100-Year-Old Woman Becomes World's Oldest Paraglider | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.06.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.07.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.08.24 Airborne-FlightTraining-05.09.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.10.24

Fri, Nov 02, 2007

100-Year-Old Woman Becomes World's Oldest Paraglider

Go, Granny! Go!

Sometimes, a letter from the Queen of England just isn't enough. A British grandmother chose to celebrate her 100th birthday in high-flying style... by becoming the world's oldest paraglider.

The London Daily Mail reports Peggy McAlpine took the leap Tuesday... 20 years after she bungee jumped with the Royal Parachute Regiment to celebrate her 80th birthday (ah, to be young again -- Ed.)

"It was the most wonderful, pleasant experience and I'm ready to do it again anytime," said McAlpine of her tandem leap off a 2,500 foot peak in Cyprus. "I was sitting in a chair floating above the mountains. I'm not scared at all."

McAlpine, who is partially blind, flew with experienced pilot -- and young whippersnapper, at only 34 -- Ozgur Gokazan. She deemed the 15-minute flight "far superior" to her earlier bungee jump.

"I love heights, I love climbing, I love getting up in the air. I hope to do this again when I am 105, but this might be my final goodbye to all my flying escapades," McAlpine said.

Two volunteers monitored McAlpine's flight to verify it for the Guiness Book of Records. The jump broke the old record, previously held by a 95-year-old Dane. Previously, the oldest British citizen to paraglide was Reg Rose-Innes, 91, who flew for 20 minutes last December.

McAlpine's daughter watched her mother take the leap from the safety of the landing spot near the Cyprus coast.

"There is no way I could stop her," said Elizabeth Forsyth... who is afraid of heights.

FMI: www.paragliding.net

Advertisement

More News

Airborne-Flight Training 05.09.24: ERAU at AIAA, LIFT Diamond Buy, Epic A&P

Also: Vertical Flight Society, NBAA Maintenance Conference, GA Honored, AMT Scholarship For the first time, students from Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus took t>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.07.24): Hazardous Weather Information

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.07.24)

"The need for innovation at speed and scale is greater than ever. The X-62A VISTA is a crucial platform in our efforts to develop, test and integrate AI, as well as to establish AI>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Cessna 150

(FAA) Inspector Observed That Both Fuel Tanks Were Intact And That Only A Minimal Amount Of Fuel Remained In Each Analysis: According to the pilot, approximately 8 miles from the d>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (05.08.24)

“Pyka’s Pelican Cargo is unlike any other UAS solution on the market for contested logistics. We assessed a number of leading capabilities and concluded that the Pelica>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC