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CELEBRATING JEFFERSON COUNTY 19
going to do a header.”
His fear was well-founded because Jackson has in-
deed crashed several times, especially in between 2005-
2007 when he was trying to get the hang of launching.
He was never injured, but his equipment was damaged
repeatedly.
All the crashes occurred during launch. Sometimes,
lacking the necessary lift, Jackson would fall on his
backside. The lightweight aluminum frame around the
propeller on his back would buckle when it hit the
ground behind him, causing the propeller to also hit the
ground and fly to pieces. More than once, the propeller
managed to chew up the gas tank before it was through.
On a wall in his shop hang five mangled wooden pro-
pellers, date of destruction written on each in perma-
nent marker. Jackson calls his collection of broken pro-
pellers his “wall of shame” but on the contrary, it is a
testament to his persistence and courage in overcoming
his fear.
After two years of frustration, Jackson called his in-
structor and asked for help. The instructor invited him
to come back and try a solo under his supervision.
This time they met at Rosarita Beach, in Baja Califor-
nia. “I’ll never forget that first time,” Jack-
son said. “I realized this was the moment
of truth, I gotta do this, and my heart’s just
racing and I don’t know if I’m going to
freak out when I leave the ground, what
I’m going to do.”
Jackson wore a helmet equipped with
sound so that he could hear the instructor
talking to him. The instructor’s voice gave
him confidence and Jackson was able to get
airborne on the first try.
“It was wonderful, just the most awe-
some feeling, to leave the earth on your
own two feet,” Jackson said.
Jackson completed two or three more
practice launches that day and hasn’t
looked back. He has had a few crashes
since then, but the last one was in 2009.
“Once you launch, it’s really pretty easy
to fly,” said Jackson.
Jackson controls the powered paraglider
by pulling on cables attached to the
paraglider wing. He pulls the left side to
turn left, the right side to turn right and on
both sides to brake. He can increase his
speed and altitude by using the throttle,
which he holds in his left hand.
Jackson talks about how “personal” this form of flying
is. He can take off and land by himself almost any-
where, he can go wherever he wants, and his aircraft has
no walls separating him from the environment.
“It gives me an armchair view of the world, which is
so unique,” he said.
Highly skilled pilots can alight on light poles or bal-
conies and re-launch from there, but Jackson has not
tried that kind of stunt. One interesting thing he has
done, though, is fly along the beach low enough to drag
his feet in the sand.
Beaches are a desirable place to fly because of the
wide-open spaces, smooth ground and soft landing. The
steady, predictable breezes also make flying over beach-
es easy.
But the coast is hours away and Jackson likes to fly
once a week whenever possible, so he usually takes off
from the soccer fields at Juniper Hills Park in Madras
and flies around the more sparsely populated areas
north and east of town.
“I fly pretty much year-round. The main thing is that
conditions are calm. I like to fly early in the morning.
That’s when it’s safest to fly,” Jackson said.
“Once you launch, it’s really pretty easy to fly.”