How do hang gliders work

The sail filled with air as I ran. When the airspeed reached about 17 mph 27 kph , I could feel the hang glider lift me off the ground. As I was lifted, I moved my hands from the sides of the control bar to either side of its base. To fly, I had to do two things: maintain a constant speed and keep my direction in a straight line. During the the entire flight, I was constantly adjusting my speed and position beginners tend to over-adjust their speeds compared to advanced fliers. I flew about ft m down the sand dune at an altitude of about 5 to 10 ft 1.

To land the hang glider, you have to stall it. As I approached the ground, I pushed the control bar as far out as I could.

This tips the glider nose up, slows the glider down and eventually stalls it so you can land upright on your feet. Of course, not all beginners accomplish all of these tasks on the first try. It took me three flights to manage to take off, fly straight and land on my feet On my first flight, I veered off to the right, landed on my abdomen and buried my wrist in the sand.

Experienced hang-glider pilots can take off from a slight slope or a steep mountain top and fly for hours. They look for micrometeorological changes to gain lift so that they can stay aloft.

These changes include rising columns of hot air thermals found over places that take in plenty of sunlight, like sand or pavement. Often times, you can locate these currents by watching the birds, particularly seagulls or hawks.

Pilots also look for updrafts of air deflected by ridges ridge lifts to provide additional lift. Upward currents of air between two mountain ridges, called wave currents , can provide additional lift as well. An experienced pilot tries to avoid turbulent air, which can slow the glider and cause it to tumble, and such obstacles as power lines and tall structures. Sign up for our Newsletter!

Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Outdoor Activities. Air Sports. How Hang Gliding Works. See more pictures of extreme sports. Photo courtesy Ramy Yanetz. Flying a Hang Glider " ". To prevent confusion, gliders all circle in the same direction within thermals. The first glider in the thermal gets to decide the direction -- all the other gliders that join the thermal must circle in that direction.

Ridge lift is created by winds blowing against mountains, hills or other ridges. As the air reaches the mountain, it is redirected upward and forms a band of lift along the windward side of the slope. Ridge lift typically reaches no higher than a few hundred feet higher than the terrain that creates it. What ridge lift lacks in height however, it makes up for in length; gliders have been known to fly for a thousand miles along mountain chains using mostly ridge lift and wave lift.

Wave lift is similar to ridge lift in that it is created when wind meets a mountain. Wave lift, however, is created on the leeward side of the peak by winds passing over the mountain instead of up one side. Wave lift can be identified by the unique cloud formations produced.

Wave lift can reach thousands of feet high and gliders can reach altitudes of more than 35, feet. Columns and bands of rising air obviously benefit any glider pilot, but how can you tell if you are flying in one? The answer is the variometer , a device that measures the rate of climb or descent. The variometer uses static pressure to detect changes in altitude.

If the glider is rising, then the static pressure drops because air pressure decreases the higher you go. If the glider is sinking, then the static pressure rises.

The needle on the variometer indicates the rate of change in altitude based on the rate of change of static pressure. When flying through a rising mass of air like a thermal , the needle on the variometer will jump and usually beep to notify the pilot before any change on the altimeter is even noticeable.

The glider is yawing when it is not pointing exactly in the direction it is flying relative to the air around it. Instead the glider is angled sideways and is "slipping" or "skidding" through the air. The string on the windshield indicates whether the glider is flying straight string straight or whether it is yawing string left or right. The glider produces the least drag when it flies straight through the air. When it is yawing, the drag increases -- so in general, glider pilots try to keep the string straight.

Hang gliding is about the closest we can come to free flight, no motor or source of thrust involved, only you and the open sky. To understand how hang gliders work, you have to first understand the forces that act on a glider in flight. There are three of these forces, they are: lift, drag, and gravity.

In order for the glider to fly, the lift force must overcome the drag and gravity forces.