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.
A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air flying machine, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using wings that generate lift caused by the aircraft's forward airspeed and the shape of the wings. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft, and ornithopters. The wings of a fixed-wing aircraft are not necessarily rigid; kites, hang gliders, variable-sweep wing aircraft and airplanes that use wing morphing are all examples of fixed-wing aircraft.
Hang gliding is an air sport employing a foot-launchable aircraft known as a hang glider. Typically, a modern hang glider is constructed of an aluminium alloy or composite-framed fabric wing. The pilot is ensconced in a harness suspended from the airframe, and exercises control by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame.
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.
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.
The Spartan DFS Trike is an American ultralight aircraft designed and produced by Spartan Microlights. The aircraft was the first ultralight introduced that could be flown with a hang glider-style wing as an ultralight trike or with a powered parachute wing.
The Aeros Stalker is the name given to two families of Ukrainian high-wing, single-place, hang gliders, that were designed and produced by Aeros of Kiev and introduced in 1991 and 1999 respectively. Neither line is in production.
Avian Limited is a British aircraft manufacturer that produces a line of recreational and competition hang gliders. The company also markets recreational aviation products from other companies, including rigid wing hang gliders from A-I-R Atos.
The Bautek Astir is a German high-wing, single-place, hang glider designed and produced by Bautek, of Kenn, Germany.
The Guggenmos Bullet is a series of German high-wing, single-place, hang gliders that were designed by World Hang Gliding Champion Josef Guggenmos and produced by his company Drachenbau Josef Guggenmos.
The Guggenmos ESC is a German high-wing, single-place, rigid-wing hang glider that was designed by World Hang Gliding Champion Josef Guggenmos and produced by his company Drachenbau Josef Guggenmos.
The Ikarus Funflyer is a German high-wing, single-place, hang glider, designed by Thomas Pellicci and produced by his company Ikarus Drachen Thomas Pellicci.
The Ikarus Grasshopper is a German high-wing, single-place, hang glider, designed by Thomas Pellicci and produced by his company Ikarus Drachen Thomas Pellicci.
The Ikarus Imagine is a German high-wing, single-place, hang glider, designed by Thomas Pellicci and produced by his company Ikarus Drachen Thomas Pellicci.
La Mouette is a French aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Fontaine-lès-Dijon. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of hang gliders, paragliders and ultralight trikes. At one time they also produced paramotors.
Silent Family is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Westerrade and owned by Helmut Grossklaus. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of ultralight trikes.
Explorair was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Ebringen, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg and later in Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg and founded by Mathias Mauch. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of powered parachutes and ultralight trikes in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft for the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles and the European Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight categories.
Wills Wing, Inc. is an American aircraft manufacturer based in Orange, California and previously located in Santa Ana, California. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of hang gliders in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft, plus hang glider harnesses and accessories.
Airwave Gliders was an Austrian aircraft manufacturer based in Fulpmes. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of hang gliders and paragliders.
UP International GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturer based in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of paragliders in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft. The company started business as a hang glider manufacturer based in the United States.
