Glider

Gliders are heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for un-powered flight.

Pure gliders

Pure gliders are designed for descent only, whereas the term "sailplane" refers to a gliding aircraft that is also designed to climb in rising air. (See the article on gliding for more complete information about the sport of soaring.) However the term "glider" is widely used by most people, including regulatory agencies, to refer to all types of gliding aircraft, sailplanes included. The term "pure glider" (or equivalently, but less commonly "pure sailplane") may also be used to distinguish an unpowered glider from a motor glider (see below), without implying any differential in gliding or soaring performance.

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In ancient China, manned kites were used for military reconnaissance. The first glider seems to have been designed in 500BC by Lu Pan a contemporary of Confucius, although this was more of a toy than a genuine aircraft. Some records mention manned gliders in China by 500 AD, although the veracity of these accounts is not clear.

Related Topics:
China - Kites - Lu Pan - Confucius

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The first heavier-than-air (i.e. non balloon) aircraft to be flown in Europe, Sir George Cayley's Coachman Carrier (1853), was a pure glider. Otto Lilienthal and Percy Pilcher are other pioneers in the development of this type of aviation.

Related Topics:
Sir George Cayley - 1853 - Otto Lilienthal - Percy Pilcher - Aviation

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Other examples were the military gliders used during WWII to support paratroop operations. These craft were used for a single flight only. The troops landing by glider were referred to as airlanding as opposed to paratroops. A typical cargo plane could carry 8 to 10 soldiers, but that same plane could tow a glider with 20 men in it. Furthermore the glider could be released at some distance from the actual target, making it more difficult for the enemy to guess their intentions. Larger gliders were also used to land heavy equipment like anti-tank guns and jeeps, which was a major improvement in the power available to the otherwise lightly-armed paratroop forces. One of the most well known stories involving military gliders was in the taking of the Pegasus Bridge during the D-Day invasion of Normandy in the early hours of 6th June 1944 - the troops were flown to within 50 metres of the site in Horsa gliders.

Related Topics:
Military gliders - WWII - Paratroop - Jeeps - Pegasus Bridge - D-Day - Horsa glider

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A glider was even built secretly by POWs as a potential escape method at Colditz Castle near the end of the war in 1944.

Related Topics:
POWs - Colditz Castle - 1944

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The Orbiter vehicles or "space shuttles", which glide to earth at the end of each spaceflight, are also pure gliders.

Related Topics:
"space shuttles" - Spaceflight

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