Man enjoys high-flying freedom with powered paraglider

What’s that up in the north Kalispell sky?

It’s not a bird. And it’s not a plane.

It’s just Dennis Boultinghouse out flying his powered paraglider again, proving everyday people can fly if they really want.

That’s not to say Boultinghouse doesn’t feel like Superman as he motors through the air — because that’s exactly how he does feel.

“You can’t believe you’re doing what you’re doing,” Boultinghouse said of his toe-dangling flights. “You just have that big Kool-Aid smile on your face.”

People might have seen Boultinghouse flying over fields at Kidsports athletic complex. Or around the track before a car race at Montana Raceway Park.

He tries to fly at least twice a week.    

Sometimes he’s out following a river, cruising just above the water’s surface. Other times he flies up to Big Mountain and back or tours lakes and waterfalls in the scenic Mission Mountains.

Boultinghouse flies year-round as wind and weather allow.

He was out at Kidsports on a calm but frosty Thanksgiving Day, dressed in his snowmobile suit and heated socks, gloves and jacket.

“In the valley you can fly quite a bit. Even during winter we have beautiful days. It’s a little cool. But it’s gorgeous,” Boultinghouse said.

“A little cool” might be an understatement. Even some of his paragliding friends from Canada refuse to go up in the winter.

Boultinghouse has been engaged in powered paragliding for just two years. He started off by taking an intensive, nine-day training program in Monterey, Calif. Formal training is something he stresses everyone needs before trying the sport.

“Do not try to learn this on your own,” Boultinghouse said. “You will either get maimed or you will die.”

Boultinghouse had followed the sport for two decades.

He “got the nerve” to try it several years after his grown children had moved out of the house and he had retired from the California Department of Corrections and moved to Kalispell.

“I figured if I’m going to do this, there’s no better time,” he said.

Powered paragliding is the stuff of dreams.

Geared up for a flight, Boultinghouse takes off with a short trot. The nylon paraglider wing laid out behind him billows and rises from the ground. As he continues to trot, he throttles up. Two hundred pounds of thrust from the two-stroke paramotor and caged propeller strapped to his back carry him up, up and away.

From there, he relaxes into a comfortable sling seat. Expansive views unfold. He’s as free as any bird, free to slowly float inches above the ground or to ascend thousands of feet into the clouds.

With just a few gallons of gasoline, he can fly for hours.

“It’s pretty limitless with this little unit. It’s the most fun you’re ever going to have in your entire life,” Boultinghouse said.

POWERED paragliding is the easiest, safest, most affordable and least-regulated form of recreational flying, Boultinghouse said. For some reason, it’s just not that common in this part of the country.

“In Northwest Montana it’s just not something you really see, although I can’t understand why. It’s such a beautiful area to fly in,” he said.

The parawing and the paramotor set up and break down in less than five minutes. They can fit in the bed of a pickup truck or even in the trunk of a car.

His equipment is rated for several hundred pounds, so he can take along fishing gear, a tent or extra fuel.

“It’s the safest form of flying that I’m aware of on this planet,” Boultinghouse said. “Because you can’t even get off the ground unless the wing is already flying.”

Once up in the air, his parawing has a 10-to-1 glide ratio.

“So if you’re at 1,000 feet and the engine quits and you can’t restart it, you can glide 10,000 feet before your feet will touch the ground. And if you can’t find a spot to land within two miles that’s only as big as you are, you shouldn’t be up there,” Boultinghouse said, adding that he wears a reserve parachute on every flight, just in case.

Training and all new gear that will get someone up in the air for years to come will cost $10,000 to $12,000.

Used gear can be found for less. But that’s pretty cheap entertainment as far as flying goes.

“Go do it. It’s a blast,” Boultinghouse said of the sport. “If you’ve ever wanted to fly, which I think all people look at the birds and go, ‘God, I wish I could do that,’ you can do it.”

Boultinghouse said he’s happy to help people learn more about powered paragliding. He can be contacted by email at dboult@ymail.com.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.