Freedom Flight: Kid's Homemade Paraglider Leads to Fame

Cyril Mazibuko got his start in the sport at the age of 12, building homemade wings from plastic bags and rope.


Cyril Mazibuko grew up in the shadows of the mountains. Born in a small kraal at the foot of the Drakensberg range in the southern part of the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa, Cyril would often look up at the 3,000-meter basalt peaks, a playground for African paragliders. Enthralled, Cyril made a decision: He would build his own glider and join them in the sky.

Now 26, Cyril is the only black South African currently registered with the sport's ruling body. And it all started with a glider he made from plastic bags, purloined rope and baling wire, a glider that flew -- sort of -- though it both amazed and horrified the professional paragliders who saw it.