Winsted couple touching the sky

WINSTED — For more than three decades, Alegra and Ben Davidson, 64 and 69, have taught thousands of people their ongoing passion — hang gliding. But if you haven’t heard of their business, you shouldn’t be surprised.

Business hasn’t been as active at the Tek Flight hang gliding school since laws regarding the sport were revised. A battle over hang gliding regulations in the United States has not gone favorably in recent years, with legislators requiring special insurance for the sport.

The Davidsons began hang gliding in 1974 after attending an event at Ski Sundown and witnessing some folks hang gliding off the mountain. They were hooked.

“We couldn’t sleep. We couldn’t eat. We had to fly,� Alegra Davidson said in a recent interview. The couple began teaching themselves the sport — a practice Davidson said is not recommended today — and learned mostly from their mistakes about what not to do.

“There were some flaws in the way others were teaching us and we thought we could teach with a higher safety level,â€� Davidson said. The couple  soon mastered the sport and started the Tek Flight school on Route 183. It is now the oldest established hang gliding school in New England.

“Since we have been teaching there have been zero accidents,� said Davidson, who explained that the school teaches with a cable system and a shallow hill, allowing students to build reflexes and skills before progressing to larger hills without a safety cable.

“It takes quite a while. It takes many days to learn how to take off, land and control the glider,� Davidson said. If weather conditions are right, a new flyer may be ready to launch off a high mountain about a year after starting school. “It depends on how fast the students build reflexes. We never push faster than they are ready for. When they are ready to go off something more advanced, then they are ready to go off. You can’t skip any steps in the learning process.�

Once you have learned the sport, it’s a hard thing to give up, Davidson said. “It’s so addictive, you don’t want to do anything else.�

And the sport may just be a fountain of youth. Ben Davidson said he feels as if he just turned 26.  

With thousands of students taken under their wings, Davidson said Tek Flight will continue to work with existing pilots but cannot take on new clientele until laws concerning insurance for the sport are resolved. In the meantime, they’ll keep the sport going.

For more information about Tek Flight, the Davidsons can be reached at 860-379-1668.