Highland Aerosports
Highland Aerosports
Hang Gliding in Maryland
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About:
At Highland Aerosports, we provide tandem (instructor and student together) hang gliding instruction, solo aerotows, and hang gliding equipment sales and service. Our goal is to give quality instruction so that others may experience the purest most enjoyable form of flight.
Whether you are looking for the quiet, surreal experience of powerless flight, want to go up mid-afternoon and experience the challenge of soaring like the birds, or love the roller coasters and are looking for the ride of your life, Highland can give you the experience you are looking for.
Browse these pages to find out all the different hang gliding packages that we have to offer. Whether you want to take an introductory flight, go through our hang gliding school program to learn to fly at altitude yourself, or are a rated pilot and need tows or flight equipment, you can find it here.
If you have never flown in a hang glider, check out our introductory hang gliding lessons page. There you will learn how to schedule a lesson, what to expect, prices, and group rates.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a lesson, feel free to contact us at (410) 634-2700, or send us an email at hanglide@aerosports.net.
Driving Directions:
View Hang Gliding in a larger map
From Points West:
Follow Route 50 East across the Bay Bridge ($2.50 one-way toll). Stay right at the 50/301 split and continue on 50 East for another 7 miles. Turn left at the light onto Route 404 East. Continue about 7 miles and turn left at the light onto Route 480 East toward Ridgely. Approx. 3 miles down turn left at the Mercantile Eastern Shore Bank onto 312 North and drive through town. Please note: our local police have been actively enforcing the speed limits. Once past town, 312 will bend around to the right. Drive about 3/4 mile and turn right onto Racetrack Road, where there’s a hang glider displayed at the turn. Follow the road for about 4/10 mile and Ridgely Airport is on the left. Please park at the entrance. Our office is the small block building near the picnic tables under the trees.
From Points North:
Take I95 South to Delaware exit 1A, Route 896 toward South Newark and Route 301. Follow 896S for about 11 miles, just past Summit Airport on the right, and get in the right lane to continue straight onto Route 301 South toward the Bay Bridge. Just past mile marker 101 turn left onto Route 19 East toward Ingleside. Follow for 4 1/2 miles and turn right onto 313 South. Follow 313 for 2 1/2 miles and turn right onto 312 South toward Ridgely. Drive 312 for 7 miles and make a hard left onto Racetrack Road where there’s a hang glider displayed at the turn. Follow the road for about 4/10 mile and Ridgely Airport is on the left. Please park at the entrance. Our office is the small block building near the picnic tables under the trees.
When driving near and through the town of Ridgely it is recommended that you follow the posted speed limit.
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Introductory Lessons:
Two place (tandem) flight makes it safe and easy for the new-comer to get into the air within minutes of arriving for their first lesson. While most solo pilots land on their feet, wheels are used while flying tandem to make safe and easy landings. Due to the less cumbersome landing procedure, wheels also allow the student to be on the controls for a much longer period each flight.
Highland Aerosports offers introductory tandem hang gliding lessons to altitudes of 2,500 ft, one mile (5,283 ft.), and 10,000 ft.
There aren’t any mountains on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, so we utilize a technique called aerotowing to become airborne. Unlike the traditional method of launching a hang glider by running off of a mountain, we use a powered ultralight specifically designed for towing hang gliders into the air. Very similar to the system sailplanes have been using for well over 50 years. This system consists of a 250 ft. tow rope connecting the release of the hang glider to the release on the tow vehicle. Once everything is hooked up, the tow plane acts as an engine for the hang glider. When at altitude, your hang gliding instructor simply releases from the tow line, and then you get to enjoy the quiet of the purest form of flight attainable.
Typical First Lesson:
1) Arrive for lesson
2) Complete about five minutes of paperwork
3) Talk about the procedures and controls
4) Climb into the glider
5) Review procedures and controls
6) Relax and enjoy the view while your instructor pilots the aircraft to altitude
7) Release from the tow line
8) Take the controls and pilot the glider down to an altitude of about 300 ft.
9) Relax while your instructor rolls in on the wheels for a smooth landing
10) Become addicted to hang gliding and sign up for more lessons
You can choose from a 2,500 ft, mile high (5,280 ft), or a 10,000 ft tandem lesson
Lesson Packages:
Highland Aerosports offers tandem hang gliding lessons on a per flight basis, or, after you’ve decided that your new addiction is firmly planted, you can purchase your lessons in one of our packages listed below. We can teach you all the hang gliding skills you need to fly safely at altitude. Our school has a comprehensive tandem training program that will allow someone who has never before seen a hang glider to get soloed in about twenty tandem flights.
Once you are working toward getting soloed, we generally recommend that you reserve a 1 hour block of time for each training session. During these sessions, we will typically do three 2,500 ft. tandems, and conduct the ground school portions of your training.
Novice Package:
If you’re a beginner serious about getting into the sport, the novice package is the way to go.
Can’t spend all the money for the novice package in one payment? Highland offers a comprehensive upgrade package that allows you to pay for your lessons as you go. You simply upgrade from one package level to the next, and when you finish your tandems, you get the same price but spread out over the course of your training.
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