'Like a bird'

In a 2016 poll conducted by Morning Concept and Vox, nearly one in four Americans said they were afraid of heights.

But at what they've dubbed the "Fruitland International Airport" along Highway W in Jackson, Curt Froemsdorf, Dave Bogenpohl, Kevin Rampley, Dave Abbott and others spend portions of their sunny days -- and even some not so sunny -- thousands of feet in the air, scraping the Southeast Missouri sky.

Froemsdorf originally became interested in the sport of paragliding, a recreational and adventure-based sport involving the use of a glider, or wing, propelled by a small motor in 2013. Although similar in looks to parachutes, the gliders are lighter and more easily maneuvered.

"I watch too many YouTube videos," he said, laughing.

Around the same time, Rampley was considering buying a helicopter, but Froemsdorf introduced him to paragliding, and the idea stuck.

Curt Froemsdorf carries his glider across the field after landing March 2 at the Fruitland International Airport in Jackson.Laura Simon

"He says, 'Hey, you need to try this. This is 10 times more fun,' which it is. I went and flew a helicopter, and I had my pilot's license, and that wasn't as much fun as I thought it'd be," Rampley said. "This is a lot of fun."

A generally unregulated sport, Rampley said flying capabilities are flexible for the most part, excluding controlled airspace or over large crowds without permission. The gliders have the capability to take pilots above the clouds or as close to the ground as they wish.

"We can skim down the road and drag our feet down the road, like a gravel road, or we can go to 10,000 feet, so that's kind of a lot of fun," Rampley said.

With the median age of flyers hovering around 50 to 55, Froemsdorf said the assumed risk is relative to that of a motorcycle rider. He sees flying as the safer option, though.

"With cellphones the way they are, I don't feel as safe on a motorcycle anymore as I do flying," he said.

Bogenpohl said the draw to fly for him came from seeing his friends having such a good time up in the air.

"I had to because I saw these guys flying around, so I'm like, 'Hey, that looks cool. I've done everything else, so I'm gonna do that, too.'"

Bogenpohl, along with the others, has had a full life of trying out new hobbies, but nothing else has offered the freedom paragliding provides.

"I've rode motorcycles, dirt bikes, razors, and just being able to fly -- you just go up and ... if you wanna go a mile over here and go look at this, and too, flying around this area where I grew up, being able to see everything that I've driven around and just seeing it from a whole new perspective," Bogenpohl said.

Rampley agreed, saying he's been on many adventures throughout his life, from scuba diving to skiing barefoot, but nothing compares to paragliding.

"It's the most fun thing I've ever found, period," he said. "Everything, of every hobby that I've ever seen -- and I have a lot of hobbies."

With a gallon of gas burned per hour of flight, Rampley said it's a manageable price to pay to be among the clouds. And with the original purchases of glider and motor coming in cheaper than buying a motorcycle, he said paragliding is difficult to beat.

"It's the cheapest hobby you could ever have," Rampley said. "Cheap to get into and cheap to stay in it, because it only costs you $2 an hour."

Bogenpohl said portability also contributes to the freedom of paragliding.

"You can take this thing apart, throw it in the back of your truck and drive down the road, you pull your stuff out, you lay out your wing, 15 minutes, you're up flying, you fly around, come back down, pack it up -- it's just simple. It's easy to transport around," he said.

Even though the sport may be relatively easy to learn, sometimes taking flyers only three or so days to get the hang of it, Froemsdorf said it's a hobby that never can be mastered fully.

"It's a sport that you never stop learning. You're constantly a student of the sport because you have to learn weather conditions," he said. "Initially, you'll only go up in perfect conditions, and then you start saying, 'OK, this is within my window,' and then you can move your window out just a little bit as you feel comfortable."

Above all else, the freedom is the No. 1 draw for the men.

"You can fly the way you feel, like a bird," Rampley said.

lyoung@semissourian.com

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