January 7th 2003

By Jay Smith,   

Photos by Bill Mitchell & George Horsford


The Fly By Ranch

Taking to the air

 
Left:

Michelle Daniele of New Mexico glides over Oxford as she pilots a powered paraglider Thursday morning.

 

Below:

Raynald Tremblay from Quebec, Canada, pilots a powered paraglider.
 
Oxford site of new powered paragliders training and service center

OXFORD - People are starting to come to Oxford from near and far to fly high.  On powered paragliders.

The Fly By Ranch on County Road 237 is a training, sales and service center for PPGs (powered paragliders).  Principal partners Eric Dufour and John Good believe their local operation will quickly become the biggest PPG school in the United States.

Open only two months, the Fly By Ranch is already attracting a clientele of students from throughout the US and abroad.  Good and Dufour came a distance to get here themselves.  Dufour is Canadian and Good is from the United Kingdom. 
 

Eric Dufour keeps in contact with the pilots via two-way radio during his flight at the Fly By Ranch in Oxford.

 

"Fly with the birds" is not just a catchy phrase on their letterhead.  According to instructor Michelle Daniele of Albuquerque, NM, birds do seem to find it interesting when humans fly up to join them.  "They fly with you sometimes," she said.  "They watch you like you watch them."  Daniele and her husband, Jerry, operate a PPG school affiliated with Fly By Ranch in Albuquerque.

It was the climate that inspired Good and Dufour to locate their school in central Florida, where powered paragliders can enjoy their sport year-round.  Good said he searched for months for the ideal location before discovering their 150-acre spread in Oxford.  The western boundary of their property nearly touches Interstate 75, and the ranch is fairly easy to find from other nearby highways.

They bought the property six months ago and quickly brought in mobile homes for the owners' residences, a clubhouse with classrooms, and storage buildings.  Two months ago, the school got of the ground.

"I probably got interested in 1997," said Michelle Daniele.  "My husband saw it in a magazine."  The couple visited New York state to see and try powered paragliding, and ended up importing the sport to New Mexico.  "We were the first ones in Albuquerque to paraglide," she said.  She and her husband later hosted an exposition of the new sport for the Albuquerque's annual International Balloon Fiesta, and that's where they met Dufour.

"It's the safest way to fly," Jerry said, pointing out that, even if something goes wrong, the pilot is still suspended under a nylon wing considerably larger than most parachutes.  "If the engine fails, you just glide to the ground," Michelle said.

It is also the most convenient way to fly if you're not a bird.  The smaller units can fit into a car trunk, and an experienced pilot can take off and land in a small field.
 
The smaller units weight about 48 pounds, but Michelle said that once the sail, or wing, begins to catch air the weight is lifted off of the person.  Increasing the throttle, using a hand-held control increases altitude.  Decreasing throttle brings about descent.

A PPG alternative is the unit mounted on a tricycle, which takes off and lands on its three wheels. The elliptical wing have a much higher glide ratio than a parachute.  The wings are manufactured in Europe and the engines are made in Canada. 

It is a sport that can be pursued at virtually any age.  Michelle, 44, said she has seen a 12-year-old solo, and has had a 79-year-old man take a tandem flight.  "You think it would be something for the young guys," she said, "but I'd say the average student in powered paragliding is in his mid-40s."
  

Bob Peters from Colorado carries his wing after a flight in his powered paraglider in Oxford

Watching the flyers in training on a recent Thursday morning, it was easy to pick out the novices from the pros.  The newcomers run and jump to a take off.  But when Dufour went up, it looked as though he simply stepped into the air.  He's been paragliding and had been a skydiver.

A PPG pilot for an entire week, Jim Norcia, 51, of Columbus, Ohio, loves his new hobby.  Semi-retired as a financial planner, Norcia once piloted his own plane to handle his national accounts.  After open heart surgery a few years ago, one of the things Norcia had to give up was his pilot license.  Now he is flying again.

Steve Scott, 40, took up powered paragliding a year ago, but before that had paraglided without a motor in Scotland and Spain.  An instrument scientist in the geography department in Indiana University, he moved to the U.S. eight years ago from Arbroath, Scotland.

Good and his wife were introduced to the sport three years ago by their son, Richard, who is also in business with his father and Dufour at Fly By Ranch.  Richard was studying under Dufour in Quebec when his parents visited him.  After retiring from their business in England, the older Goods began an extended tour of the United States in a recreational vehicle.

Dufour, 47, took up the sport at 37, and has been an instructor for 10 years.  It was only about 12 years ago that the sport was introduced to this continent, Dufour said.  He said it has enjoyed a slowly-growing popularity ever since.
 

 

Above: Michelle Daniele and her husband, Jerry Daniele, take flight over Oxford in their powered paraglider.

Left: Michelle Daniele was all smile after her flight in her powered paraglider as her husband, Jerry, helps unhook the equipment.

Left:  Richard Good flies a powered paraglider during a Thursday flight at the Fly By Ranch in Oxford.


For anyone interested in trying the sport without making the full investment in training and equipment (which could run from $7,000.00 to $10,000.00), a Fly By Ranch instructor will pilot a tandem flight using a trike for $75.00. The basic course is $595.00, and an advanced course is $695.00.  If a student buys his equipment from Fly By Ranch, the advanced training is free. No license is required to pilot a powered paraglider in the United States. 
 

Raynald Tremblay gets set for a flight in his powered paraglider at the Fly By Ranch.


To get to Fly By Ranch from Wildwood, take U.S. Highway 301 north to County Road 222.  Turn left on CR 222 and follow it until it ends at its intersection with CR 237; turn right about one mile from Fly By Ranch, which will be on your left.  For information, call (352) 689-0072, or 1 (800) 727-2868, or log on to the Web site www.flybyranch.com.    

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