Dive High Hang Gliding

I’ve been training with Rich for a few months and am on the verge of getting my hang one. He is an awesome instructor, very patient, safety minded and consistent. He is very encouraging and makes me feel comfortable learning to fly. I would recommend his intro lesson to see if this is a sport that you would enjoy and if so, be ready for some hard work on the hill! But it’s a small price to pay to be able to fly like a bird!

Awesome! Rick is the BEST! I’m going back for more!!!

Awesome experience! Rich and Stacy are consummate professionals that made the experience fun and exciting! This is possibly the safest way to dip your foot into the hang gliding water and it is f**king amazing. Each person in our class had at least 8 minutes controlled flight time, with Rich giving expert guidance and confidence boosting assurance. Call Rich and schedule a lesson, you won’t regret it.

Great experience! Four of us participated (two teen girls & two adults). We had a blast!
Very patient, SAFE, methodical. Training was step by step.
But the fun part was FLYING on the flight deck!
Good for older teens, not young kids.

This was an amazing experience. I can’t say enough positive things. Rich was funny, cool, and an engaging teacher. He really likes working with students and is patient and personable. He is also good at discussing the mechanics behind the things he teaches. I’m really looking forward to going back! One very special thing that they have (that other schools don’t), is a simulator on a truck, where the truck drives and you are tethered and can practice the hand controls and feel of gliding. It’s a huge plus and I would highly recommend it! Fewer things to concentrate on while learning! I’m also going to return with a bunch of friends who couldn’t go with me before, and if you have a promotion, he will sometimes match the price for your friends who don’t have it.

Rich is awesome. He is passionate about the sport and it shows. Rich gets you relaxed, prepared and flying in no time! I agree that his technique gets you acclimated to the hang glider and the nuances of flying. I can’t wait to go again!
Rich — you gotta get a sign. Note to all, the place is behind the sky diving place. Look for a small building with a «Trinkle» sign.

I went online to book our lessons we got through Groupon. The website also offered the same discount on intro classes. Good to know for the future. I used the calendar to book a class for my daughter and myself. We were scheduled for 8am class and we drove right by the place even though I mapped it out and looked at the buildings so I would know where it was. So you really want to look on the map with a earth view to see where the place is located. «Trinkle Flying» is on a building you can see from the street. I did mention it to the owner Rich and he said he was ordering signage. They are next to a skydiving school (if that helps). Rich and Fernando his driver was very nice and it was a relaxed atmosphere. Considering I wasn’t quite sure I would be physically fit enough for the class. Well I was and it was due to the unique flight deck he uses for a simplified and easy to focus on steps of balance, steering and being in the air for about ½ mile on your first lesson. SO SO FABULOUS!!! He did not bombard us with a bunch of things to remember. He gave us a few things to work on (foundation) then expanded in an easy to learn fashion. Overall I had a better time than I thought I would, it was not as hard as I thought it would be! Even my husband that is afraid of heights said he would give it a try based on the videos we brought home to show him. And i did not have to be as physically fit as I thought i would. So we are taking the whole family this next time for another absolutely fabulous time!!! IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THE WIND IS THE KING OF WHETHER YOU ARE ABLE TO FLY. YOU MAY GET A TEXT IF THE WIND DOES NOT COOPERATE!

Richard was awesome. He guided me from the start til the end. Taught me a lot about hang gliding and how it works. He knew I got the deal from Groupon and still treated me as a regular customer.
He’s very comfortable and fun to be around. I kept in contact with him from time to times. Give him a try. You would really love him! :)

Awesome experience. Had a groupon and will gladly go back. I was about nervous since you don’t know what to expect. It’s on Kasson Rd. Very confusing driveway to find the office. Looks a little sketchy but once you start with Rich is all good. It was amazing feeling to leave the ground, but feel safe at the same time.

The groupon intro lesson was a great experience. A few hours of practice, and way more air time than you would get at other places due to the training contraption he’s rigged up on his truck. Highly recommend for a weekend adventure!

Fantastic instructor and experience! I’m definitely coming back to do it again!!! Rich rakes great care of you and suits the experience to the flyer to ensure the best experience. The flight deck is an awesome way to learn for your first time.

Amazing experience. Very structured and safe course. I seriously had an amazing time. Im very happy to have taken this course BEFORE hill training just to get a sense of trim and max glide. I feel this way is the best and safest way to learn when you have no experience. Now I feel comfortable to take this to the next level. The instructor and owner was super nice and very good at explaining the course. I will definitely come back here. fun and also exillerating. Definitely take this course first before hill training.

Meh, a bit unprofessional, not worth the price, last-​minute scheduling changes.
Lesson 1 — Expect last minute scheduling changes. The first time I scheduled a lesson, the lesson got cancelled due to do bad wind conditions. I was disappointed, but understandably, I wouldn’t want to fly in bad conditions. So I rescheduled for the next week, hoping that the weather would be better. The next week comes, and I get a text message at 2pm saying that my 4pm lesson is moved to 3pm. So, I have an hour to make it to Tracy, CA which is an hour and a half away from me. Um, yeah, not gonna happen. I could have left earlier if I’d had more advance notice. I call back, and apparently the other two people in my lesson are going to be there a little after 3pm, so I should just hurry and get there as soon as possible. Ugh.
Lesson 2 — DON’T use the directions on the website to the New Jerusalem Airport. The lesson actually takes place at 25 001 Kasson Rd (a good 10 minutes away from the New Jerusalem Airport). They really need to update their website, as this is very confusing. Also, the 25 001 Kasson Rd location doesn’t have any «Dive High» signage anywhere — Turn down a dirt road when your GPS tells you you’re there, and look for a building with a sign saying «Trinkle».
Lesson 3 — Don’t be late. So being late, I get a surly greeting from Rich, as if it’s my fault for not being able to come at 3 and for following the website directions to the wrong location. I get rushed over to sign the waiver and a quick crash course catch-​up on how to take off.
Lesson 4 — I hope you like second-​hand smoke, because you’re in for a face full of it. Rich was holding the glider from the front while teaching how to take off, meaning he was also upwind of me while smoking his cigarette. Meaning I got quite a bit of smoke in my lungs, not pleasant.
Lesson 5 — Relax. Rich did seem to loosen up after a while, and it was clear that he had a love of hang gliding. The one thing he tried to drill into us was the need to relax while we were gliding. I got in a total of two practice running take-​offs and two drives on the flatbed truck down the runway. The wind was a quite bumpy, and there were some unexpected gusts, which was kind of thrilling, but not too scary. It all seemed over much too soon, I was hoping for more runs.

I agree wholeheartedly with the other five-​star reviews on here. This place was awesome! I didn’t have any trouble finding the place; I just plugged 25 001 Kasson Rd. into the GPS and it took me right there. I also didn’t have any problem booking the class; simply go on to the web site, create an account, and sign up for an open time slot.
After a run-​down of the basics, we got on the flatbed contraption (which was a genius way to get maximum instruction instead of spending the entire lesson hiking up hills) and one by one demonstrated the skills he was teaching. It was surprisingly easy and I never once felt unsafe or insecure. Rich is a fantastic instructor and even gave me a bonus flight because one of my flights had really bad crosswinds. He also patiently answered my incessant questions (I’ve wanted to hang glide since I was little and am very interested in earning my license) and was very friendly and personable.
I’d definitely recommend trying at least an introductory class (I’ll be going back as often as I can). You’ll definitely get your money’s worth.

Bad service — the website and booking system is terrible, to book the appointment over phone you call some guy’s cellphone, their appointment reminder service is some guy calling you 5 minutes prior to your appointment time, and in our case, we had a family emergency and were in the hospital so we couldn’t make it to the appointment, yet, even after saying this to the guy on the phone, he pretty much just says, «things like that happen… have a great evening» and hangs up. Overall, with this much badness, one can only pray this does not extend to the actual hang gliding experience.

I loved my first lesson. This place is easy to find, very laid back and you get your money’s worth without breaking too much of a sweat. Even if you are going by yourself, Rich makes you feel comfortable and encourages you to relax. He takes his time to explain the basics and the controlled environment helps make the experience more enjoyable without becoming an ‘airhead’ :) Understanding the wind direction and speed is half the battle and the other half is to relax and let the wind guide your flight. In one lesson Rich cleared that concept. I was flying within ½ an hour of my lesson.
I am definitely going again to get certified.

If you’re looking for something adventurous, fun, exciting and «doable» this would be it! My initial thought to hang gliding was that it was too dangerous and I would never attempt to do it. However, my experience changed, the experience was amazing!
Our flight instructor Rich was so pleasant to learn from. He reviewed thoroughly the basics of hang gliding (wind speed and direction, speed to accelerate, how to get into the proper hang gliding position with the hang glide, how to control the direction of your flight, etc) You can tell that he is a very experienced hang glider and you can tell he was passionate about it. He went through the basics and took his time with each of us as we practiced on how to get into proper position with the hang glide.
At first, I looked around and didn’t see any hills. That made me think of how we would possible be flying and getting air. After our introduction and learning the basics of hang gliding, we moved out to the warehouse where his truck was attached to a flight deck in which he built. It was a great idea, it was safe, and you can learn much easier with this flight deck. You don’t really know what to expect (which I don’t want to ruin in for you) but I can guarantee you will have a great time.
This is a great introduction course and you will learn a lot. Whats great is its safe and you get a real feel for what hang gliding feels like! I definitely recommend this to everyone!

i knew i wanted to check hang gliding off my bucket list, but i always assumed i’d be doing it tandem like i did with skydiving. this groupon experience was WAY better for me than i had expected. if you’re looking for a quick thrill in the air, then this likely isn’t the kind of learning experience you’d like. however, if you are interested in understanding the weigh, control, feel of control and loss of control in hang gliding, then dive high will provide an awesome experience for you.
our instructor rich is patient, calm, careful, and very experienced. he give clear instructions, provides ample time for practice, and was very flexible in booking a mid-​week lesson for my friend and i. he uses a very safe, specially designed «flight deck» to harness you into a glider and get lots of air time without the fear of danger.
special thanks to eric for coming out and driving the truck at safe speeds to generate enough «wind» for us to lift off without ever having to run with the glider. my multi-​surgery, weak-​ass left knee thanks you!

I very rarely write reviews for non-​food places, but I thought this place deserved some praise.
We bought the groupon for this because we’ve always wanted to try hanggliding — we got to try paragliding before in Santa Barbara at a place that taught you how instead of making you go tandem, so when we got there and found out that the instructor was more interested in helping you learn to fly on your own rather than just riding tandem, we were excited. We didn’t have any trouble finding the airport (or… air strip), but I can see how people could get lost — there aren’t very many signs, and it’s kind of in the middle of some cornfields.
Keep in mind that you don’t actually get to go up high and fly, but once you learn how much skill you really need in order to do that alone, you’ll be happy at how much you can learn with them and still be really safe. I know it sounds lame, that you don’t get to go up high by yourself, but really… trust me, it was really fun even without that, and you’ll have a newfound appreciation for the people who are able to do that. The instructor Rich was awesome — if I were going to pursue hanggliding in the future, I would definitely go with him. Very friendly, positive, and a really good teacher.
You start out on the ground, learning how to keep the glider in control, and eventually move up to the modified bed of a truck where you get to fly on your own all the way down the runway. It’s all super safe (you are harnassed to the glider, and to the truck), but you still get plenty of time to practice your newly learned flight skills, and the best part is there wasn’t any hiking needed, nor very much running at all, which is much different than normal teaching methods I think.
He also lets you have more control depending on your own individual skill level — so if you are doing well, he might let you do some tricks (like using your legs to steer instead of your hands), or fly up a little further. And if you aren’t doing so well, don’t worry — he’ll keep you out of harm’s way.
Overall, a really great experience and something I would definitely recommend if you want to actually learn how to fly on your own. If you just want to do it and don’t care about tandem, then you might want to try something else, but otherwise I would go with this company.

When I got the Groupon, I did not really expect much. The only reason I bought it is because I had an amazing experience doing the tandem Hang-​Gliding in Rio de Janeiro 7 years ago. I wanted to re-​live that moment so I bought this. Not only was I not very interested, for some reason, I kindda knew it’s not something that I wanted to pursue… just something that I want to do at least once in my life. However, after our 3-​hour session, I was wowed and now, I’m trying to find a way around my schedule so I can do the classes regularly and be able to fly. The class was very informative, conducted in a very safe environment and it was just simply awesome. As a matter of fact, my girlfriend had tears rolling down her face when she landed after she was swept off her feet by the hang-​glider.
It was very easy to book online. They have an online calendar so you can see all of their availability and you just book that way. We didn’t even have to call him until we were actually in Tracy and had difficulty finding New Jerusalem Airport. We also asked a couple of locals and they didn’t know about this airport either. Our GPS didn’t know either but my girlfriend’s cellphone found it. We also called them and they called back promptly. Before you go, make sure you allocate plenty of time in case you get lost like we did.
Clearly, there are risks involved to hang-​gliding but this is definitely a case where the pros far outweigh the cons — in my opinion. And if you are highly considering learning hang-​gliding, this is the best outfit to do it with. And if you are not considering high-​gliding, I really think you should. Remember, you don’t know what you don’t ;)