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Heavier-than-air unpowered aircraft do not need propulsion once airborne. Gliders, balloons and kites are unpowered aircraft.

Gliders such as glider
Glider

Heavier-than-air unpowered aircraft do not need propulsion once airborne. Gliders, balloons and kites are unpowered aircraft.Gliders such as gliders, hang gliders and paragliders gain their initial flying speed from some launch mechanism, and then gain additional energy from gravity and from updrafts such as thermal currents....
s, hang gliders and paragliders gain their initial flying speed from some launch mechanism, and then gain additional energy from gravity and from updrafts such as thermal currents. Take-off may be by launching forwards and downwards from a high location, or by pulling into the air on a tow-line, by a ground-based winch or vehicle, or by a powered "tug" aircraft.






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Heavier-than-air unpowered aircraft do not need propulsion once airborne. Gliders, balloons and kites are unpowered aircraft.

Gliders such as glider
Glider

Heavier-than-air unpowered aircraft do not need propulsion once airborne. Gliders, balloons and kites are unpowered aircraft.Gliders such as gliders, hang gliders and paragliders gain their initial flying speed from some launch mechanism, and then gain additional energy from gravity and from updrafts such as thermal currents....
s, hang gliders and paragliders gain their initial flying speed from some launch mechanism, and then gain additional energy from gravity and from updrafts such as thermal currents. Take-off may be by launching forwards and downwards from a high location, or by pulling into the air on a tow-line, by a ground-based winch or vehicle, or by a powered "tug" aircraft. For a glider to maintain its forward air speed and lift, it must descend in relation to the air (but not necessarily in relation to the ground). The first practical, controllable example was designed and built by the British scientist and pioneer George Cayley
George Cayley

Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet , sometimes known as "the father of Aerodynamics", was a prolific English engineer from Brompton, Scarborough, near Scarborough, England in Yorkshire....
 who many recognise as the first aeronautical engineer.

Balloons drift with the wind, though normally the pilot can control the altitude either by heating the air or by releasing ballast, giving some directional control (since the wind direction changes with altitude). A wing-shaped hybrid balloon can glide directionally when rising or falling; but a spherically-shaped balloon does not have such directional control.

Kites are aircraft that are tethered to the ground or other object (fixed or mobile) or other means that maintains tension in the kite line
Kite line

Kites have a wing and a kite line , or sometimes more than one line. Kite systems may have more than one kite and more than one kite line. Solar kites have a gravity mass-less line; but the most common type of kite line has mass; the kite line may be flexible or rigid as in a contemporary speed sailing kited hydrofoiled boat....
; and rely on virtual or real wind blowing over and under them to generate lift and drag. Kytoons are balloon kites that are shaped and tethered to obtain kiting deflections, and can be lighter-than-air, neutrally buoyant, or heavier-than air.

History

  • For history of gliders, see Glider
    Glider

    Heavier-than-air unpowered aircraft do not need propulsion once airborne. Gliders, balloons and kites are unpowered aircraft.Gliders such as gliders, hang gliders and paragliders gain their initial flying speed from some launch mechanism, and then gain additional energy from gravity and from updrafts such as thermal currents....
  • For history of hang gliders, see Hang gliding
    Hang gliding

    Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminum or composite material frame with a fabric wing....
  • For history of paragliders, see Paragliding
    Paragliding

    Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing....


See also


External links

  • This is the world organisation for air sports such as gliding, hang gliding and paragliding