With the reinvention of the huge “BLIMPS” using ‘He,’ instead of ‘H.’ I hope that single or maybe even

“family sized” ‘He’ Blimps (with aero dynamic bodies and advanced computer operated stabilizers) are

just around the decade.

What about it ? Does anyone know if such a bird is being groomed?

D. Grant

Without any first hand experience, it appears structurally to be a unique blend of hand gliding, pargliding, and ballooning. There is a partial rigid frame (crossbar and somewhat of a keel). Light nylon body like a paraglider, and it is inflated like a hot air balloon. It weighs in at about 22 pounds which is quite nice.

The most important thing to know about it is that it is not a flying craft like a hang glider or paraglider. The wing size is much too small and the wing loading way to high. It has less than half the wing span of a hang glider and much less wing area. They claim that you need nearly 40mph of airspeed for an “extended jump”. So that puts it in the catagory of speed gliding/ kite surfing.

If those sports interest you, I think you are better off with a speed paraglider which is just a very small paraglider. This is an extremely dangerous sport though. A combination of high speeds, a undersized wing, and close proximity to the ground at all times makes this a high risk adreneline sport. You will always be at risk of a high speed (probably fatal) ground impact due to ground thermals/turbulance, wind gradient/shadows, or pilot error.

Unfortunately Frank, this is definately not a “cheaper, simpler way of getting into hang gliding”.