History of hang gliding

Hang gliding is an air sport employing a foot-launchable aircraft known as a hang glider. Typically, a 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.

Early hang glider designs did not reliably achieve safe flight, their builders lacking a comprehensive understanding of the underlying principles of flight. The first recorded controlled flights were by German engineer Otto Lilienthal, whose research, published in 1889, strongly influenced later designers. The type of aircraft employed by Lilienthal is now referred to as a hang glider. Further hang glider research was undertaken during the 1920s in Europe, Australia and the US, where designers tested several wing concepts and the 'pendulum weight-shift control system'.

In 1957 the American space agency NASA began testing various formats of a new wing called the Rogallo wing with the intent of possibly implementing the design as a recovery system for the Gemini space capsules. The wing's simplicity of design and ease of construction, in combination with its slow flight characteristics, did not go unnoticed by hang glider enthusiasts; Rogallo's flexible wing airfoil was soon adapted to the purpose of recreational flight, launching a hang glider renaissance.

The earliest forms of gliding had existed in China. By the end of the sixth century A.D., the Chinese had managed to build kites large and aerodynamic enough to sustain the weight of an average-sized man. It was only a matter of time before someone decided to simply remove the kite strings and see what happened. Starting in the 1880s advancements were made in aerodynamics and construction that led to the first truly practical gliders; this information was often shared and published by early aviators and inventors, building a long series of incremental achievements. Through the 1880s several aviation pioneers emerged in different countries around the world all perusing glider designs with varying degrees of success. Chief among these were Otto Lilienthal in Berlin, Germany, Lawrence Hargrave in Sydney, New South Wales in Australia, Percy Pilcher in the United Kingdom, John Joseph Montgomery at Otay Mesa near San Diego, California (1880s) as well as at Santa Clara, California (1905) Octave Chanute and his team in Gary, Indiana, in the US, just to name a few.

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