“You can go up and see the world like the birds see it,” says Erik Graper, owner of Fly This, a fledgling business offering air trike discovery tours and student pilot instruction over Nickajack Lake.
A hybrid between an ultralight and a hang glider, an air trike is controlled by weight-shift and has a wing like a hang glider, but offers upright seating and an engine. With the help of the engine, the trike can travel farther and is more versatile than a conventional hang glider, in addition to being amphibious.
Graper, a hang-gliding instructor for 10 years, began the business in July with the hope of bringing something new to Chattanooga thrill-seekers.
“People always say, ‘I wish I had done this 10 years ago,'” he says. “It is just one of those bucket list things where 99 percent of people say it’s the best thing they’ve ever done.”
Graper ‘s wife, Claire Vassort, a former pilot on the U.S. Hang Gliding Team, says that flying is like magic. “You break away from everything that’s down there,” says Vassort, a native of France and 27-year hang-gliding veteran. “It gives you a new, peaceful perspective and an opportunity to step away and look at life from a different angle.”