Since 2009, Cu Nim Gliding Club near Black Diamond has teamed up with long-term care facility Carewest in Calgary to take people who have a variety of physical disabilities, from paralysis to multiple sclerosis, high into the skies on a glider. To make the program work, the club needed to purchase a plane specially adapted for disabled pilots to control the rudders with their hands. Even quadriplegic patients — paralyzed from the neck down — are able to fly if they have some maneuverability of their body by attaching their hands with Velcro to the hand panels.
Phil Stade, a member of the gliding club who has been instrumental in organizing the program, described the gliding experience as an "exciting and memorable event" that allows disabled individuals an escape from their wheelchairs, even for just a few moments.

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