Hang Gliding Sport

Contents

• What is Hang Gliding?
• What exactly do you do?
• How do you control a hang glider?
• History

Hang gliding is a type of air sport in which the rider flies a non-motorized aircraft which is called a hang glider. Most of the hang gliders now are made of aluminum alloy which is covered with sailcloth. The pilot is concealed in a harness. The pilot can control the hang glider by shifting the body weight in opposition to a control frame. The hang gliding competitions back in the days were flying as long as possible and spot landings. Now, cross-country flying is done. There are two or four waypoints which the pilots need to pass with a landing at goal. There is a world championship held every two years.

What is Hang Gliding?
Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and non-motorized foot-launch aircraft called a hang glider that is of a delta wing design. The pilot is ensconced in a harness suspended from the airframe, and exercises control by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame, but other devices, including modern air flight control systems, may be used. In the sport’s early days, pilots were restricted to gliding down small hills on low-performance hang gliders. However, modern technology gives pilots the ability to fly for hours, gain thousands of meters of altitude in thermal updrafts, perform aerobatics, and glide cross-country for hundreds of kilometres. 텍사스 홀덤 족보 Thermal turbulence or strong winds are often the culprits behind heavy landings. Spinal injuries used to be much more frequent, but these days some very good back-protectors are available which greatly reduce the chances of this type of injury. Suitable sports insurance is a must if you plan to engage in hang gliding as it is considered in most instances as a Grade 4 risk, which means that paragliders have a higher than average chance of injury. We are committed to providing insurance for a great variety of sports and have insured hang gliders for almost 20 years.

What exactly do you do?
Hang glider pilots are suspended from their gliders by a special harness, and launch from hills facing into wind. Hang gliding is not however limited to upland environments. In the flatlands, hang gliders can also be towed aloft by a land based motorised winch, or behind a microlight aircraft. Whichever launch technique is used, the objective is always the same, to stay airborne in lifting currents of air. Some pilots are content to soar the hill they launched from, whilst others prefer to search out rising pockets of air, known as thermals, and use these to undertake long cross country flights. The UK record for distance currently stands at 338km, (210 miles), and was set by Carl Wallbank on a flight from SE Wales to Norfolk. The current UK record for altitude stands at an astonishing 16,000ft.

How do you control a hang glider?
The pilot launches his or her machine by running to accelerate it to flying speed, then relaxes into the comfortable prone harness while controlling the glider by moving their weight in relation to the control bar. Flying a hang glider is a little more demanding than flying a paraglider and not quite as easy to learn, but the machine is capable of much higher speeds and better gliding performance, and can be flown in stronger winds.

History
The sport of hang-gliding developed in the late 1960s. A hang-glider is really just a huge wing made of light, tough fabric over a strong, simple frame. The pilot hangs below the wings in aharness or a body bag. To launch the glider, the pilot simply runs downhill into the wind. Like a normal glider, a hang-glider soars on currents of rising air. The pilot shifts his or her body position to control the fight. A HANG-GLIDER CAN BE DISMANTLED EASILY AND CARRIED ON THE ROOF OF CAR OR IN A TRAILER.It can be put together in a few minutes .