Bart Weghorst writes:

Now that many hang gliding friends know that I am leaving Cowboy
Up, I have to tell them what happened. I would like to explain here.

The recent loss of three direct family members has turned my life upside down.
It has set a chain of life changing events in motion. I feel the need to be
closer to the rest of my family and loved ones, so I decided to move back to The
Netherlands.

This was not an easy decision. I see our school as a life work. Tiki and I went
through an incredible journey together. We had a fantastic time and truly lived
life to the fullest. If you like flying, hang gliding and life, I can recommend
starting a flying school with your best friend. I don't mean to say that it was
always great.

Tiki mentioned only a few of the hardships in her GofundMe video. There were
many more serious ones that could have brought our school down. We knew it
wasn't easy to earn a living flying hang gliders. Hence the name Cowboy Up. But
because of our will to succeed we eventually came out with a thriving school in
South Texas. It has given me great joy for many years and I'm proud of what we
achieved together. Hang Gliding and flying is my life and it is the same for
Tiki. But now she's dealing with a business model that doesn't work anymore.

She can't fly a tandem glider and tow it up at the same time. And towing solo
gliders doesn't pay the bills. Our local pilots will have no place to go to and
Hang Gliding in Texas will suffer. Maybe it will just end here. So I am glad
that she turned to the hang gliding community for help. Asking for this and
opening oneself up about problems is not an easy thing to do for Tiki. I am
proud of her and of this community that has already donated very generously.

As I write this, we are almost one third on the way to secure hang gliding here,
with a really good shot at growing our sport like we used to. So I'm optimistic.
Tiki can Cowboy Up with the best. Our community just needs a little help now.
Please donate.