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Meet Jonathan - I was Born and raised and live in Flagstaff AZ. Growing up, my dad would always say that our family motto was “Work hard and play harder.” I’ve tried my best to do that. Me and my wife have six kids (all boys), and a garage full of toys that reflect my long history of playing with things that have a throttle or that float or that fly. I took an into paragliding flight in 1996 off of Haleakala in Maui and still remember that sense of wonder as the ground dropped away. I learned to windsurf when I was a teenager, and then learned to kiteboard in my 20’s then started playing with hydrofoils in my 30’s. As a kid I was constantly “designing” sail boats and catamarans and hydrofoil catamarans and wanted to be an airline pilot or an aeronautical engineer when I grew up. I didn’t become either of those things, but the curiosity remained. In 2020, a friend of mine sent me a video of Tucker Gott flying around Sedona & Meteor Crater, which are near Flagstaff, and it was like a switch flipped in my head. I knew I had to learn to fly Paramotors. I signed up for training with Epic Paramotor and trained in Eagle Mountain Ut with Noah Rasheta in May of 2021. I have around 170 hours of PPG flight time in. As a result of how much I love flying PPG, I decided I wanted to learn how to fly airplanes & bush planes, so I began training for my Private Pilot Certificate in September of 2023. I have 8 General Aviation training flights and 15 landings under my belt so far. My favorite things about flying PPG are the ability to explore new, often shockingly beautiful areas, the sense of freedom combined with the requirement for self-sufficiency, and the many incredible people I’ve met thru this sport. Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/50885107... --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Meet Jon-Alan - I have loved all things aviation as long as I can remember I grew up on a ranch in rural Idaho and was involved in rodeo and mule shows at an early age. As a teen I loved to fly and had family friends that owned bush planes that I would climb into every opportunity me and my dad bought a hang glider trike about 16 years ago and then I was introduced to paramotor 10 years ago when I moved to Maricopa Arizona and found Airparamo right down the road from my house. I took one flight and was instantly hooked it took me a couple years to get enough money for one and I began my paramotor journey in 2015 working with Mo there as an assistant instructor for a couple years and then ventured out on my own starting Windpirate PPG . My dad had a saddle shop and custom leather shop so I was already very familiar with commercial sewing and failing to find any high quality covers on the market at the time for my paramotor I decided to make one and immediately had interest from others in my flight group for orders so I began making and selling custom paramotor covers, kiting harnesses and a few other items. I began training and providing paramotor equipment full time in 2017. traveling to the Northwest in the summer and training in Arizona in the winter Last year I purchased 40 acres near tombstone Arizona to put in a full service paramotor flight Park with a grass field . I am currently An Instructor admin with the USPPA and do instructor clinics as well as regular classes --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Let's Meet Chucky- I’m a God fearing adventure seeking hard working guy who lives life to the fullest everyday and pushes the limits of what the human body, mind and and body to the limit I love all extreme sports and anything to do with progression mentally and physical. I have my own business love to work hard and play hard and have fun along the way. I’m 28 years old born in Miami, grew up in michgan and now back in Florida. You’ll find me training in the daily, working and or flying or diving. Follow Chuck on IG: @Superchuckcw --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Meet SKY HIKER MIKE - I grew up in Minnesota in the Plymouth Minnetonka area, ended up in Brainerd for High school. College brought me to Colorado and I could never go back. I studied aerospace engineering, astrophysics and planetary sciences. After college, I worked for a couple different companies, settling in at an energy research company. But I didn’t really like the work. I had always been wanting to learn to fly, but was always deterred by the costs. I would go to the local airport, talk about lessons, then I would tally up the cost and just couldn’t justify it. Then find myself there a couple years later remembering I had already done this… eventually I stumbled upon paramotoring. And just like everyone, started with “that’s crazy”, then doing more and more research and more video bingeing, understanding more of the risks, I just had to do it. Got training. On my first flight attempt I face planted, went home to think it out. Next day I started flying and nailed out several flights. Since then it has just been and epic adventure after epic adventure. Ive also always loved teaching, mostly math and sciences, but it’s has been extremely rewarding combining the two passions to open Sky Hikers. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Let's meet Ben and Luke - Ben - I’ve been flying for just over a year. My moms high school friend gave me a ride I’m his seaplane and that got me into flying. I want to build a bigger flight school with multiple airplanes and fly charter. Ben is a flight instructor and owner of True North Flight School, LLC in Arbor Vitae, WI Luke - I’m Luke Navis! A CFI in the Sheboygan County area. Started flying just about 3 years ago. Have done training in northern Wisconsin and Daytona Beach FL. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Ben - I’ve been flying for just over a year. My moms high school friend gave me a ride I’m his seaplane and that got me into flying. I want to build a bigger flight school with multiple airplanes and fly charter. Ben is a flight instructor and owner of True North Flight School, LLC in Arbor Vitae, WI Luke - I’m Luke Navis! A CFI in the Sheboygan County area. Started flying just about 3 years ago. Have done training in northern Wisconsin and Daytona Beach FL. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Meet Bart Berry - ill be 51 yrs old August 8th, married 21yrs no kids, live in Huntington Indiana, love the air and water... ppg, scuba, skydiving, riding my motorcycle, ect.. being active, bucket list items are hot air ballooning, zip lining, cage diving with great whites. I love making memories and youtube videos. Had open heart double bypass surgery in 2019 and actually died on the table 17 times ? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Meet Heather - I am the daughter of an Air Force Pilot and an Airline Stewardess. I went to a Santana Concert in Charlotte and saw a Groupon for an introductory flight in a hanglider in Ashville, so I went for it! The ride was amazing! An ultra lite took us up 2000 feet. We unhooked and slowly spiraled down, an eagle flying with us! The ride lasted less than 15 minutes. I was hooked. I started shopping for hang gliders. I knew I wanted a longer hang time without being in a closed cockpit. So I kept searching for a mode of flying that would fit the bill. When I took my grandlove on her 10 year old trip to Washington DC, my brother was flying a backpack style powered parachute. Wow. This was close.....but....I weighed more back then and this girl was not running to get in the air unless someone was chasing me with a knife. I continued searching and happened to come across a video on youtube of a buckeye dream machine powered parachute. Then the serious shopping began. I found one nearby. Still at this point, I had never even flown in one. But, I brought money with me, he took me up in it, and I bought it right away. It was a two seater and had a 10 gallon fuel tank so he said it would only be legal if I got a Sport Pilot license and pointed me in the direction of Bill Wallace and Melinda Bliss. Three months later I was training with them. At this point it had been two and a half years from the hang gliding experience. Because I still work full time, and live 4 hours from the training, and winds were horrible the last year and a half. It took me a year and three months to complete my Sport Pilots Licensing . I have just purchased a second powered parachute, a phoenix that has been frankensteined with another machine. I love the chute in this one, a hybrid APCO. I love the seating, and I love the amount of structure so I can have more places to hang bags and my radio/com system. I look forward to semi retiring and hitting the road with my husband, a toy hauler, our kayaks, motorcycles and my powered parachute. Hoping to fly in every state! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

We have friends already here, ready for the Northern Lights Fly-In --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Let's bring Eric back to the screen.... Eric raced a professional off road buggy circuit for 15 years, from the U.P. Michigan ,Wisconsin, throughout the midwest. He has for years building RC Model airplanes, since 1992, and now has 18 on display. He was raised in Alaska from 6yrs old until he 21yrs old. He then went to learn the HVAC business. Now for the past 20 years has owned a Lennox Dealership, in Northern Wisconsin. In 2020, Eric convinced Jade to check out Paramotoring as MadCity Paragliding. Eric learned both foot-launch and trike during his training. And has become a USPPA Instructor with Foot-launch, Trike and has his Tandem exemption. We have now opened up, Northern Lights Paramotor, LLC. and working with students, between their busy schedules and his full-time job. Eric has also started training, and working towards his private pilots license. And we just recently purchased a Piper Cherokee 180, along with a hangar. We have just this past week completed putting in a insulated ceiling and heat, so our students will be able to have a comfortable atmosphere of learning the books, on how to fly a paramotor We also put together our 1st Northern Lights Fly-in, July 2022, and plan on having our 2nd Fly-in July 21-23, 2023. So if you are in general aviation, or a paramotor pilot, please mark this weekend on your calendar. www.NorthernLightsParamotor.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

Justin was born and raised in Emporia VA and moved to the Outer Banks NC during high school. Joined the Marine Corps straight out and went into Air traffic control. Did that till I got out in 2017 for 5 years never deployed and stayed in NC the whole time. Met my wife during this time. Decided to stay in the area when I got out and wanted to stay in the aviation field. Picked up some odd jobs until I got on with Northrup Grumman working on the F35 for a little bit. Then got a job with the federal government with Defense Logistics Agency and have been moving around within them since. Got into flying paramotors pretty much because it was the cheapest way to get me in the air and the freest form of flying you can have. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message

www.AuroraPPG.com (501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit) Help out by starting your Amazon shopping seesion at the URL smile.amazon.com or with AmazonSmile turned on in the shopping App, and they will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases. Join us this Wednesday to learn about Aurora PPG, and chat with some of the board of directors on the show. Our mission is to increase the participation of women and girls in the sport of powered paragliding through experiences, education, training, and community with a focus on its use in overcoming past trauma. Our vision is to be a strong community that is built on supporting one another through progression in PPG. This includes before, during, and all of the years after training. While the joy of accomplishing a first flight is incomparable it is only the beginning. Community members will be able to participate in on-line components as well as in-person events.While outdoor sports and recreation undoubtedly can have positive power to strengthen confidence and resilience there is something unique about flight and it's ability to foster change and growth in individuals. The goal of our scholarship program is to provide financial assistance to women to train in the sport of powered paragliding with priority given to those using training as a way to foster post-traumatic growth. Goto https://aurorappg.org/ and subscribe or apply now for a training scholarship --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message