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.
Air Canada Flight 143 was a Canadian scheduled domestic passenger flight between Montreal and Edmonton that ran out of fuel on July 23, 1983, at an altitude of 41,000 feet (12,000 m), midway through the flight. The crew was able to glide the Boeing 767 aircraft safely to an emergency landing at a former Royal Canadian Air Force base in Gimli, Manitoba that had been turned into a motor racing track. This unusual aviation incident earned the aircraft the nickname "Gimli Glider".
Joan Alexandra Molinsky, known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, writer, producer, and television host. She was noted for her often controversial comedic persona—heavily self-deprecating or sharply acerbic, especially toward celebrities and politicians.
The Göppingen Gö 1 Wolf was a single-seat glider produced in Germany from 1935.
Harriet Quimby was an early American aviator and a movie screenwriter. In 1911, she was awarded a U.S. pilot's certificate by the Aero Club of America, becoming the first woman to gain a pilot's license in the United States. In 1912, she became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. Although Quimby lived only to the age of 37, she influenced the role of women in aviation.
Sabiha Gökçen was a Turkish aviator. She was the world's first female fighter pilot, aged 23. Others such as Marie Marvingt and Evgeniya Shakhovskaya preceded her as military pilots in other roles, but not as fighter pilots and without military academy enrollment. She was an orphan, and one of the eight adopted children of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Julia Charlotte L Davis is an English comedian, actress, writer, and director. She is known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night (2004–2005) and the comedies Hunderby (2012–15) and Camping (2016), which she also directed. A seven-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, she won Best Comedy Writing for Hunderby in 2013. She is also known for playing Dawn Sutcliffe in Gavin & Stacey (2007–2009). Her film roles include Love Actually (2003), Cemetery Junction (2010) and Four Lions (2010) and the critically acclaimed Phantom Thread (2017) starring Daniel Day Lewis.
Susan Oliver was an American actress, television director and aviator.
Joan Lily Amelia Hughes, MBE was a World War II ferry pilot and one of Britain's first female test pilots.
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.
Jerzy Makula is a Polish pilot who won the FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships seven times.
Nezihe Viranyalı was one of the first Turkish female aviators. She was trained by Sabiha Gökçen, Turkey's first female pilot.
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 uses naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. Gliders are aerodynamically streamlined and are capable of gaining altitude and remaining airborne, and maintaining forward motion.
During World War II civilian flying schools, under government contract, provided a considerable part of the flying training effort undertaken by the United States Army Air Forces.
The World Owes Me a Living is a 1945 British Second World War drama film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring David Farrar and Judy Campbell. The film is based on a novel by John Llewellyn Rhys, a young author who was killed in action in 1940 while serving in the Royal Air Force. Its credits acknowledged the assistance and co-operation of the Air Ministry and the de Havilland Aircraft Company.
Frank Irving was a British aeronautical engineer, glider pilot, author and university Senior Lecturer.
Jean Bird was a pioneering pilot and the first women to get her RAF wings.
