Tony shakes dust off hang glider at the 2008 National Games

Niken Prathivi ,  Jakarta ,  The Jakarta Post   |  Thu, 07/03/2008 10:39 AM  |  Sports

In 1985, hang gliding athlete Tony Kullit, cruised the clouds above Palembang in South Sumatra during the National Games and won a gold medal for a perfect landing.

Twenty years later, the hang gliding pilot, now in his 49th year, will still be flying his worn-out aircraft to compete in the upcoming hang gliding tournament in East Kalimantan, starting Saturday.

"It is sad indeed to see that athletes participating in the event are mostly old hands," Tony told The Jakarta Post over the phone.

"Almost all of them are old faces, including those from West Java, Jakarta, Banten and East Kalimantan," said Tony, who represented West Java during the Palembang Games back in 1985.

There will be 32 hang gliding athletes from 12 provinces competing in the quadrennial sporting event.

The sport was last included in the 1985 Palembang Games and ever since it has been dropped from the list due to pricey equipment. The aerosport is also not featured in more prominent sporting events, like the Southeast Asian Games.

"We hope through these games that we can re-promote the sport to Indonesians and, hopefully, scout new talent," he said.

According to him, most Indonesians are familiar with more affordable paragliding than hang gliding. The difference is that a paraglider has an entirely flexible wing structure while a hang glider is supported on a rigid wing frame which determines its shape.

"For me, popularizing the sport to Indonesians is what matters. The rest, like winning the competition, will be another matter.

"The event will still be a perfect start for us to develop the sport," he added.

Tony said that through this event he also would help promote tourism.

"Foreign tourists have a big interest in hang gliding, and Indonesia has lots of beautiful mountains, hills and places to host the sport," he added.

Spokesman to the Games, hang gliding enthusiast Tagor Siagian, said that the organizers would use engine-powered tow launchers, instead of using normal foot launching, as they could not find places in the host province with the required heights for launching the aircraft.

Hang gliders will be towed up to around 500-600 meters above the ground before release. The pilots will compete to make a spot landing as precise as possible on a grass fairway between 325 and 375 meters long.

The hang gliding event will be held in Tenggarong starting Saturday until July 16, with five gold medals at stake.

Commenting on tow-launching, also called aerotowing, Tony said that all participants in the upcoming national sports event have mastered the technique.

"We are all familiar with it. As matter of fact, using aerotowing is much easier than flying off a mountain or hilltop."

Tony added that he had done some training at the venue.

"It's great. The wind is good, and the scenery is awesome."

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.