Kitty Hawk Kites Hang Gliding

2011-02-04T09:11:00.000-08:00

If you haven't learned to Hang Glide yet, there is no better time than 2011. Are you visiting this summer? Book your lesson early to make sure you get the dates you want--times fill up fast! If you've already done a dune lesson, try our awesome Tandem Hang Gliding flights! And don't forget our annual Hang Gliding Spectacular will be held from May 20-23. Competitors must register and pay a small fee. Go to www.hangglidingspectacular.com to learn more about the event.

2011-01-28T07:35:00.000-08:00

It's a new year here at Kitty Hawk Kites and while it may be just a tad chilly, we are still running lessons 7 days a week! In fact, recently the winds have been blowing east at near soarable velocities allowing the whole school to go out and play. Our annual Hang Gliding Spectacular is going to be here before you know it with the dates set for May 20th through the 23rd. So I hope you guys are getting ready because we sure are and this year our instructors plan on dominating the competition!

2010-12-28T13:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and happy new year! The recent snowstorm made for some beautiful scenery here at the beach, and even though the dunes are covered with snow, we are still out there flying! Congratulations to our most recent hang one student, Mike Bartlett from Robeson County, North Carolina!

2010-10-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

here is a list of the new mountain pilots we have taught so far for 2010...
jeff galvin
zach behney
alex tatum
paul mazzoni
dave wadleigh
jeff parrot
greg eaddy
tim phillips
will welch
Great job guys! I dont know the exact amount of mountain air time you all accumulated, but there is at least one guy who went from hang zero to hang three in one season!
Our annual fly in is coming up in a couple of weeks, and there is a good probability that we add a couple more names to the list.
Let's keep our fingers crossed while we hope for more soarable air...and a special thanks to the instructors that made it happen, Jon Bland, Andrea Zeiger, and Eric Meibos...you guys obviously know how to teach!!

Mountain Trip Coming Up..

2010-07-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

As more and more of our instructors pass their Hang II flying and written tests, we get closer and closer to our first mountain trip of the season! Anyone is welcome to join us--provided they have their Hang II license. We can't wait to get into some thermals and do some soaring!

The destination has not been selected yet (we're waiting to get closer to the weekend we leave to find the best weather forecast possible). Do you have a spot in mind you think we should go? Weather looking great in New York? What about Tennessee? Email our Hang Gliding School with your preference!

National Hang Gliding and Paragliding Day

2010-05-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

Today is the most important national holiday of the year, its National Hang gliding and Paragliding Day! Every student today will receive a free 2010 USHPA calandar so every day they can be reminded about how far Rogallo's idea has evolved.

Rogallo Story from Oregon Visitors

2010-05-27T13:25:00.000-07:00

Edward Geller and his grand daughter Keili are here from Oregon to take some hang gliding lessons. Edward knew and worked with Rogallo at NASA (when it was NACA). He says his grand daughter has been asking him for a long time about taking a hang gliding lesson, and so they came all the way across the country to KHK! Rogallo showed him his wing in his office in the early 1950's...and said that some day it would be built big enough for people to use as recreational gliders...this was in the 1950's! Mr. Geller is a part of the greatest aviation story in history, and we are very pleased that he trusted us to teach his grand daughter to fly. He hasn't flown in a few years, but is also back for some lessons. If the conditions allow, we will re sign him off on his ratings. At eighty years old, he is the same age Rogallo was when he took his last flights in a Rogallo wing, and tomorrow they are both going flying at our airport. Have fun guys!

2010 Hang Gliding Spectacular

2010-05-17T10:55:00.000-07:00

We had a great time this past weekend at the hang gliding spectacular. The weather held on until the very last day when a cold front brought some rain and lightening. The voights from NY state had an impressive showing taking first in both divisions and the team competition. The team competition gets more popular every year and really shows why this event is so special to people, its an opportunity to reconnect to the fact that friendship and fun are the foundations of what we do here at the hang gliding school. If you have never been, come watch. If you have never flown it, come fly! First year participants get a half price entry fee, so make your plans now for next year, the weekend after Mothers Day.

Great Conditions for Interesting Travelers

2010-04-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

We sure get some interesting folks wander into the hang gliding school. Today we had Eric Marchand, who helped Andy and Chris Moore prepare to teach the first kiteboarding instructor clinic on the outer banks way back in the year 2000. He is now a traveling writer for Discovery magazine, and will be writing an article about fun things to do for visitors interested in outdoor recreation, including hang gliding! We also had Dan Rutter, who is traveling the entire perimeter of the United States, alone, on his motorcycle! They both had the fortune of excellent conditions and got some great high quality instruction and flights, and both are interested in continuing their lessons and getting rated in the future.

Welcome

2010-04-23T06:40:00.000-07:00

We want to welcome Sara Anderson to the KHK team. She has joined the marketing team as our new graphic designer. She was able to get her first hang gliding lesson in last week and did great. We had awesome conditions...sunny with east winds at 10mph. She took advantage of the conditions landing almost all her flights on her feet.

Joining her was Nick Barrett our event coordinator, who already has his Hang One rating. He also had some awesome flights. He flew multiple times from the top of the east dune. He'll be working on his Hang Two rating this summer.

Nice work guys!

Congrats to Byron!

2010-04-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

Byron now has his hang one and a brand new falcon 3 195 with custom colors and a speedbar, great job Byron! Mason also got signed off recently and is on his way west to continue working on his hang 2...welcome to hang gliding guys! It seems like hang gliding is starting to experience a bit of a resurgence, and just in time for the spring season. Soon we will be towing up again at our airport so don't miss out!

Happy Easter Hang Gliding!

2010-04-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! It feels like summer on the outer banks, classes have been booked solid and we have had a lot of students earning their hang ones and quite a few who are almost there! Congrats to Mason Almeida, a recent nomad from the big city, on becoming a pilot. We even have a returning student who earned his hang two by soaring jockeys ridge...in 1978! His instructor was John Harris, so welcome back and good job keeping track of your logbook for the last 32 years!

New Hang One Students

2010-03-21T12:20:00.000-07:00

Kitty Hawk Kites would like to welcome three more hang one students into the world of hang gliding. Daniel Gerber, Matthew Vaughan, and Jonathon Mai are taking a break from their engineering studies at MIT to enjoy the spring weather and earn their beginner ratings. Welcome aboard guys!

Good Flying Weather is Here

2010-03-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

The first day of Spring is going to bring some good flying weather here on the Outer Banks. Southeast winds, mid 60's...It's going to be a great weekend for training. We've got a bunch of people signed up for lessons. It should be a good time.

It's been a long Winter and its nice to finally see Spring get here. One nice thing about this Winter is that all the storms that have blown through have shaped the dunes pretty nicely. The training hills look great. We're excited to get everybody out there. It's going to be a good flying season.

New Hang One

2010-03-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

congrats to zach behney on passing the hang one test, great job! Winter is officially over, classes are filling up, its time to pull out the gear and perform an annual pre season super preflight...we can do it for you, pull the sail and full inspection...call andy or bruce at the shop to schedule an appointment...

soarable tomorrow

2010-03-11T10:12:00.001-08:00

looks like the forecast is for east winds at 20mph for tomorrow...we all know what that means. Lets hope the rain holds off and we all get tons of airtime!

Hang I Students

2010-03-10T12:11:00.000-08:00

our newest hang one students include an electrician from Hampton named Byron Stevens, a pilot from Alaska and his Vermont college son, the Shellabargers, and an 18 year old boy genius who has already built and flown numerous designs of hang gliders, Tyler Cohen...welcome aboard, guys!

Biggest Loser Winners on the Dunes Today!

2010-03-10T09:07:00.001-08:00

Ed Brantley and Heba Salama from the Biggest Loser will be joining us on the Dunes for a Hang Gliding Lesson today! We're very excited to host them. Get outside! It's hitting 60 today! Spring is almost here...

Hang Gliding in 2010

2010-02-24T13:38:00.000-08:00

If you haven't learned to Hang Glide yet, there is no better time than 2010. Are you visiting this summer? Book your lesson early to make sure you get the dates you want--times fill up fast! If you've already done a dune lesson, try our awesome Tandem Hang Gliding flights! And don't forget our annual Hang Gliding Spectacular will be held from May 14-17. Competitors must register and pay a small fee. Go to www.hangglidingspectacular.com to learn more about the event.

Winter weather

2010-02-08T07:29:00.000-08:00

We were lucky this past weekend and missed out on all the snow. While everyone up north is digging out from that massive storm, we have pretty good flying conditions here at the beach. It's blowing 10-15 mph out of the NW with sunny skies. It's a bit chilly with highs in the upper 30's, but it always feels warmer once we start flying and the adrenaline starts pumping. We'll bundle up and have a good day of flying.