Following the direction of the wind, flying over Istanbul's coasts

Members of the Istanbul Paramotor team.

We were on a hill overlooking Sarıyer's Kısırkaya shore; a lush green area, with fresh air and fascinating landscapes. The wind was gently blowing on the hill. People were having picnics and children played ball, which added color to the appealing atmosphere. On top of the hill, a group of people parked their cars and were in a hurry to carry their equipment outside from the caravans and minibuses. They immediately started preparations for paragliding, while taking their Paramotors (powered paragliders) out.Meanwhile, their eyes were fixed on a flag that stood on the corner of the hill, since wind is an indispensable part of paragliding. Suddenly, the hill was brightly colored like a festival. Some people were fueling paramotors, while others were dealing with final checks, as if they were preparing for a big feast. All of these efforts and attention to detail were to enjoy the sights of Istanbul, while gliding like a bird over the city. The common idea for these paragliding pilots is to keep away from Istanbul's hectic and stressful environment. Everyone in the park was watching them as they were preparing their final preparations. Many wondering eyes surrounded the members of the Istanbul Paramotor team, yet they kept cool enough to continue their work. Indeed, these thrill-seeking sky lovers, who come from different professions, have turned their hobby into a lifestyle. They have all become close friends and even their families now know each other. While preparations were continuing at full speed, family members were busy serving breakfast. Their children are already used to seeing their parents' paragliding, so the sound of the paramotors did not frighten them at all.

Once we saw that everything was ready, we got closer to Nevzat Şimşek, 39, a paragliding pilot. Şimşek said the number of team members was normally higher, but that day only six of them gathered on the hill. He said every weekend they try somewhere new depending on the wind direction. Şimşek is a computer teacher who began paragliding five years ago and has flown a paramotor about 500 times. He recalled some of his humorous memories. "When people see us with paramotors, they look stunned. Some of them even yell out, as they think aliens are coming. Then, they immediately grab their phones to take a photo," Şimşek said. He thinks that paragliding is an ideal way to enjoy Istanbul. "I even have my breakfast and drink tea while floating in the sky. There is nothing like drinking my tea while I am paragliding," he added.

Interestingly enough, the stories of paragliding pilots are similar to each other. Most of them dreamed of flying in the sky since they were a child, but didn't have the opportunity to paraglide until adulthood. One of them was a 39-year-old technical teacher, Ali Güzel, whose nickname is "güzel" (beautiful). Two-weeks after he completed his flight training, Güzel tried paragliding. Within four years, Güzel became a paramotor pilot and established close relations with other members in the sky, and continues to experience adrenaline and excitement with them while flying. "We are those who follow the direction of wind. This is because paramotors run against the wind. We choose which Istanbul shore we are going to fly over according to the wind," he said, adding that the wind is everything for them. When he first started paragliding, his wife Ayşegül Güzel got very angry with him. "I feel as if I am walking in the sky. Paragliding offers you a great personal freedom. My wife was not happy with me paragliding even around Istanbul," Güzel continued. He said his wife kept on complaining about him paragliding every weekend and him not having any time for a picnic. After a while, his wife got used to it and started paragliding herself. "Now, she is asking me to go paragliding. If the wind blows from the north, we are here [Sarıyer] and if the wind blows from the south, we are in Bostancı or Yenikapı," he added.

Working as a computer teacher, his wife has now joined the adventure in the sky, as her husband encouraged her to try paragliding. She talked about how her family got involved with the team and said, "First, my husband and children joined the paramotor group over the weekends. While they enjoyed flying over Istanbul, we were having picnics. In the end, I begin flying too." Ayşegül Güzel currently has developed a passion for paramotors after learning how to paraglide from her husband and is very excited to be the second woman pilot in Turkey. "Once you begin flying in the sky on your own, you cannot give it up. Now, my family and I look forward to the weekends. We are those who follow the wind; we are the children of the wind," Ayşegül Güzel said.

"We relieve all of our stress of the week in the sky over the weekends," said Yücel Odacı, 35, who works as a computer technician for an import firm. "Flying over Istanbul with a paramotor is an escape for us," said Odacı. "When you fly over Istanbul, you relieve all the stress of the whole week; we forget about work and life," he added. Although he took an interest in paramotors about 15 years ago, Odacı has been involved with paramotor sports for the last four years. He has designed his own paramotor and said they are about TL 20,000 ($7,517) on the market. He complained that people see paramotors as a dangerous hobby and added that driving is more dangerous in Istanbul than flying a paramotor.

Ali Aktaş, the owner of an international logistics company, is 50 years old but he is better at the sport than most of the youngsters, and is one of the few paramotor pilots who perform acrobatics. Aktaş's passion for flying, which began with paragliding, continues with paramotors, saying that sometimes they stay up in the air for over four hours. He continued, "For instance, we can fly from here to İğne Island and Şile. When we get hungry, we land, eat in a restaurant and continue to fly. Paramotors are a very exiting experience."