About Us

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Prepare yourself for the thrill of a lifetime. There is nothing like firing up the engine of your own personal flying machine in the bright sun of a calm clear morning, and taking off into a wonderful adventure in the air around you. The same air, that before you had a powered parachute or trike, was just something to breath.

Powered parachutes and trikes can provide you years of just enjoyable Light Sport Aircraft fun flying, or they can be an affordable, exciting and safe introduction to the broad field of general aviation.

We are Patty Sharpe-Gregg and Jim Gregg and our company, SoftWing Flight, LLC. strives to make your first flight experience a safe and enjoyable one. We both truly love the thrill of open cockpit, "low and slow", fun flying, and we want to share our passion for flight with everyone who would like to join us.

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Patty is a life long resident of Libertyville, Illinois. A "Star Wars" buff from it's opening credits in 1977. Not being able to fly a real "X-Wing" fighter, she decided that powered parachuting and the real adventure it brings was far more fun than just sitting in front of a video screen zapping "Death Stars". In addition, Patty has continued her aircraft training and on June 14th, 2004 was granted her Private Pilot's License.

I was born and raised under the Ohare Airport glide path to runway L-32 in Franklin Park, Illinois, so you might say I was born to flying or under it at least. I have lived in the Libertyville area for the last 35 years. In high school and college I was a competitive trampolinist, so in my younger days got my flying time in very short increments. Over the last 10 years I have also had a brief encounter with sky diving, and Patty & I took paragliding training before finally turning to powered parachutes. I'm more into "StarTrek" rather than "Star Wars", so not being able to have Scotty "beam me up", I've had my "Destiny" carry me up.

Patty and I are both certified BFI's (Basic Flight Instructors) in powered parachute. We are not only qualified to take you up for your first information packed 20 minute introductory flight, but we also offer pilot training that will allow you to solo fly your own powered parachute in about 8 hours. In addition, we are able to give you the support you'll need, should you decide to continue on to get your own BFI rating.

The United States ultralight movement is strong, expanding, and currently produces many well-constructed new aircraft, most of which do not require a pilot's certificate of the person who flies them.

The current Federal Aviation Administration regulations state that any craft that carries only one person, five gallons of fuel, has an empty weight less than 254 pounds, a maximum calibrated airspeed of under 55 knots at full power in level flight, and has a power-off stall speed of less than 24 knots calibrated airspeed, is considered an ultralight if it is used purely for sports and recreational purposes.

All of our introductory flights and our flight training are done in one of our two Destiny XLT dual seat trainers. SoftWing Flight, LLC is now an authorized dealer for Soaring Concepts, Inc., and handles The Sky Trek, two seat and the FAR103 legal, Sky Rascal powered parachutes. In addition we can put you in the seat of one of Stellar Aircraft's four trike models. The more than standard HKS, the truly awesome 912, the lightning fast S2 and the FAR103 legal "103". We also handle trailers, helmets, radios, and a myriad of other related items.

At some time in our lives, we have all had the dream of being able to rise up off the ground and soar over the landscape below. What more fun can be had than by flying your powered parachute off the ground, watching around you as the earth gives way to the sky, and soaring above the fields and trees below in the adventure of your life? Powered parachuting brings that dream to reality.

A successful first flight, free from incident, is the key to starting a new student on the road to the confidence he or she will need as they progress to into the world of personal flight. We are the keepers of the key. We can unlock your door to pure adventure. The sky is no longer the limit. Come fly with Patty and I at SoftWing Flight, LLC!!!

Jim Gregg