The Tennessee TreeToppers hang gliding club is sponsoring Team Challenge 2012, seven days of the club's annual teaching competition. Experienced competitors and mentors of hang gliding team up with pilots just beginning to soar and fly cross-country. 50 pilots or more meet for a week at the club's headquarters at Henson Gap, overlooking Dunlap and the Sequatchie Valley.
Scoring is weighted so that winning teams are generally those where the more experienced pilots assist the less experienced pilots in arriving safely at the daily goals. Nonflying hours are filled with clinics, seminars and other training activities. On Saturday, Oct. 6, the event will end with an awards dinner and Octoberfest celebration.
This year, Tennessee TreeToppers team up with the Southern Para Pilots who are holding their first paragliding Team Challenge. The skies over Sequatchie Valley will be filled with colors and smiling pilots as October arrives in Tennessee.
The club is sponsoring a Raptor Show for all their Sequatchie valley favorite neighbors, with Dale and John Stokes of Save Our American Raptors (SOAR) on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the Griffith Elementary Gym at 8 p.m.
Other activities include daily launch and landing clinics, training demonstrations, and films. More information can be found at www.tennesseetreetoppers.org, www.southernparapilots.org, and www.soarsouth.org.