Air Dancing

AT A SMALL AIRPORT ON THE NORTHERN edge of Lake Lavon in Princeton, Texas, Dave English and his family create fancies of flight that would send even Orville and Wilbur’s imaginations soaring. This isn’t your fixed-wing, high-speed, crowded, turn-of-the-21st-century type of flight. It’s more akin to what our feathered friends do: dance leisurely at low altitudes across the thermals and cross-drafts, never faster than 30 miles per hour. This is the world of powered parachuting.

English, whose family has been in the powered parachuting business since the dawn of the trend in 1984, brought the headquarters for his company, Future Flight, to North Texas from Orlando, Florida, a decade ago because of the mild weather conditions. He’ll take you up in the go-cart-like contraption for a 15-minute test flight for $35, or, for $89, teach you the basics for your first solo flight. “The beauty of the powered parachute is its simplicity,” says English. “The cart and pilot act as a self-correcting pendulum under an oversized Ram Air Gliding parachute, making it virtually stall-proof. Add power to rise, reduce to descend. It can’t get much easier.”

Converts may soon decide they need to own their own flying machine. And while powered parachutes are pricey, starting at about $6,000 for a single seater and about $12,000 for a two-seater, they’re much cheaper than an actual plane. Besides being the ultimate ranch toy, the powered parachute may be the best RV ever invented. With a powered parachute on a relatively calm day, all you need to do is find yourself a flat spot, and in minutes, you and your significant other can be soaring safely above the treetops, sharing a new perspective on familiar ground.

Future Flight, 100 County Road 392, Princeton, TX 75407; (metro) 734-9411, or 214-736-6000.