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Because
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Because…

You know why you fly.
Or perhaps you don’t. Maybe you have asked yourself the same question in the past, and maybe you were even able to answer it.

We know why we fly, or at least we think we know. We’ve known since even before our first flights, and the same passion that drove us to experience free flight as beginners has brought us to our careers in the sport.

We wanted to know why YOU fly, so what we did was create a way for you to tell us. For 3 months we had the trailer to the short film available on our site, and an online system for pilots to submit their own ‘Because’ and also enter a contest and a lottery for free Ozone stuff.

The cool part is that there was of course absolutely no wrong answer: And in the end, there were only good answers, as we expected.

Because… The Short Film

This short film was created, written, and directed by Jorge Atramiz and Herminio Cordido, the same minds behind the epic film ‘The Never Ending Thermal‘.Whatever your reason or motivation is to fly, enjoy it!

Click HERE to see or download the short film

Cheers from all the Ozone Team.

The Winners

These are the winners, the runners up, and a few answers that we felt were of ‘Honorable Mention’. Please cast your vote for your one favorite answer by choosing one and then clicking ‘submit’ at the bottom.

Grand Prize

  • because… flying is the intersection of two of my strongest emotions: love and fear.
    Amir Izadi, Canada
  • because… It lets you feel totally apart from the planet, and totally connected to it, at the same time.
    Al Wilson, UK
  • because… you leave your farts behind…
    Axel Knutsson, Sweden
  • Porque los ojos me muestran un paisaje vivo, la piel deja sentir el viento, mis oidos alternan el silencio con un pitido emocionante, huelo el aire y saboreo la amistad de quienes comparten la misma locura. (translation: Because my eyes show me a vivid landscape, my skin feels the wind, my ears alternate from silence to an exciting beep, I smell the air and taste the friendship of those who share the same madness)
    Mario Arqué, Spain
  • because… voler c’est un voyage interieur en exterieur. (Translation: Flying is a journey inside yourself, outside).
    Morette, France

Runner Up

  • because…when I rest my head after taking my final breath I will have enough time to remain on the ground.
    Derek Melnick, New Zealand
  • because… nothing else stops me from thinking, nothing else is as focused and pure as flying. It’s time out of mind, way beyond any drug or meditation.
    Christian Remes, Germany
  • Because…pee…pee, pee…, pee, pee, pee…, peeee, peeeeee, peeeeeee, peeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! WOW! …sorry, what was that question again?
    Joao Eugenio Saporski Lopes, Brazil
    [Note from Ozone: If your vario speaks Portuguese or Spanish, it does not say ‘beep’. Instead, it actually says ‘pee!’.]
  • porque me gusta verme al espejo despues de un buen XC y ver mi cara como un Mapache por los lentes y el casco. Blanca al rededor de los ojos y rojo a los bordes y la nariz. Sintoma de un buen vuelo!!! (translation: because… I like to see myself in front of the mirror after a good XC and see my face like a raccoon because of the sunglases and the helmet. White around my eyes and red on my nose. Signs of a good flight!!!)
    Carlos Cesar Hansen, Venezuela
  • because… L’Homme est adapte’ au mode de vie terrestre. Alors, pourquoi s’en contenter ? (translation: because… Humans have adapted to life on the ground. Why be satisfied with that ?)
    Guillaume ROUANET, France
  • because… c’est le moment de tutoyer les anges et laisser les demons derrier. (translation: because… It’s when I hang out with the angels and leave the demons behind).
    Arnaud PAILLISSER, France

Honorable Mention

  • because… from the sky I can’t see the banal triviality of my life but only the awesome beauty of the planet.. and besides I cant climb any more…
    John Edward William Mayhew, UK
  • because… there’s no other way to get that feeling - the one you have when you go crazy after the best flight ever and you need to run around in circles like a kid who’s eaten too much sugar.
    Martina Lang, Canada
  • because… food and drink keep me alive but flying makes me truly alive!
    Thys Pretorius, South Africa
  • because… it is my mental Ctrl+Alt+Delete. It’s the only thing I ever tried that just can’t be faked, where progress can’t be rushed. It is the essence of freedom.
    Christophor Hill, USA
  • because… En vol, ma route rejoint les oiseaux, les nuages deviennent Ocean, ma voie s’eleve au dela’ des sommets et je ne sais plus si je suis le vent ou si c’est le vent qui me suit. (translation: because… Flying, my path meets birds, clouds are becoming ocean, I’m rising higher than summits and I don’t know anymore if I follow the wind or if the wind follows me.)
    Daniel Guilhot, France