Hang+Glider

Preston =Flying A Hang Glider=

• To launch a hang glider, the pilot must run down a slope to get air moving across the wing. The movement of air over the surface of the wing creates lift. • Once flying gravity pulls the glider back down toward earth and that propels the glider forward causing air to keep going over the wings. • A hang glider can also get off the ground by rising air called thermals • As the hang glider moves through the air it collides with air molecules. These collisions create friction also known as drag witch slows the glider down. The faster the glider moves the more drag It creates.

=How To Maneuver A Hang Glider= • The balance of these three forces (lift, drag, and gravity) determines how high the hang glider can go, how far it can go, and how long it can stay in the air. • The pilot can make the hang glider turn by shifting his or her weight in the directions that they would like to go. • The pilot makes the glider go up by leaning back and go down by leaning forward.

[|Click Here] **//If you want to see exactly how a person shifts their weight to move a hang glider.//**

=Equipment= The basic equipment for hang gliding consists of the glider itself, the harness and a helmet. In addition, some pilots have instruments and an emergency reserve parachute.

=Hang Glider= The basic hang glider (flexible wing) consists of the following structures: "Copyright ownership could not be determined after contacting HowStuffWorks.com and Foot Launched."


 * Aluminum tubes (aircraft grade) - make up the body of the air craft
 * Leading-edge tubes (2) - make up the body (shape)
 * Keel - bisects the forward angle (nose) of the triangle
 * Crossbar - sits back from the nose and provides support by rigidly connecting the keel with the leading edges
 * Control bar - smaller triangle connected at a right angle beneath the keel and behind the crossbar that is used to maneuver the glider
 * Sail - the fabrik surface
 * Kingpost - attached to the keel on the other side of the control bar, supporting the wires on the top of the glider
 * Steel wires (aircraft grade) - support the various weights and stresses on the glider
 * Nose wires (2) - connect the nose with control bar
 * Rear wires (2) - connect the control bar to the back of the keel
 * Front wires (2) - connect the control bar with the junction of the leading-edge tubes and crossbar
 * Landing wires (4) - connect the kingpost with the nose
 * Plastic battens - insert into pockets in the sail to stiffen certain spots

Photo by Randee Massie.

===I am giving credit to the How Stuff works website (__[|http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/hang-gliding1.htm__)] for providing me with information to put on this page.===