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p22 weekender may 13 1995 v st s por i ts i-vi-i- x robertson has no fear of flying by bruce stapley correspondent for most people the thought of plunging off the cn tower strapped onto 75 pounds of alu minum tubing frame- w o r k and light weight fabric would be the stuff of which night mares are made mke but robertson for 52- yearold hang gliding and para gliding authority michael robertson its just another example of the exhilaration of flight being experienced by an everincreasing number of people worldwide robertson who lives with his wife and three daughters on a farm near claremont is the founder and operator of high perspective ontarios best known hang gliding and para gliding centre since flying his first hang glider in 1968 robertson has estab lished himself as one of north americas leading flyers organizing trav elling shows and head lining the cne water front show in the 1970s he served as president of the canadi an kite flyers associa tion and coedited a ctv show on hang glid ing in the 1970s after establishing his own hang gliding and para gliding instruction and retail centre in 1974 he invented and produced special hang gliding safety wheels designed and marketed a hang glider wrote a monthly column for a leading industry maga zine and pioneered hang gliding teaching techniques in europe and the americas robertson has also served as director in charge of instruction for the ontario hang gliding association for whom he headed up the instructors standards committee for canada his system of teaching risk management led to hang gliders and micro lights being able to obtain insurance he is currently presi dent or director of sever al canadian and ameri can hang gliding and para gliding organiza tions robertson was given a special achieve ment award by the province of ontario ear lier this year in recogni tion of his contribution to fitness and amateur sport robertsons celebrated flight off the cn tower as part of a diet pepsi promotion in 1988 was televised worldwide his longest flight ever lasted seven and a half hours far short of the hang gilding enthusiasts charlie gaunt and jacek chodanowski left photo take flight from an open field actually a fear of falling is natural and healthy but you soon realize that with hang gliding and para glid ing you cant fall in fact you feel as if you are being pushed up people are apprehensive at first but theyre usually surprised mike robertson world record of 34 hours he was awarded hang glidings highest rating in 1989 recently robertson stunt coordinated and flew for the canadian feature film when night is falling which was released may 5 ironically robertson said he was as leery as anybody when he first started the sport like many people i had a fear of heights said robertson actual ly a fear of falling is natural and healthy but you soon realize that with hang gliding and para gliding you cant fall in fact you feel as if you are being pushed up people are apprehensive at first but theyre usually sur prised tmmm life near claremont in the right photograph the pair touch down in a safe landing photossjoerd witteveen robertson said the dif ference between hang gliding and para gliding is that in the former the flyer is strapped into a birdlike wing made of lightweight tubing and a framework holding it together para gliders on the other hand have no rigid parts and are made of fabrics and lines hang gliders weigh anywhere from 40 to 80 pounds while para gliders are around 15 lbs neither age nor sex is a barrier said roberts- son weve taught people as old as 78 years of age and as young as 10 and with the lighter weight of the sail in a para glid er they are very popu lar with women also a para glider flies much slower than a hang glid er while the sport origi nally saw fliers take off from the sides of moun tains hills or cliffs modern technology has made it possible for glid ers to be launched by machine robertson regularly conducts lessons from fields in the claremont area using a hydro static winch to get his stu dents airborne for robertson 27 years of gliding have failed to dull his enthu siasm for the sport the beauty of it the view from up there its hard to describe it just about everybody who takes his or her first tandem flight with us says its like a dream oha junior a hockey gets the green light by bruce stapley correspondent its a go the ontario hockey association oha board of directors formally approved an application for a junior a team for stouffville on wednesday provided certain as of yet unspeci fied conditions are met and the appli cation is given official approval by the ohas junior a cateogry at the annual meeting june 17 the team will take to the ice this september the stouffville entry will play in the eastern division of the oha provin cial junior a hockey league the team will play its home games saturday nights but will practice out of town ice time will be given up by the whitchurchstouffville hockey associations houseleague program to allow the junior a team its saturday slot team president and backer george stavro said that while it will be easier to operate if the proposed second ice pad is given the green light the team will practice in toronto in the mean time he said he has avoided getting involved in the current second ice pad versus indoor pool controversy ive been keeping low key meeting with the different user groups i dont want to ruffle any feathers said stavro he said hes hoping the second ice pad can be built by next january taking the pressure off the existing arenas crowded schedule wsmha president maureen markle said her executive has made a decision giving the junior team the saturday night slot she said that until the second pad comes out of town ice time will contin ue to be rented by the wsgha our kids have been going out of town for several years so well just have to keep doing that for a little longer said markle stavro said the team will hold initial tryouts towards the end of may or in early june in markham he said interest in the team has been keen the feedback ive been getting is yes we definitely want junior hockey in stouffville lets all work together to make it happen he said hes received over 100 phone calls from people wanting to work as volunteers as well as to ask about tick ets a contest to name the team will be held later this spring said stavro