User:Douglashaber

Douglas Haber is an American Christian hang gliding pilot that currently holds the Outer Banks soaring record in a flex wing hang glider as of July 5, 2012. Douglas was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1969. Douglas saw his first hang gliding flight in the mid to late 70's on TV. He went on to became a local motocross rider that was consistently in the top 10 in his state in his class. He almost took his first hang gliding flight when he was 21 in Madison WI through a local collage hang gliding club but it never worked out. Douglas took his first flight in a hang glider in the summer of 1993 in Nags Head, NC on the world famous Jockey's Ridge which is the East Coasts largest sand dune. The flights were on the south west hill with Kitty Hawk Kites instructor, Lisa Alexander. Douglas credits Lisa with getting him into the sport. "She said I was so excited after just a few fights and asked if I wanted to come back next season as an instructor. I asked what I needed to do and then made the commitment. I needed CPR and to have first aid certification. I came to work at Kitty Hawk Kites in the spring of 1994 with my best friend Scott Evancho as my roommate. Being from the north, I was very excited to be living in the south. I tried very hard and unsuccessful to learn how to hang glide and become an instructor but the official instructor training program at this time was in it's infancy. After a while I became frustrated and decided to leave without completing my goal of becoming a hang gliding instructor. Before I left, I witnessed something I had never seen before. I saw Bo Hagewood soaring a hang glider over Jockey's Ridge for a very long time. He was making passes and staying up like a magic carpet. That was enough motivation for me to figure it all out. In short, I recommitted myself and decided to continue with my training. I eventually became a rated hang gliding pilot and ultimately a hang gliding instructor. Little did I know that I would go on the set the Outer Banks soaring record of 7 hours, teach over 8000 student on the dunes and teach over 500 tandem flight up to 2000 ft. It's been quite a great journey!" All those years, I had 1 broken bone, on a students 4th lesson, who did not listen to me. Other than that, a few bumps and bruises out of 40,000 + flights.

Douglas' record soaring flight of 7 hours without landing is most important as it represents Douglas' greatest physical sports achievement other than running a mile at 4:56 in 1987. This was a race that allowed only 2 other high school students to beat Douglas by 1 or 2 seconds. Unfortunately for some reason, this flight is often incorrectly described as 7 1/2, 8 & 9 hours. Here is the real story. It was August 1, 1997. Douglas had been flying hang gliders for about 4 years. He knew the conditions would be great for a long flight but had no idea that this upcoming flight would become the Outer Banks record hang gliding flight for over 16 years as of 2013. Douglas launched his 10 meter Airwave Pulse hang glider as the sun rose and flew until a little past noon. This flight was along the dunes of Nags Head, NC. His future wife and a few other were there to greet him when he landed. When he landed, no one knew what Douglas had accomplished until the local Hang Gliding community heard the news! "I came back to my house in Kill Devil Hills and told the local pilots I had flown for 7 hours without landing. I recall Bo Hagewood telling me that I definitely had the new Outer Banks soaring record. If recall correctly, I was in the presents of Bo Hagewood, Bruce Weaver (Kitty Hawk Kites manager) and possibly Jim Eckhardt and maybe some other people. It was hard to believe that a new pilot could do this but there is no doubt that I had such a strong love for soaring that I would end up in this situation."

Douglas actually hopes and looks forward to the 7 hour flight being beaten one day but is not giving any clues on how to do it. There have been pilots such as Chad Elchin, Sunny Venesky, and Kevin Coultrain that have soared more than 7 hours in one day on the Outer Banks but did land without spanning the record of 7 hours. There are also world records that span over thirty plus hours, so this record is not really significant in the scheme of hang gliding. "It's very interesting, I had no idea I was going to become the record holder when I launched. When I landed, all I was concerned with was going to the bathroom!"

A few years later, Douglas obtained a demo glider of a largest "Saturn" hang glider through John Heiney of the company Altair. This was a new hang glider that was in need of publicity. It was an extraordinary flex wing aircraft with an amazing glide and significant VG potential. It was a little stiff in the turns but the glide was from Heaven! The goal was to fly the large Saturn and break the new Outer Banks 7 hour record on it as a promotional event that would ultimately help promote sales. Unfortunately this flight was only 6 hours and 1 hour short of Douglas' record as the wind literally died. Although this flight did not break the August 1, 1997 record of 7 hours, it became the 2nd longest flight on the Outer Banks in a hang glider by Douglas Haber. This fact is not commonly known.

Many have tried to break this record including Douglas, now 44 as of 2013. Soaring dunes for a long time is only through a strong & consistent wind and good upper body strength. There are so many factors involved such as proper glider and knowing how the dunes react with the lift generated on that specific day. The only way to beat this record is to have the right glider, experience soaring the dunes and become a student of the local OBX weather and have a schedule that is as flexible as possible. Douglas' final comments on this are the following, "Hang gliding is a gift from God, Make it an amazing flight and give praise to HIM when it is due! Fly safe and beat my record please!"