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"She's trying to get
over her ex," Katharine confided. "I talked her
into this flight to prove she can get him off of her mind."
"Great. Another ex-fiancé' story." I've got
one, too. Just like Amber and me.
"Please, be gentle with her." Katharine said.
"Not a problem."
"Can I try another one?" Suzy asked from the shed.
"This one is too tight."
"Scott, let her choose."
"Oh." Scott said. "I thought she'd like the
one I gave her."
"This one fits." Suzy said as she walked out from
the shed.
Scott helped tighten the leg straps to a comfortable pressure.
He walked with her toward the glider. "Ready for your
hang check?"
"What? What's a hang check?" she asked.
"Get under the wing," Scott instructed. "It's
what we do to make sure you're properly hooked into the glider.
You don't want to jump off the mountain without the glider
attached." Suzy's eyes widened.
"I'll hook you in first and do the hang check. Then I'll
hook in." Scott connected his carabiner to the hang glider.
"You're going to fly on my left." Scott said as
he pulled on his harness. "I wear a rocket on my right
side that deploys a parachute in a split second." He
pointed to the small missile-shaped tube attached to the side
of his harness.
"I also have a hand-toss parachute in my chest pouch.
It's not likely we'll need either, but if we don't have one
when we need it, we never will."
Scott saw Suzy flashed a nervous grin.
"Don't worry. Rule number one: Hang on to my waist no
matter what happens. Rule number two: Never touch the aluminum
poles. If you grab them, I might have to beat the crap out
of you for control and we could crash."
Scott slumped to connect his harness, stood and rested the
triangular shaped down-tubes on his shoulders. Her arm was
snug around his chest as they walked to the edge of the launch
ramp.
"What's that?" Suzy pointed at the electronic device
mounted on the right aluminum down-tube.
"It's my flying companion, the vario altimeter. I don't
fly without it."
"What's it for?"
"It helps us fly for more than five minutes." Scott
flipped a switch, and it sounded a piercing beep, like a Geiger
counter being pulled away from uranium. The tone faded to
silence.
"When we are flying, it's nearly impossible to sense
whether we're in rising or falling air. The vario detects
changes in barometric pressure and helps me find the thermal."
Scott looked in the distance and saw his mother's house. A
helpless feeling hit him in his gut. At least I won't think
about Mom or Amber while I'm flying.
"What's a thermal?" Suzy asked, breaking his attention.
 
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