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Loyalsock grad Clinton Fought enjoys passion of paragliding

It wasn't long after the COVID-19 pandemic began that Clinton Fought had a newborn baby boy with his wife and started to put things into perspective in the grand scheme of life.

The 2006 Loyalsock graduate realized that our time on Earth is precious and limited.

"It's up to us to make the life we want," Fought said.

And that led Fought into taking a risk in something that he always wanted to do: flying. But, not flying in the sense of a plane. Rather, Fought wanted to paraglide.

"Flying was something I've always wanted to do and didn't want the regret of never doing it. After doing a bunch of research I decided to pursue paragliding both for cost effectiveness, convenience and the novelty of flying through the sky on the wind without a motor (free-flight)."

Since 2022, Fought has been paragliding as much as he can, and enjoying the thrill and excitement each time he goes for a launch. One of Fought's favorite paragliding spots is Hyner View near Lock Haven.

"Hyner View is definitely my favorite paragliding spot. Mainly considering it's the best site, a short drive from Williamsport, the ease of the access to the launch and landing areas is hard to beat," Fought said.

In addition to hiking trails, the Hyner Club also manages other sites near Avis, Lewistown and Elizabethville and some others in Pennsylvania.

Fought is part of other clubs in the region, however, including the Rochester Area Fliers and the upstate New York Free Fliers.

"They manage sites I enjoy like Harris Hill, New York; Hammondsport, New York; and Bristol, New York," Fought noted. "There are also sites down in southern Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland managed by other clubs that I hope to fly in the coming years."

As in any hobby, practice is what helps instill a passion and confidence and proficiency. Paragliding is absolutely no different. Fought noted that the most physically demanding, yet critical, part is ground training known as "kiting" to build good glider control fundamentals which are needed for a long flying career.

As for the physical demand needed to paraglide beyond the learning phase?

"It's pretty basic and limited for a recreational pilot. Besides launch and landing, you are sitting and it's quite relaxing if the conditions are nice," Fought said. "The majority of people I fly with are at or near retirement age, so that says something as to the physical demand."

Paragliding through the sky, be it at Hyner View or Bald Eagle State Park, could be daunting for a lot of people. You're hundreds of feet in the air with not much between you and the ground. But for Fought, the heights never bothered him. He more than trusts his equipment and has confidence in it.

"The glider, harness and components are designed and tested to be eight times stronger than the rated load, which is an industry standard. Along with that, all 'certified' gliders are thoroughly tested by a European testing agency to gauge flying characteristics and overall piloting difficulty to assign every glider with a safety rating," Fought said.

Combine all that, and it's a safe hobby given everything that goes into the equipment and harnesses.

Most accidents happen not because equipment fails, but rather because a flyer is going out in poor or overly demanding conditions.

"After two full seasons, I'm happy to say I've been accident free," Fought noted.

A paraglider is a unique piece of equipment. While it enables one to soar through the skies, it's also designed to be soft and can be folded into a large backpack.

Paragliding and hang gliding are often confused with one another. Hang gliding consists of a rigid frame and a triangular sail for the wing. Paragliding on the other hand consists of roughly 28 square meters of surface area, although that also can depend on how big or small a paraglider one has based on their weight and size.

"All gliders have a certified weight range that it has been designed for," Fought said. "There are also smaller paragliders known as 'mini-wings' that are designed to be more compact and provide a more dynamic flying experience."

Those come in handy for what Fought says are called "hike and fly" where someone hikes up a mountain and then flies down via paraglider.

"Even smaller paragliders are used for another discipline known as speed-flying and is only really popular out in the western U.S. where sites provide a lot more vertical descent to the landing zone and therefore longer flights."

Fought has fallen in love with the sport of paragliding and noted that it's critical to find a good instructor and travel to get proper training for those who are interested in beginning with paragliding. Ushpa.org is a site that provides resources in the area Fought noted.

"The biggest challenge to a new pilot is building that judgment and patience it takes to stay safe. Community is key to this development," Fought said. "It is common for the excitement and novelty of the sport to distract or motivate us to make a bad decision like flying in conditions beyond our skill, or in a way that minimizes our safety margins like flying close to terrain.

"A popular saying in the community is that 'it's better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air, than in the air wishing you were on the ground,'" Fought summed up.

The new year is only a few weeks old, and no doubt Fought will be soaring multiple times throughout 2024 as his passion for paragliding only grows.