Man can fly
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
A thick hose attached to a board, provides water that sprays out from under a flyboarder’s feet.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
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POLSON – Without wings, a man flew over the Flathead Lake on Saturday wearing a red suit. He leaned forward like Super Man, paused for a moment, and flipped around into a roll of floating somersaults. His body twisted around and around down towards the lake. He straightened out, pointed his arms down and dove into the freezing cold water.
He emerged from the lake flying slowly upward. Water dripped from his hair. He continued flying up, up, up. About forty feet above the lake, he stopped. Standing above the earth, he put his hands up in the cold wind. Still standing, he spiraled down around like a staircase and back into the water. He came out again and twisted through the air for several more minutes.
“Flying is easier than you think,” T.J. Andrews said back on the ground.
His feet were laced into a pair of boots built onto a small board about the size of a skateboard, but instead of wheels, a long hose is attached to the board. It looks like the thick hose a firefighter uses to put out flames. The other end of the hose is attached to a jet ski.
“The power from the jet ski or water pressure goes into the hose,” he said.
The person on the board has control of that pressure and the speed of the board with a wireless handheld switch. Water sprays out from under the person’s feet as they fly through the air, giving the contraption the name “flyboard.”
“It was invented about four years ago,” he said.
Moritz Sirch, Andrew’s friend, tried flying for the first time on Saturday. He said flying may be easy but the tricks were very difficult. Sirch attempted a spin close to the water.
“To do a spin is so hard,” he said. “It’s hard to control. You have to push against the force with your legs.”
Sirch floated happily in the water after flying despite the freezing cold water.
“It is the most amazing thing I’ve ever done,” he said.
Andrews figured out how to do those tricks on the ski slopes. He started skiing when he was two. Jumping off of things and doing flips seemed to be something Andrews was born wanting to do.
“He is very responsible, but he was always doing crazy things,” said Mark Andrews, father to T.J Andrews. “We bought a trampoline when he was little, and the normal kids would just jump, but he was always looking for something to jump off of and then onto the trampoline.”
Andrews moved onto snowboarding when he was 8, and he became a guest snowboard instructor at 16. After graduating from Polson High School in 2007, he became a full time instructor. He competed in many competitions. He lives in Whitefish for work but comes home to Polson at least once a week.
“Polson is my home,” he said. “It’s where my family lives. It will always be home. I’m only up in Whitefish for the skiing.”
He discovered flying in the last few years and decided to teach that, too. He said he has taken about a thousand people out on the water for flying lessons through Flyboard of Montana. They own the equipment.
“This isn’t a cheap sport,” he said. “You have to have jet skis, hoses and the board.”
In June, Andrews went to Louisiana to compete in the North American Flyboard Championship. He came in 15th. And, he was chosen to compete in the Flyboard World Cup in Dubai starting on Dec. 3. Only 42 other competitors from 20 different countries were invited to the competition.
“I’m the only one from Montana,” he said.
He learned about the competition about a month ago, and he’s been working an extra construction job to try and raise money for the trip. He said he would love it if anyone wanted to sponsor him. Great Northern Powder and his parents have helped make a dent in the couple thousand dollars he needs for airfare and expenses.
The competition is only days away, and Andrews believes he is training for it in much colder water than the other competitors, but he has figured out a way to endure it. He suits up in a dry suit that looks like a snowsuit but it’s waterproof.
“It’s a dry suit mainly for rafting,” he said pointing out that it has rubber gaskets around the neck, hands and feet to keep him from getting wet, although his face and fingers are bare. Not wearing gloves gives him more control on the “touchy” handheld trigger he uses to control his speed.
“It’s really cold, but it’s worth it,” he said, adding that his toes felt a bit numb.
If anyone would like flying lessons or to help him represent Montana in the championship with funding support, call Andrews at 407-270-1787.
