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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Murray Sibbeston with his paramotor!

Murray Sibbeston takes to the skies above the Fort Simpson papal site with his paramotor. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Sibbeston has been drawing a lot of curious glances up into the skies over Fort Simpson with his unusual hobby. Since July 7, Sibbeston has been spotted approximately every other night flying over the village in what looks like a motorized lawnchair with a sail.

Sibbeston's hobby or sport is actually called paramotoring. His equipment includes a wing that's approximately 28 square metres long and a harness that's attached to a motor.

To get airborne, Sibbeston straps himself into the harness and then runs until the wing, which is spread out on the ground, inflates and stays above him. After checking to make sure the wing is properly inflated Sibbeston gives full throttle to the engine and keeps running.

"Hopefully you'll lift off," he said.

If a bit of wind is blowing, Sibbeston can be airborne in the space of three metres. Without wind, it takes him 25 to 33 m to lift off, at which point the harness supports him in a sitting position.

Sibbeston, who's originally from Fort Simpson but is currently living in Whitehorse, is no stranger to flying. He started to learn how to fly with ultralights and then moved onto fixed wing aircraft approximately 10 years ago.

About seven years ago Sibbeston tried his first paramotor flight in Fort Simpson after buying an older paramotor and reading a book on its use. Not having the proper skills, Sibbeston said he was unable to get a good flight in.

Three years ago he learned how to paraglide, paramotoring without the motor, while on vacation in Thailand. In March he added the motor.

"Most of the skill is in handling the parachute," he said.

The sport comes with its dangers. A hard gust of wind could collapse the wing. Sometimes you can recover but other times you can't, he said.

The potential dangers, however, haven't put Sibbeston off. Fort Simpson has great conditions for paramotoring, including stable winds, he said.

With a full tank of mixed gas, Sibbeston can stay aloft for approximately three hours. His height can vary from 2,400 m to dragging his feet along the ground.

"It's like cruising along sitting in a lawnchair," he said.

Sibbeston plans to spend most of the summer in the village visiting his family, so residents can expect to see the paramotor in the sky on a regular basis.

"It's gotten a lot of interest," Sibbeston said.

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