Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing. Typically the pilot is in a harness suspended from the airframe, and controls the aircraft by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame.
Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended below a fabric wing. Wing shape is maintained by the suspension lines, the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing, and the aerodynamic forces of the air flowing over the outside.
Kite types, kite mooring, and kite applications result in a wide variety of kite control systems. Contemporary manufacturers, kite athletes, kite pilots, scientists, and engineers are expanding the possibilities.
The Fédération aéronautique internationale is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains world records for aeronautical activities, including ballooning, aeromodeling, and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones), as well as flights into space.
Powered paragliding, also known as paramotoring or PPG, is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a back-pack motor which provides enough thrust to take off using a paraglider. It can be launched in still air, and on level ground, by the pilot alone — no assistance is required.
Matthew James Baker is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show Blue Peter from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's Countryfile since 2009 and The One Show from 2011 to 2020, with Alex Jones.
A windsport is any type of sport which involves wind-power, often involving a non-rigid airfoil such as a sail or a power kite. The activities can be land-based, on snow, on ice or on water. Windsport activity may be regulated in some countries by aviation/maritime authorities if they are likely to interfere with other activities. Local authorities may also regulate activity in certain areas, especially on crowded beaches and parks.
The London Gliding Club (LGC) is a members' club whose airfield is located at the foot of the Dunstable Downs. Many privately owned gliders are based there. It has the facilities to train pilots in powerless flight, and in the skills necessary to fly cross country using nature's sources of energy. Aerobatics and instructor training are also available. The LGC is open 364 days a year and is the second largest and one of the oldest Gliding Clubs in the United Kingdom, smaller only than Lasham Gliding Society. The club provides gliding courses, one day courses and trial lessons for members of the public.
Joel Nirmalan Defries is a British-born presenter, who worked on the BBC One children's programme Blue Peter from 2008 to 2010. He previously worked on the New Zealand television station, C4.
Brian Milton is a British journalist, adventurer and aviation historian who made the first circumnavigation of the world in an ultralight aircraft in 1998. In the face of significant political, geographical, personal and physical hardships, he completed the 24,000 mile flight in 80 flying days, taking 120 days in total. Milton's first major expedition took place in 1968 when he drove a 1937 Austin 7 Ruby across the Sahara Desert to meet his fiancée.
A foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG), also called powered harness, nanolight, or hangmotor, is a powered hang glider harness with a motor and propeller in pusher configuration. An ordinary hang glider is used for its wing and control frame, and the pilot can foot-launch from a hill or from flat ground, needing a length of about a football field to get airborne, or much less if there is an oncoming breeze and no obstacles.
Ann Courtenay Welch OBE, née Edmonds, was a pilot who received the Gold Air Medal from Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) for her contributions to the development of four air sports - gliding, hang gliding, paragliding and microlight flying. She flew as a ferry pilot in the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War.
A glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its lifting surfaces, and whose free flight does not depend on an engine. Most gliders do not have an engine, although motor-gliders have small engines for extending their flight when necessary by sustaining the altitude with some being powerful enough to take off by self-launch.
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.
Judy Leden, MBE is a British hang glider and paraglider pilot. She has held three world champion titles, twice in hang gliding, once in paragliding.
A glider or sailplane is a type of glider aircraft used in the leisure activity and sport of gliding. This unpowered aircraft can use naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to gain altitude. Sailplanes are aerodynamically streamlined and so can fly a significant distance forward for a small decrease in altitude.
The British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (BHPA), based in Leicester, is the governing body in the UK for hang gliding and paragliding.
The Royal Air Force Gliding & Soaring Association is a British organisation which provides recreational flying in gliders to RAF personnel.
Flyability is a UK based charity that works to help disabled people fly hang gliders and paragliders. It is the disability initiative of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, the governing body of hang gliding and paragliding in the UK.
Bowland Forest Gliding Club is a British gliding club near the village of Chipping, Lancashire. It was formed as the Blackpool and Fylde Gliding Club in 1930, and is a members-only club, with no paid employees. It owns its airfield, generally called Chipping Airfield, but also known as Bowland Forest, Fiddlers Lane or Lower Cock Hill Farm.
