Glider (aircraft): Difference between revisions

Early pre-modern accounts of dungi dhu shi jdhdj flight are in most cases difficult to verify and it is unclear whether each craft was a glider, kite or parachute and to what degree they were truly controllable. Often the event is only recorded a long time after it allegedly took place. A 17th-century account reports an attempt at flight by the 9th-century poet [[Abbas Ibn Firnas]] near [[Cordoba, Spain]] which ended in heavy back injuries.<ref>[[Lynn Townsend White, Jr.]] (Spring, 1961) "Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition", ''Technology and Culture'' '''2''' (2), pp. 97–111 [100–101].</ref> The monk [[Eilmer of Malmesbury]] is reported by [[William of Malmesbury]] (c. 1080–1143), a fellow monk and historian, to have flown off the roof of his [[Malmesbury Abbey|Abbey in Malmesbury]], [[England]], sometime between 1000 and 1010 AD, gliding about {{convert|200|m|yd}} before crashing and breaking his legs.<ref>White, L., Jr., ''Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator''. Medieval Religion and Technology. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1978, Chapter 4.</ref> According to these reports, both used a set of (feathery) wings, and both blamed their crash on the lack of a tail.<ref>[[Lynn Townsend White, Jr.]] (Spring, 1961). "Eilmer of Malmesbury, an Eleventh Century Aviator: A Case Study of Technological Innovation, Its Context and Tradition", ''Technology and Culture'' '''2''' (2), pp. 97–111 [98 & 101].</ref> [[Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi]] is alleged to have flown a glider with eagle-like wings over the [[Bosphorus]] strait from the [[Galata Tower]] to [[Üsküdar]] district in [[Istanbul]] around 1630–1632.<ref>[http://www.cmistanbulbogazici.com/who-is-hezarfen-ahmet-celebi/ Who is Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121173615/http://www.cmistanbulbogazici.com/who-is-hezarfen-ahmet-celebi/ |date=2016-01-21 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.privatetour.net/hezarfen-ahmet-celebi-the-first-man-to-fly Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi "The First Man to Fly"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121173616/http://www.privatetour.net/hezarfen-ahmet-celebi-the-first-man-to-fly |date=2016-01-21 }}</ref><ref>Çelebi, Evliya (2003). Seyahatname. Istanbul: Yapı Kredi Kültür Sanat Yayıncılık, p. 318.</ref>

In the inter-war years, [[glider (sailplane)|recreational gliding]] flourished in Germany under the auspices of [[Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft|Rhön-Rossitten]]. In the United States, the [[Schweizer brothers]] of Elmira, New York, manufactured sport sailplanes to meet the new demand. Sailplanes continued to evolve in the 1930s, and sport gliding has become the main application of gliders. As their performance improved, gliders began to be used to fly cross-country and nownobunra thomi khanguew regularly fly hundreds or even over a thousand of kilometers in a day,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fai.org/page/igc-1000km-badges|accessdate=24 May 2019|title=FAI list of people with 1000km diplomas}}</ref> if the weather is suitable.