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Photo and video packages of your first tandem jump catch the excitement of free-falling at 120 miles per hour—and they let you share the experience on your Facebook page.
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Up, up and away: Hot-air ballooning offers a unbeatable view of South Carolina. Each voyage ends with a champagne toast, and a presentation of your First Flight certificate.
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Introductory rides in two-seat trainer sailplanes like the one pictured at left, entice many people to become solo sailplane pilots. The sport can be addictive, warns soaring enthusiast Karen Kovecses. “It gets you totally away from everything,” she says. “You leave all your stress behind.”
Aerial recreation in the Palmetto State ranges from the genteel experience of hot-air ballooning, to the exhilaration of soaring in gliders to the adrenaline-pumping thrills of skydiving. Are you ready for some high-flying fun? Here’s how to get started.
HOT-AIR BALLOONING
For sheer beauty and romance, nothing can match floating away in a multicolored hot-air balloon on a clear morning. Who knows where the winds will take you?
Steve and Connie Lambert offer that carefree escapism through their company, Sky Scapes of America, based in Anderson. The couple used to run a balloon business in Orlando, Fla., taking passengers over Disney World and central Florida, but moved in 2003 after they fell in love with South Carolina during Anderson’s annual balloon festival.
“We love it here,” Steve says. “The people are friendly; the weather is great for ballooning.”
Most Sky Scape flights take place in the early morning, when the air is calm. “We meet at sunrise at the Civic Center Launch Field,” Steve says. “The passengers go through some paperwork while we begin setting up. If they wish, the passengers can help us with the assembly and the inflation. All oft hat takes about 30 to 45 minutes. Once everything is ready, we climb aboard and take off.”
Steve pilots the balloon and Connie follows in the chase vehicle. With no means of propulsion, the balloon and its occupants are at the mercy of the wind. Connie’s job is to keep them in sight and bring them back once they land, which is usually about an hour after liftoff. Befitting the genteel experience, each trip ends with a champagne toast.
The balloon will accommodate up to six people. Adults ride for $175 each; children under 12 for $85. The usual load is three or four passengers, although couples can reserve a private flight for $600.
That’s what Kevin and Apasala Benoit did recently, to celebrate their 10th anniversary.
“It was a surprise for her,” says Kevin, who likens the sensation of lift-off to that of going up in an elevator. “A very smooth elevator. It was really a nice experience.”
SKYDIVING
Why jump out of a perfectly good airplane? For the excitement, of course. And the bragging rights.
Thrill-seekers can get a taste of skydiving by making what is known as a tandem jump with South Carolina’s commercial skydiving operations —Skydive Carolina, based at the Chester Catawba Regional Airport, and Skydive Walterboro, based at the Lowcountry Regional Airport.
On a tandem jump, the novice skydiver is attached to an instructor and both of them descend on a single chute, but not before they free-fall for 60 seconds or so, at 120 miles per hour. Once the parachute opens, it takes about five minutes to glide to a landing, says James La Barrie, general manager of Skydive Carolina.
The jump offers plenty of heart-pounding thrills, but the thing that surprises most first-timers is that there is no sense of plummeting during free-fall, he says. “There is no sensation of speed. It’s a very comforting feeling, not a scary feeling. If you can handle a roller coaster, then you can handle skydiving.”
Tandem jumps costs anywhere from $180 to $215 (Savings alert: Skydive Carolina is a member of York Electric Cooperative and offers a $15 discount on tandem jumps with your Co-op Connections card), plus an additional $85 to $105 if you want the video/photo package of your exploits. You are going to want evidence that you actually did this, right?
If a tandem jump whets your appetite for more high adventure, you can come back for the Accelerated Free Fall Progression, a package of 16 jumps and instruction that will lead to becoming a certified skydiver. It costs about $2,300 in all and takes a minimum of six weeks to complete.
SOARINGS
For many travelers, the “Bermuda High Soaring” sign by the side of S.C. 903 at the Lancaster-Kershaw county line is something of a mile post. Follow its pointer down a lonely dirt road and you will find the largest commercial glider port and school in the Southeast.
Frank Reid and Jayne Ewing, members of Lynches River Electric Cooperative, have run their commercial soaring business (and a private soaring club) here on the outskirts of Lancaster since 1991. Today they can point with pride to a fleet of 11 sailplanes, three tow planes, a clubhouse, hanger and their own 4,000-foot grass runway.
Although the gliding aircraft are properly called “sailplanes,” Reid is quick to correct any misconceptions about the experience. “We don’t go sailing. That’s what those things on a lake do. We go soaring. Birds don’t sail. They soar. We are like the birds, we soar.”
And like the birds, they appear to do so effortlessly, staying aloft hours at a time and covering hundreds of miles over North and South Carolina. Bermuda High Soaring will gladly take visitors up for 20-minute sailplane rides at a cost of $75 per person. And the flight is well worth it.
Reid uses one of his dual-seat instructional planes for the flight, with the passenger up front. Ewing tows the sailplane to about 3,000 feet and Reid releases the tow rope, which makes a sharp “snap” followed by an almost weightless feeling. The only noise is the air rushing past the canopy and the panoramic view of the Carolina Sandhills is intoxicating. “We have people come in all the time who go up with us and then say, ‘I’ll remember this for the rest of my life,’” Reid says.
You can also get a taste of the sport through nonprofit soaring clubs, like Lowcountry Soaring in Ridgeland and Carolina Soaring Association in Spartanburg. For a fees of $75 to $90 per flight, paid to the club, members will gladly take guests up for an unforgettable ride and share their passion for the sport of soaring, but arrangements must be made well in advance.
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Learn More
SkyScapes of America, 3300-D N. Main St., Anderson, SC 29621, (864) 221-0552
For information on the 2011 Balloons Over Anderson festival (Nov. 4–6) visit balloonsoveranderson.org
Skydive Carolina, 1903 King Air Dr., Chester, SC 29706 ,(803) 581-5867, skydivecarolina.com
Skydive Walterboro, 627 Aviation Way, Walterboro, SC 29488, (800) 549-JUMP (5867), skydivewalterboro.com
Bermuda High Soaring School, Thermal Trail, P.O. Box 1510, Lancaster, SC 29721, (803) 475-7267, glider.org
Carolina Soaring Association*, Spartanburg Downtown, Memorial Airport, Spartanburg, SC, (864) 266-3279, carolinasoaring.org
Lowcountry Soaring Club*, Ridgeland Airport, Ridgeland, SC, (843) 689-3452, lowcountrysoaring.org
* Denotes a private,nonprofit club. Availability of introductory flights may be limited. Contact the clubs for schedules and details.