Just Wanna Fly

Just Wanna Fly

By Jade LearLeisureAviation
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Just Wanna Fly episodes

  • JUST WANNA FLY - 96- Kristianna May, Paramotor and General Aviation Pilot - New Brunswick Canada

    Kristianna is a passionate world traveller and paramotor pilot from Toronto, with endless energy and a zest for life. Her independent travels have brought her to over 25 countries, working, studying or volunteering her way around the world through her creative talents in music, art and flying. As a young female in a male-dominated sport, Kristianna chose an unconventional path in aviation, flying a paramotor instead of an airplane and competing to become silver female World Champion, published author and public figure in under two years. She has appeared in TV and radio shows, competed for the title of Miss Canada, and has written about her experiences as a female pilot in various magazines, motivating others through her enthusiasm and positive outlook on life. Kristianna calls herself a ‘living role model’ for young women and offers inspiration to youth to follow their dreams instead of the crowd. Her mission is to give others permission to reach higher, leading by example and showing what is possible if we welcome opportunity, challenge adversity and dare to dream.

    ***Please don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel - JUST WANNA FLY- and join us LIVE every Wednesday Night 7pm central, and reach out to me if you would like to be a guest on the show, and share your stories of how you got into the air***


    1 hr 36 min
  • Just Wanna Fly #71 - Meet Rob Condella - Team BGD Pilot from Swiftwater PA

    Meet Rob Condella-

    Rob Condella has been flying Paramotors since January 2020 where he trained with Epic Paramotor down in Cancun, Mexico. Before starting his training Rob never saw a paramotor in person but he knew it was something that he would really enjoy doing. Before flying Paramotors, mountain biking consumed most of his time and energy traveling all over the country for the best riding locations. After several years of riding he was looking for a new sport to learn and challenge himself with. Paramotoring ended up being the perfect choice. After leaving training he was hooked and spent has much time in the air as possible. Flying has allowed him to see countless beautiful locations inside the United States along with flying in Morocco, France, England, and Iceland. His current paramotor setup is a Parajet Maverick with a moster 185 and a 18m BGD Luna 2 glider. Rob quit his engineering job in September of 2022 and is currently on what he calls a “radical sabbatical” where he’s living full-time out of his van flying as much as he can and exploring the country from above and on 2 wheels.

    1 hr 6 min
  • JUST WANNA FLY-#70 Wingman Challenge 2022, meet Zack Watkins & Mark Barron

    Let's learn more about the 2022 Wingman Challenge that just took place by talking to Zack Watkins & Mark Barron...

    Zack Watkins has been in the U.S. Air Force for 10 years and has been flying paramotors for just over 3 years. He trained under Jesse Brockwell and has lived and flown in San Antonio TX, Warrensburg MO, Navarre FL, and today in Oahu, HI. He has experience flying the Scout One, Gravity Defiant, and the Nirvana F-Light, his current machine. Zack is a dedicated Cross-Country pilot who strives to push the limits of range and endurance, and the Wingman Challenge was a perfect test of this mentally, physically, and spiritually.
    Mark Barron started flying PPG in 2017. He is a founding member of the Northern Virginia Paramotor Club known as The AirDogs which has over 70 members today. He flies an AirConception titanium frame that he swapped the original Ultra 130 motor for a Moster 185 in 2019. His wing of choice is MacPara Charger 25M. Mark would say he is a conservative pilot and doesn’t really have an interest in acro. Lately he has gotten into Fly/Camping (aka Flamping) in different locations in his home built cargo/toy hauler conversion. Quote Known For: “I just want to see some different cows”. Mark is PPG2 and Tandem Trike Certified. Mark and his wife have 2 sons (17 and 19) who he has flown tandem in his Fly Products Xenit trike.
    His retirement plan is to RV and fly all over the country with his wife.

    ---
    Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jade-lear/message
    2 hr 5 min
  • JUST WANNA FLY-93- Kevin Can Fly, Sherwood, Oregon

    Let's welcome Kevin Can Fly, and hear about his recent trip to Salton Sea, and everything else he has been doing...

    A little about Kevin...
    39yrs old, and has been flying anything since 1996, and picked up PPG in 2015. He is a Father of 3 cute girls (10, 6, 2)

    1 hr 9 min
  • Just Wanna Fly - 94 Meet Sarah Pustovit, PPG Trike Pilot from Vancouver Washington

    Meet -Sarah Pustovit( Souders)

    Occupation:
    port of Portland longshoremen
    Age: 25 (46)
    Got into the sport cause I’ve always loved to fly.
    One day my son sent me a Facebook marketplace listing for a paramotor.
    Looked it up on YouTube and the seed was planted. (there is a ton more to it, but it will come out on the show)
    Time in sport:
    just about 10 months
    I fly a flat top with a simonini minni 2 on a trike,
    and a Blackhawk airmax 220 on a trike,
    and a lowboy 2 quad with a 4stroke 250cc

    1 hr 30 min
  • JUST WANNA FLY -88- Sun 'N Fun Fly-In Talk & w/ Paul Czarnecki (PlanetPPG) & Robert Jedrzejczak

    https://flysnf.org/

    Paul - Retired from full time 15 yr instructor 1 year ago and a Sun 'n Fun announcer, which is the 2nd largest airshow in the world.
    Robert - Born as Robert Jedrzejczak, in Milwaukee Wisconsin, lived in the surrounding states until my parents split up when I was 8. At 10, I moved to California to live with my dad, where I learned to surf in Santa Maria California. I used to jump off the dunes near Pismo beach and didn't even know what parkour was. White water rafting and cliff jumping soon followed. Throughout my adventures I ended up in Florida where I was only able to surf during hurricanes because the gulf side has little waves. I made primetime news twice on SNN for surfing Hurricane Charlie and then Katrina. But I wanted more! So I started skydiving in Homestead FL at Skydive Miami. While attending the school, I kept seeing people flying paragliders near the dropzone. They were flying every day and in skydiving, if the plane ain't full of jumpers, it ain't flying. Then, one day on my way to work I saw a guy selling 2 paragliders on the side of the road. I introduced myself and he introduced me to Paul Czarnecki at PlanetPpg. I started flying paragliders in 2010 and haven't been back to my other adventures. I love flying! I have participated in Sun N Fun airshow! I have shared my love of the sport with others to carry on. I will live every day till the day I die!

    1 hr 19 min
  • Just Wanna Fly #69 - Meet Steve English (Paramotor Pilot) Mackeyville PA
    I grew up watching the birds from the moment I could form memories, always wishing I could be up there with them. I have memories of building model planes and white wings, playing in the backyard with foamies, watching the planes land and take off from Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, PA, all with dad. We shared a fondness for aviation. In college, I pursued my pilot's license with the intent to fly commercially. Got my PPL in the summer between freshmen and sophomore year in 2004. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, the next day after my checkride, I took my dad up as my first passenger...3 months later, I lost him to lung cancer.
    Fast forward to 2018, I haven't flown since 2005 and I come across Tucker's flight to McDonald's. At that moment, my life took a turn for the better and I knew I had to get back into flying through this. Eventually, I dove in and signed up for training 2 years later at AviatorPPG, and had another extremely moving moment with my first solo there. It was Judson's first class when he was an intern and I remember the hug from him and the rest of my new family at the time. That was summer 2020, my silver lining of the year.
    Since then, I have flown almost every chance I could, while wanting to share the joy with the world through pics and vids. JP Tulo is a big inspiration for the type of quick, catchy content I like to mess around with.
    In May, this year, I experienced the shared deep sadness from the loss of a dear friend, Jeff Chorba. Anytime he wasn't there, the question my parabuddies and I always asked was "what's Jeff up to, is he coming?" He mentored us, he laughed with us, he inspired us to be better pilots. Coping with his loss has brought us NEPA fliers closer together. I often think about what Jeff once told me over the phone, "we know the risks, but we do it anyway because if we deprive ourselves of that which we love, we also deprive ourselves of life."
    He and my Dad now share the view through my eyes of the awe this sport has to deliver.
    1 hr 10 min
  • JUST WANNA FLY-#68-Let's meet Aaron Eye from Potosi Missouri (PPG PILOT)
    Let's meet Aaron Eye...
    Took my first flight when I was 8, the guy actually let me fly the plane and I was hooked! I started flying in 2015. I received my Sport pilot checkride in 2016 with only 24 hours! Lowest time pilot the school had ever had. In 2017 I bought a Cherokee with a friend to get our privates in. We sold it last year and I've just been solid Ppg since then, even though I have a couple quicksilvers.
    1 hr 14 min
  • JUST WANNA FLY - #67 Meet Cheryl Morgan - she does a LOT OF EVERYTHING this week!
    Meet Cheryl Morgan -
    The code that I live by is:
    Don’t live with would’a, could’a, should’a done that - go ahead and do it!
    Short Bio:
    Grew up in Biloxi, Mississippi
    College in Jackson, MS
    Dental School in Birmingham, AL
    Specialty training in Prosthodontics in Buffalo, NY (if you know what that is without looking it up - you are a rock star).
    Joined the military on active duty afterwards.
    Spent 27 years on active duty in the military. Retired in October 2020. My career wasn’t the tradition for a Prosthodontist in the Army. I had the opportunity to deploy to Guatemala, Bosnia-Herzgovina, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq. I got to spend three years as an exchange Officer with the British Military. I was the sole American Soldier on the base in Aldershot, United Kingdom (England) - which was the highlight of my career.
    My “Air Sports” career started after I finally got of school and had some free time. I started by making a tandem skydive in Louisa, Virigina.
    Skydiver History:
    United States Parachute Association Member
    D licensed Skydiver (the highest license you can obtain)
    Pro Rated Skydiver (spent 6 years on a demonstration team - Not the Golden Knights.) Have participated in large formation events - the largest was a 96 person formation Was a member of the North Carolina women’s largest formation (29 way)
    Have participated in competitive FS (Formation Skydiving) at the National level for about a half decade now. Have done 4-way, 8-way, 10-way and 16 way.
    A few years into skydiving, I became a pilot - why? That is a great question to ask me!! I don’t want to spoil the answer.
    Pilot:
    Private / Instrument / Commercial Pilot Ratings - Single Engine Land, Single Engine Sea, Tailwheel Endorsement, Complex Endorsement, Gyrocopter rating, Weight Shift Trike rating, SailPlane Rating
    Owned a PA24-260 (Piper Comanche) for 10 years
    Currently own a Moyes-Bailey Dragonfly C (used in ranching in Australia, and to tow up hang gliders in the US)
    BASE jumping:
    Have done bridge day in Fayetteville WV several years, so have my “S”. Want to get the others now that I have more time.
    Be sure to ask me about my Mom’s experience at my third bridge day.
    Paraglider:
    Learned to paraglide at Point of Mountain in SLC (thank you Milly for asking me to get in touch with Jade to do this podcast!).
    P3 paraglider
    Have flown in the US, Austria, France, Italy, Switzerland, Morocco, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia and Brazil.
    Ask me about my most memorable paragliding flight - at the Coupe Icare in St Hillaire, France.
    Hang Glider:
    H2 hang glider rating
    Got my H1 at Kitty Hawk on the dunes of NC. Got my H2 at Lookout Mountain in TN.
    Neat things I’ve gotten to do and I think others might find interesting:
    - Why I learned to fly a fixed wing airplane in the first place
    - England and experiences flying overseas - both fixed wing and sailplane
    - The story of buying and bringing back the Moyes-Bailey Dragonfly C from Cincinnati,
    - OH to Vass, NC.
    - My favorite paragliding flight in St Hilaire, France at the Coupe Icare
    - My Mom’s first tandem BASE jump
    - Wearing pony tails on my skydiving helmet
    - Why I am a big believer in the “Color = Joy”
    - Why I am deaf in my right ear (don’t want to spoil the surprise on this one....)
    - Why my skydiver friends thought I was crazy when I went wing walking on a biplane
    My nephew is at the US Air Force Academy and credits his wanting to be a pilot with a flight he took with me on his 9th birthday
    Links to videos (my husband Mike gets credit for the videos)
    Coupe Icare:
    https://youtu.be/Ui0CF51Ini8
    Bringing the Dragonfly from Ohio to NC Video:
    https://youtu.be/gXYTYvKeqJE
    My 70 year old Mom at Bridge Day:
    https://youtu.be/2IVCqX8kCqg
    Wing Walking over Sequim, Washington:
    https://youtu.be/hJWj0cHgzHY
    Pigtails on skydiving helmet:
    https://youtu.be/SyIYWU6fON8
    Fun Paragliding in Costa Rica:
    http://youtu.be/AdkrzUzTnOM
    What we did for some friends during the pandemic for Easter:
    https://youtube.com/shorts/bUw
    1 hr 4 min
  • JUST WANNA FLY #66 SANDIE GASKINS - PPG Pilot and Aviator Paramotor Employee

    My name is Sandie Gaskins and I trained to fly in April of 2022 and I fell in love with the sport and community! I am also a Bad Apple #65. My call sign is Bubbles or Sassy Bubbles! My dad and uncle are also Bad Apples so paramotor runs in my blood! After training I knew I wanted to live this life and experience this community to the fullest so I moved down to Aviator Paramotor and now work for them!

    1 hr 13 min

About Just Wanna Fly

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Welcome to Just Wanna Fly, join us on Wednesdays show as we have now opened it up to everyone.