#FIRST HANG GLIDER NORWEGIAN NAVRESTAD DRIVER#

NASA didn't end up using the Rogallo design, but its simplicity did inspire hang gliding pioneers like Mr Dickenson, who adapted the design for his stunt kite. The invention of the flexible wing was the next significant development with NASA testing a design by aeronautical engineer Francis Rogallo as part of their research on space capsule recovery. 'In those craft you hung basically by your arms and you moved your legs to shift the weight, and it's very ineffective and eventually that cost him', Mr Henderson said. Otto Lilienthal made more 2,000 flights of 250 metres but was killed in 1896 in a glider accident, when he lost control and broke his neck. Known as the 'flying man', Germany's Otto Lilienthal built and flew the first gliders in the 1890s. The successful first flight was on September 8, 1963. 'He wanted to build a flat kite and what he came up with just accidently, with a whole string of little inspirations, became the template for tens of thousands of hang gliders around the world', Mr Henderson said. The mission began when he saw a photograph of John Dickenson testing a half-size model of his new design for a kite.

Mr Henderson was determined to prove that the very first flight of the modern delta wing hang glider happened at Grafton. The honour is the culmination of 12 years of research by hang glider pilot Graeme Henderson. Pat Crowe, who is now in his 80s, has been awarded the 2018 Hang Gliding Diploma by the World Air Sports Federation.

#FIRST HANG GLIDER NORWEGIAN NAVRESTAD DRIVER#

Now 55 years on, the boat driver in one of those aerial stunts has been recognised for his role in the team credited with the birth of modern hang gliding. One was 30 metres above, another 30 metres below and one off to the side.They were three mates who, back in the 1960s, were noted for their water skiing acrobatics on the Clarence River at Grafton in New South Wales. Suddenly, three jets from the Red Arrows, the British formation flying team, flew past. He was just able to see the coast of France and was thinking he would get to France when he heard a vague rumble in the distance. This allowed him to fly out to sea and fly well out over the English Channel. Some ladies spilled their tea when they looked out of their penthouse apartment to see Patrick swooping past only a few metres from their balcony.Ī little later, he managed to get into thermal winds off the sea, which is very rare. Once, he was flying off Beachy Head (300 m white chalk cliffs) in England on a very light wind day and he had some amazing lift that allowed him to fly into Eastbourne and soar over tall apartment buildings. Patrick has had some interesting experiences hang-gliding. He is the hang-gliding safety officer for the Auckland Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club. He now trains others to fly hang-gliders and takes people for flights in tandem. Patrick has flown hang-gliders both in New Zealand and in other countries, including flying alongside condors in the Andes mountain ranges of South America. He said it looked like fun and just had to do it. Patrick has always been interested in flight and was intrigued when hang-gliding first started. Many people enjoy the thrill of flying a hang-glider – Patrick Monro, director of Aqua Air Adventure, is no exception.

Meet Patrick Monro – passionate about hang-gliders This turns them into microlights and means they can take off and climb from flat ground just like a normal aircraft. Some hang-glider pilots attach small motors and propellers to their hang-gliders. If there is a stronger breeze, the glider will start gaining altitude. For example, if a glider is flying over a vertical coastal cliff and there is a light breeze blowing in directly from the sea and the air is being forced vertically upwards by the cliff at 3.6 km/h, the hang-glider can fly along the cliff without losing height. In order to not lose height, a hang-glider must find air going up as fast as the glider is descending. A hang-glider descends at the rate of about 1 metre per second (a slow walking pace of about 3.6 km/h). If the air is still, it will slowly descend. The aerofoil is then drawn up into the area of low pressure, producing lift. Meanwhile, the downward and forward motion of the wing compresses the air flowing under the wing. The aerofoil forces the air flowing over the top of the wing to travel faster, thereby ‘stretching’ it to produce a low-pressure area. The aerofoil shape of the wing stops the hang-glider from dropping like a stone. The weight produces the thrust that keeps the aerofoil moving through the air. This is the weight of the pilot and the wing. Gravity is the main force on a hang-glider.

It has to be launched from somewhere high like a hill or mountain. Since a hang-glider is unpowered, it can’t take off from low ground.

First hang glider norwegian navrestad