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Doug, I suspect this was an ultralight pilot, given the context of the article. I've included the last half...
He said he started flying his glider last year at the Twin Pines Airport on Pennington-Lawrenceville Road in Hopewell Township, where he crashed two days ago.
'At first, I started going up parallel to the runway about five or 10 feet off the ground,' Johnson said.
'I wanted to get my confidence up. Last week, I felt really confident when I soared to 400 feet two times in a row.'
However, luck wasn't with Johnson on his third try.
'I was at the end of the runway and gaining altitude,' he recalled. 'The engine seized up, so I had to make a full turn. The glider wouldn't turn and it headed for the trees. The front wheel broke and jammed into the ground.
'I crashed on the edge of a ditch off Federal City Road. A motorist with a cell phone found me just after I crashed,' Johnson said. 'He called 911 and several more motorists stopped to help me until the ambulance came.'
Johnson said he liked to fly his glider near dusk because that was the time of day when there was the least amount of wind.
A retired truck driver, who raised nine children, Johnson said he wished he had checked out the 2.5-cylinder engine powering his glider more thoroughly before he took off this last time.
He said he had one hard landing last year where he broke some of the fiberglass off the aircraft.
'I wasn't hurt,' he said. 'And it didn't break my confidence.'
He said he was determined to fly despite his disability.
'I've always been interested in flying. Where there's a will, there's a way,' he said.
'The glider has a hammock-like seat which made it easy for me to get in and out of from my wheelchair.
'But now I don't know if I'll ever fly again,' Johnson noted ruefully. 'Hell, I'm 70, and this accident has made me feel my age.'
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