A behavioral study.

1. Hang Gliders
Alexis Walden
May 15, 2014

2. Executive Summary
1. Hang gliders rely on their body intelligence and ability to
let their mind go in order to fly.
2. Hang gliding is a relationship between a person and a
glider.
3. Hang gliders embrace danger and/or fear to experience
a single moment of flying.

3. Project Overview
Objective:
To discover and communicate how beginning hang gliders
identify and describe themselves and their behavior.
Fieldsite/subculture:
Fieldwork was conducted with students from Big Air Hang
Gliding at Ed Levin County Park in Milpitas, CA.
Methods:
For this ethnographic study, I gathered qualitative data, with
emic and etic taxonomies, through participant observation
and in-depth interviews.

4. Quantitative data about Hang Gliding:

5. Informant
Igor Krimer:
Igor is a Software Engineer in San
Mateo. With his schedule constantly
changing, he tries to make time to travel
as often as possible.
In addition, he is willing and interested
in trying new things. He believes it is
important to experience adrenaline
rushes—something more people should
try to do. “It’s a great sense of living. I
remember those moments so vividly.”
Learning new things is highly important
to him. When he can, he likes to involve
his friends. Igor plans on taking the
remaining hang gliding courses to
become licensed, mostly for the
experience.

6. Insight #1: Hang gliders rely on their body intelligence
and ability to let their mind go in order to fly.
“You wouldn’t be successful if you were trying to calculate every angle or
turn in your head. In the air, your brain gets in the way.”
There is an information overload that causes many students to do the
opposite of what they are taught, which keeps them from advancing.
This is the transitioning from brain to body intelligence.
“Don’t think too much. That is how you learn to fly.”

7. Insight #2: Hang gliding is a relationship between a
person and a glider.
“Would you guys trust your life with this thing? I would. It knows
how to fly better than you do.”
After the students landed (or crashed) they reflected on how the
glider responded to them and if they shared enough control with
it.
“Now it’s just about getting a feeling for the glider and trusting it
before you’re ready to take the big jumps.”

8. Insight #3: Hang gliders embrace danger and/or fear
to experience a single moment of flying.
“It’s actually the fear of heights that got me interested in different kinds of
flying. And, it’s like the feeling when you first start flying it’s terrifying and
then once you’re off the ground it’s like a totally relaxed feeling.”
The most common error among students is being afraid to let go of the
glider when they are in the air. Each flight is a progression in confronting
these fears.
“If a big gust picks-up it’s kind of scary ‘cause you just all of a sudden end
up going a direction you didn’t want to be going, but other than that it is
pretty relaxing, I think. We’ve only been in the air for like 15 seconds so
far.”

9. Three brands that should be interested in my insights:
A hang gliders ability to confront their fears
and test their limits would pair well with
Hennessy’s “Never Stop. Never Settle.” I
see this offering creative potential for their
current “What’s Your Wild Rabbit?”
campaign.
The need for hang gliders to let go while
they are in the air, losing the control they
have on the ground, reflects Red Bull’s
“Gives You Wings.” They have an interest
with extreme sports and hang gliding often
gets overlooked.
With hang gliding’s reliance on human
intelligence, Athos would be able to provide
data through wearable technology to track
and enhance the body’s motion. Since Athos
is a start-up, this would help them broaden
their growing market.

11. Link to the Insight Video:
http://youtu.be/OKF45jiEdW0