X is for Xflyer
South Africa…a land of dramatic landscapes, dangerous wildlife, and the President's Trophy Air Race. Dusty, of course, was here for the latter. But in order to fly your best, it was important to make sure that your airframe had properly adjusted to the correct time zone. This is why the racer and his crew had arrived at the southern tip of Africa just over a week ago.
The first few days Dusty had spent catching on sleep and taking opportunities to properly sunning his wings in the heat of the day. As much as the racer had craved rest when his tires first kissed the tarmac here in Africa, it was only a matter of time before he started getting bored. By day 9 he was starting to go a bit stir-crazy with nothing to do.
"Chug." Dusty stuck his nose into the hangar assigned to his support team. "I am bored."
"Well, you could…" The fuel truck was clearly starting to ramp up for a proper ramble, but Dottie was having none of that and put her tine down.
"We are not hearing you spot off a list of possible tourist locations again. The last time you suggested a place we just had to go to we nearly got mugged."
"But you have to admit, the view was spectacular." Chug attempted to his best spin on the situation.
"I don't care how good the view is." Dottie glared up at the larger vehicle. "I would like to keep my tires intact this trip, thank you very much."
Chug looked to Dusty in an attempt to get the plane to side with him…it was an attempt that was due to fail as the plane was smart enough to side with his mechanic. The tug knew how to take him apart and put him back together after all.
"Fine." Chug pouted slightly once he realized that his hopes had been thwarted. "What if we went and did an activity instead?"
"With a reputable tour group?" Dottie gave the fuel truck an incredulous look.
"Of course, they are reputable." Chug grinned back which caused the mechanic to give her half-hearted approval…little did she know that her life was about to get a whole lot more interesting.
Dottie was going to kill Chug. Unfortunately for the mechanic, she was going to have to get her tires back on the ground before she could, because at the moment she was currently several hundred feet above the ground with a parachute above her and a gigantic fan strapped to her back.
"Dottie, you are doing great!" Dusty chirped over the radio from where he circled high above her. "If you move a bit to your right, you can catch another thermal and get even higher!"
At the plane's enthusiasm, Dottie determined that she was also going to kill Dusty once both vehicles were back on terra ferma. She was also confident that after this experience, neither Chug nor Dusty was ever going to convince her to fly outside of the comfort of a commercial aircraft, because one flight strapped into the Xplorer Xflyer had been one flight too many.
Xplorer Xflyer – The Xflyer is a paramotor otherwise known as a powered paraglider that was manufactured in Xplorer UltraFlight company in South Africa. This aircraft consists of three pieces, the parachute, the harness, and the backpack mounted motor. This particular model was available in both a kit and a fully assembled version. It has now been discontinued and has been replaced by the Xplorer Micro80.