya’s family had made it through 18-months as full-time RV’ers, her children had grown up and mostly moved out, and the site had evolved from a personal journal into a resource for travelers looking for inspiration, tips, and ideas about travel, adventure, attractions, food & outdoors.