JoeGreblo started hang gliding in the plastocene era of hang gliding (1972), and somehow managed to survive extinction. No sooner did he learn how to fly that he began teaching others to follow in his footsteps. Joe first began teaching at Playa Del Rey (now Dockweiler Beach), then Simi Valley, Chatsworth, Palmdale, San Bernardino, and anywhere else he could find smooth winds and a training hill. Joe, along with his original partner Rich Grigsby, decided at that time that they wanted to run a hang gliding business unlike any other at the time. Professionally, that is. It seemed to be quite a unique idea to have a real store front, with real employees that kept real business hours, remembers Joe, as it was common for the time to have lots of fun-loving young pilots operating hang gliding businesses out of their cars and returning telephone messages nightly from their answering machines.

Rich Grigsby ran the business, Joe did the teaching. Soon the school grew and Joe trained other instructors in the fine art of shoving people off of mountains.

Joe and Rich loved to compete as well, and did quite well both nationally and internationally (see article link). Joe loved cross country competitions and was a regular in the Owens Valley and southern deserts. In fact, both Rich and Joe earned 1st place titles at America's premier annual cross country competition, the Owens Valley X-C Championships. Both Joe and Rich went on to represent the good old US of A in various international contests.

In the 1980's and 90's, as housing development grew around Los Angeles, practical and convenient training hills and flying sites became harder and harder to keep preserved. Windsports students had to drive further and further to train, and these distant sites became much less visible to the general public. Student interest suffered and more southern California schools and instructors left the business.

As the business climate worsened, Joe's partner left the business for greener pastures. But Joe stuck it out, determined not to give up on the livelihood that he had grown to love. Although the numbers of students he was teaching was diminishing, Joe was able to devote more time to those that he had, improving the Windsports training program and earning the friendship and respect of his peers.

Year after year, Joe was elected as the USHGA Regional Director, devoting plenty of time to issues of politics, safety and training, promotion and site preservation. He also assisted the local clubs maintain access to such flying sites as Kagel Mtn., Crestline, Malibu and Big Sur.

Joe also found opportunities to offer his knowledge and flying talents to the film and television industry, flying or coordinating flying action for nearly one hundred major productions. You may have seen Joe's work on such films as John Carpenter's Escape From L.A., Columbia's SpaceHunter Adventures in the Forbidden Zone or Bruce Willis' Color of Night. TV shows included many episodes of Baywatch, Dukes of Hazzard, and Rescue 911, not to mention numerous TV commercials and MTV.

Today the sport of hang gliding is thriving and Joe is as happy and motivated as ever. His 13 year efforts to reopen one of this country's most efficient training sites has met with success and his classes are filling with smiling students.

There's not rest in site for Joe, as he continues to enjoy an active role in the teaching of hang gliding to anyone who's interested.

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Kris Greblo was born in the San Fernando valley in 1955. She started flying hang gliders in the summer of 76 after seeing an ad in the college paper where she worked as an interpreter for deaf students. She met Joe Greblo at historic Dockweiler State Beach flying site in May of '77 when flying for the same college paper doing a story about her flying antics.

In 1980, Honda Motor Corp of Japan was looking for a couple that could fly and help with the testing of their motors on ultralights, so at that time, she learned to fly and enjoy trike style ultralights. Then in 1992 an opportunity to fly trikes for the Ghana Department of Wildlife and Game opened up and Kris was able to fill the spot after she earned her private pilot license in order to legally fly anything with a motor in their airspace. In 1994 the opportunity for a female stunt pilot opened up professionally in film and television productions from Jack In The Box commercials to Baywatch. She still finds time to fly hang gliders about once a week. She has earned her sea plane rating in airplanes and has been very enthusiastic about trying out some aerobatics in some very cool aerobatic planes. When your out flying look for her overhead.

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