Page 6 February 18, 2021 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
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Andy Beem from front page
a paraglider (a combination of the words
parachute and glider) instead of a parachute,
spacecraft could be returned to earth more
accurately and piloted to land on a runway
instead of splashing into the ocean. Despite
being dismissed before, scientists now took
great interest in his work, and NASA began
developing a program to implement the idea
on their missions.
With the clock running down and both
countries growing closer every day to a
manned space flight, the U.S. decided to
scratch Rogallo’s wings under the pressure
of time. The first few space flights were
returned to earth using a parachute with a
large margin of error on its splash landing.
By this time, though NASA didn’t use
his design, the idea of attaching this device
to a person had spread rapidly. Names like
sky surfing and sky sailing promised pilots
a chance to glide through the air with their
pair of wings, sans motor. In the late sixties,
Moyes Delta Gliders, named for founder
Bill Moyes, began manufacturing wings
for direct to consumer consumption. Many
companies followed, growing to over thirty
manufacturers in the seventies.
Around 1982, Andy Beem’s best friend in
high school asked if he would accompany
him and his father on a hang gliding trip as
their “chase driver,” meaning he would drive
them to the top of the mountain and then
drive down to meet them when they landed.
“When I would see them flying off the
mountains,” says Beem, “I thought ‘oh that
just looks so beautiful, so wonderful,’ but
there’s no way I saw myself doing that.”
With a fear of heights, he couldn’t imagine
jumping off the edge of a mountain and
gliding down to the bottom. One day, he
was invited down to the Playa del Rey site,
now the Dockweiler Beach site. Seeing
pilots jump off the thirty-foot landing and
fly seven feet off the ground for about a
hundred yards, he saw his opportunity. For
the thirty-eight years, he flew, perfecting his
skills and building his confidence.
Today, Andy teaches hang gliding lessons
at Windsports located at Dockweiler State
Beach. Every now and then, you can see
Andy and a handful of students from all
over the world gliding off the thirty-foot
ledge and landing in the sand.
This location is ideal, he explains, because
the wind coming off the ocean is smooth, with
very little turbulence. That, paired with the
soft landing, makes it a great place for beginners
to learn the ropes. Another advantage,
he says, is that the general public can see the
flights. In most other situations, hang gliding
takes place in the mountains or remote
locations, so the average person doesn’t get
to see what it looks like. So riding down
the bike path, there’s a better chance that
someone will see the short flight as he did
in 1982 and decide to give it a try.
Beem has become friends with many of
his former students, going with them on
trips to hang glide in places like Yosemite,
Beem’s students at the beach often become his flying buddies.
Andy Beem, CEO and Lead Instructor at Windsports hang gliding
school.
Yellowstone, and even Mexico. Though the
sport isn’t as trendy as it once was, Beem
says that for every pilot that leaves the
sport, a new one arrives. Over the years, it’s
maintained a firm level of interest and size
of community.
“To this day, after thirty-eight years of
flying, there’s still nothing more fun than
flying a hang glider,” he says. It’s this joy
in the sport that he hopes to give to his
students. Seeing the light go on in a beginner’s
eyes, he says, is really what keeps him
teaching, and the joy of flying keeps him
hang gliding.
“Most teachers that teach anything don’t
do it because they’re trying to get richer
and make a lot of money,” says Beem, “they
enjoy the process of teaching people.” He
says that nearly all of his students are really
fun and enjoyable people to work with, and
many eventually become good flying buddies.
He describes the hang gliding community as
a group of fabulous individuals with a lot
of camaraderie.
Whether it’s racing against time from
landmark to landmark, flying through a vast
valley, or just jumping safely down to the
beach, Andy’s life has revolved around hang
gliding, and he wants everyone to try it. •
A student is guided by an instructor as they glide onto the beach.
DeAnn Eccles | 310.488.0098
deannw@att.net CA BRE# 01168044
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