Extreme Sport Opportunities in Hillsborough County

By Jessica Vander Velde

Glen Rushing is a retired Army helicopter instructor who currently offers flying lessons at Zephyrhills Municipal Airport in central Florida. He has been doing so for nearly six years and gives lessons using a small orange plane that he built from an $18,000 kit. The 500-pound plane is not actually an ultralight but performs like one, says Rushing. He can see the Tampa skyline as he circles through the sky at about 900 feet above the ground. When Rushing wants to land, he turns off the engine and allows the propeller to stop. The plane's wings catch the wind and enable the plane to glide gently down. Rushing steers the plane toward the runway as the wheels softly make contact with the pavement. "See," Rushing says, "I can land smoother than a commercial plane." Other extreme sports offered in the area include skydiving at Skydive Tampa Bay and aircraft flights at Blackwater Creek Ultralight Flightpark.

March 11, 2009