An aircraft without an engine that is towed to a given height and then set free to glide on air currents Used for sport and sightseeing
A glider is an aircraft without an engine, which flies by floating on air currents. a light plane that flies without an engine. Nonpowered heavier-than-air craft capable of sustained flight. Early experimenters in glider flight included George Cayley, who built the first man-carrying glider in 1853, and Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896), who introduced tail stabilizers on his first practical man-carrying craft in 1891. Improvements by Octave Chanute (1832-1910) in 1896 and by Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1902 perfected the control needed for developing the Wrights' powered airplane in 1903. The slender-winged glider was launched by being towed behind an airplane or a car. Gliders were used in World War II to carry troops. Today they are mainly used for recreation; the sailplane type is built for soaring on the lift from thermals. See also hang gliding
An aircraft that flies without using an engine. If the pilot of a glider is hung beneath the wing, then the glider may be either a hang glider type or a paraglider. When the pilot is in a fuselage and not hung below the wing, then the glider may also be referred to as a sailplane
A configuration which recurs periodically, each time at a fixed offset from the last appearance
A highly efficient engineless aeroplane Capable of flying for long periods in gently rising air currents (thermals)