Popa takes the reins of his paraglider and guides it from the ground to the sky. It floats upward, the wind transforming 19 square meters of rumpled fabric into a sleek elliptical wing. Popa pauses, carefully balancing the control handles to keep the glider hovering overhead like a kite, and checks the box strapped to his harness.

 

“I’ve set the robot to tumbling mode,” he says with a thick Romanian accent, nodding down at the electronics that have made his already exceptional skills that much sharper. Then he leans forward and runs at top speed toward the edge.

His feet lift into the air just as the ground gives way to sky. Within minutes, he’s high above Fewa Lake.