Sight for soaring highs

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A guy with a passion and a dream to fly —and yes, it’s taking him places. Bengaluru’s very own RJ Prithvi is flying high, quite literally. He is the only one in the city to own a two-seater Powered Paraglider and is heading to Goa this weekend to participate in the Fun-Flying Beach Festival 2012 organised by the Paragliding Association of India.

Prithvi couldn’t resist the temptation of owning one of these birds after his first experience in South Africa. “I flew over Victoria Falls in a powered hand glider. The guide told me that I can buy one of these in India too. And that did it — I spent seven months reading up on various gliders, with the rules and regulations. I finally got myself a powered paraglider imported from Italy,” he says.

Ever since he started training, his first few hours on field were turbulent, or should we say, scary! “After making space for practice at my farmhouse, and having my family watching my first take-off, I landed on a tree. I throttled but couldn’t gain enough height. It was freaky and my family was really worried.

Luckily, I escaped with a few bruises. Even during my ground training, on the fifth day, I was instructed not to take-off. Due to an unexpected gush of wind during practice, the glider took off. That was the second time I found myself on a tree; this time I had to make an emergency landing from a height of 20 feet. It was unnerving but also an eye-opener. I knew it was due to space constraint.

That’s when I discovered a wide expanse of empty land in Hoskote. Since then, I’ve been training there. Thankfully, there have been no close encounters with trees,” says Prithvi, who today, has 26 hours of ‘smooth’ flying to his credit, and, “A feeling that’s inexpressible. I feel like a bird!”

His little aircraft costs ` 8 lakh, is portable (can be comfortably folded into an SUV to be reassembled with ease later), weights only 48 kilos, is efficient and economical, considering she gives four hours flying time for just 5 litres, comfortably doing a 38-40 km. And there are more ‘life-saving’ quirks. “Once, while flying solo, I was at 6,500 feet and the fuel ran out. Luckily, my aircraft can glide when the engine fails and I managed a peaceful emergency landing with ease,” he adds.

This three-day festival is being held at Anjuna this weekend. So, what is he looking forward to in Goa? “Flying over the coast! This is a great chance, as one needs permits to fly over the sea otherwise. Flying low just above the sea is an exhilarating experience. I’m really excited about this,” he says, adding, “My next plan? Cross-country flying! And why not, when sky is the limit!”