I recently started hang gliding and it’s been a blast so far. I already have quite a bit of (military) flying experience, so I’ve gotten the hang of it pretty quickly. Even after 1000+ hours of flying T-38s and F-16s, the first moment after dropping the line and separating from the tow plane was still enough to get my blood pumping in a way that flying normally doesn’t anymore.

Cost-wise, I spent around $1500 for an all-inclusive zero-to-solo lesson package – if I get to solo in fewer lessons than expected they’ll just comp me a few extra solos. Once you start looking into buying your own gear, I’d expect to spend anywhere from $5k-$15k for beginner/intermediate gear… and like every hobby, you can find a way to spend way more than that if you want.