9.8 Meters of Paradise

Cade Palmer, Ozone Team Pilot, Speed Flying at Makapuu on Oahu, Hawaii with a Bullet GT 9.8.

This is a historic free flight site, with a Hang Glider Launch that dates back to the 1970’s, and paraglider pilots have been soaring here since nearly the beginning of our sport as well.

However, we’re pretty sure that this is probably the first time that anyone has soared a sub-10m speed wing here, and we think this is probably the highest that anyone has climbed out in ridge lift using a sub-10m wing. Furthermore, Cade is a full-sized fellow at around 90kg flying weight, so it’s not a little kid flying this little wing. In this video, Cade is flying in very strong NE trade winds that usually render the island of Oahu unflyable.

The Bullet 009, Bullet GT, and of course the XT16 are all very stable wings, but we don’t highly recommend ridge soaring in such strong conditions. This is video of a highly experienced pilot with literally years of high wind practice.