Hang gliding has come a long way since the 1890s when Germany’s Otto Lilienthal designed, built, and tested his series of gliders. Although he made over 2,000 test flights, his gliding career ended in disaster when, in 1896, he crashed from 56 feet in the air, breaking his spine. He died the next day.
History Of Hang Gliding
The technology that finally made hang gliding possible was developed in1948, when NASA engineer Francis Rogallo invented the self-inflating “Rogallo wing” as part of a spacecraft recovery system. It wasn’t until the 1960s, though, that more recreation-minded individuals like aeronautics engineer, Barry Palmer, and Australian enthusiast, John Dickenson, began modifying and testing variations of the Rogallo wing for hang glider use. By the 1970s, some people were building them at home. All you needed to make a “rigid wing” hang glider was a few hundred dollars, a sewing machine, a double layer of sailcloth, a pattern to follow, and some aluminum tubing. Not surprisingly, this was also a time of serious accidents.
Since then, hang glider design has gone through dramatic changes. The slack sails and seated harness of the Rogallo model have been replaced with drum-tight Dacron sails, prone body position, and a heavier rig made of high-tech aircraft quality aluminum and stainless steel cables. In 1980, the free-floating internalized crossbar was introduced, along with double-surface sail construction. Today’s designs allow pilots to control and change the tension of the sail during flight, making flying much safer and flights longer and higher.
As the hang gliding population grew, the sport became organized. The U.S. Hang Gliding Association (USHGA) created pilot proficiency ratings to measure and monitor the experience and skill-level of pilots. The USHGA has five levels of ratings, beginning with Hang 1 Beginner (low altitude solo gliding on training hills) going up to Hang 5 Master (at least 10 years experience, most likely an instructor)
Hang Gliding Instruction Options
If you want to learn how to hang glide, there are numerous ways you can determine whether the sport is right for you without a major upfront investment. You can take a tandem flight with an instructor connected to you via harnesses which will allow you to experience a flight at an altitude of up to one-half mile, or you can fly on your own on day one, but you’ll stay within 10 feet of the ground!
Intro Tandem Flight: $95 to $145
Your instructor will teach you hang glider basics and procedures and then the two of you will be aero-towed (by an ultra-light aircraft) to 2,000 to 2,500 feet. Once you release from the ultra-light, you will have the opportunity to fly the hang glider yourself for a few minutes. Your instructor will land and the hang glider rolls to a stop, very much like a small plane.
Tandem flights usually last between 10 and 20 minutes.