YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) – A small community in Yuma you may not have heard of, is powered parachuting.
These aircraft fly between 32 and 40 miles per hour and up to 2,000 feet in the air, giving you a beautiful birds eye view of Yuma County.
Up, up and away.
If you’ve been out in the foothills and looked up in the sky, you’ve probably seen these aircraft overhead.
Flying over fresh produce fields, the Colorado River, and even over the California border.
There are four full time Yuma pilots, while the rest are winter visitors.
Yuma local, Mark Quick, has been flying for five years.
“There used to be a bunch of winter visitors that were flying over my house every day and I used to be a sky diver when I was younger, and I thought that was sure neat. So my wife made a few phone calls, and got me a ride with a guy five years ago and as soon as I got in it, I had to start flying,” said Quick.
Quickly also became a flight instructor four years ago, to give others the opportunity to fly the Yuma sky.
He makes sure all his students are safe and competent pilots.
“Right now Andy Jannings is the only student here in town. During the wintertime I’ll probably do between three and four students. I like them to have their own aircraft when they start wanting to learn to fly. It makes them want to learn real bad so the training goes real fast,” explained Quick.
Winter visitor, Andy Jannings, from Nevada, started living in Yuma part-time, four years ago, watching these aircraft fly over his home.
“Last year, I went for a ride with mark, and I was hooked, that was it. Three weeks later I was driving to Michigan to buy a plane,” said Jannings.
Jannings began the process to become a pilot last year and the last step he needs to complete is the written test.
Then he can take the Yuma skies, as one of the newest powered parachuting pilots in our area.
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