Feeding hang glider history are the histories of aeromodelling, kiting, materials, aerodynamics, aviation...and so certain aspects of those disciplines and adventures are certainly to be woven into the broad treatment of hang glider history.

Enter historical data for this open web view HGHTimeline site:
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The Hang Glider Timeline is dynamically growing (and corrections being made on the fly...) each day. ----You are invited to play an active part.

Hang Glider History Timeline
all categories of hang gliders (..from gliding parachutes to pilot-carryable foot-launchable human-and-solar powered sailplanes)           Enter New or Old Data       

We trust you have facts we may post on the Hang Glider Timeline.
              Enjoy participating.       Add to the history: EnterData + This is for everyone in the HG and PG and personal flight movement: hobby, sport, business, avocation, dream, design, built, fly, sell, save, archive, etc.  Choose some year and focus...research that year for hang gliding; everyone can contribute something. Celebrate our roots.

We have served hang glider history in some capacity since 1953 as a self-soarer. We founded the United States Hang Glider Association, the Self-Soar Association, Kite Information and Technology Exchange Society of America (KITESA), Hang Glider Manufacturers Association, Hang Glider, Low & Slow, Hang Glider Weekly, online service  HangGliderHistory.com, and online group highjump. We gifted our founded org and name to the United States Hang Gliding Association (now USHPA) as the later org was born.   We are here to develop a keen timeline of world hang glider history while serving you with reports and associated services leading to futurisms---the roots of the next history.. No question is too small in scope. You are invited to support the growth of the the information and tools by requests, donations, and entered data.

Hang gliders are used in many non-sport ways, practical and pastime: hobby, pastime, meditation, simple direct physical exercising, photography, seeding, emergency rescue, military actions, homebuilding craft emphasis, show stopper flying, circus show, advertising, ranch surveying, seeding land, commercial sight-seeing, commercial instructing, demonstration of new products, training astronauts for re-entry, and more.  Send in your non-sport application of hang gliders. EnterData

The sport of hang gliding began in the 1800s, if not sooner. Otto Lilienthal had many sporting flights in his 2000 flights. Then hang gliding continued as a sport in the 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1960s, 1970s, and on up today. It is shorting hang glider history to call 1970s as the beginning; it simply was not the beginning. And the sport of the future will look different from what it is today.

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May 23, 1971: A big birthday party in honor of Otto Lilienthal in Newport Beach, California:

• Taras Kiceniuk towed in Batso with line supplied by Joe Faust (editor then, editor herein)

• In Gossamer Odyssey, on page 71: "Paul [MacCready] was towed up on Taras Kiceniuk's Batso" hang glider. The green heavy nylon cord was supplied by Joe Faust, co-organizer of the meet; the cord shows in the National Geographic article on the meet written by Russell Hawkes. Paul MacCready had a first hang glider flight in 1969 in a Richard Miller Bamboo Butterfly at Dockweiler Beach. Dr. Paul MacCready's championship soaring feats are well known; his MacCready Ring is classic in helping soaring pilots; he went on to design from Rogallo experiences to eventual winning of the $100,000 Kramer Man-Powered prize in 1977, among his hundreds of other achievements; see AeroVironment.

The meet and its builders and pilots, the follow-on media coverage around the world through the Los Angeles Times front cover and the National Geographic feature...and many other media spots formed a huge market for hang gliders and boosted hang gliding to a foot-launching modern sport; both Self-Soar Association and the fetal Southern California group gave official awards and certificates at a dinner following the meet...[Art Bean was finally given a material trophy by the collaborative action of Joe Faust and Joe Greblo in 2000  before Art recently died; many thanks to Windsports for cooperation as regards Art Bean, winner of the 1971 Otto Party's  Best Biplane Hang Glider Craftsmanship award].  That slope had the makings of the Conduit Condor flying wing presaging high aspect ratio Frank Colver's Skysail . Miller's show birthed a flow of enthusiasm that has yet to spend itself; supreme soaring photographer George Uveges was a cornerstone of Soaring Society of America's  Soaring magazine, and also of Self-soar Association's Hang Glider Weekly, and Low & Slow magazines; his eye caught Miller years before in several flight sessions of early hang gliders and the shot of the Conduit Condor, a hang glider strongly transitioning out of the Rogallo way toward high performance modern hang gliders past the Standard Rogallo by far.  From that meet came super successes including the achievement of man-powered flight in the designs of Self-Soar Association Otto member Dr. Paul MacCready Jr.   Read the book free online: Gossamer Odyssey: The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight by Morton Grosser.  
See: http://support.atmos.com/hg/ for some clips from our Low & Slow.

Eastern U.S.A., early: Mike Markowski, eastern wing of the burgeoning 70s hang glider movement.

[On October 13, 2007, we made our first official action with the new USHPA after some 35 years of helping its parent org get started; we are purchasing for $30 + shipping: a DVD that has much of our Low & Slow and Hang Glider Weekly on its DVD---I do not know how complete they got my gift to the cause; if the count is not 216 distinct issues, then some are missing; we will let you know the count here someday: RESULT: Super product; and Mark Forbes is to be lauded greatly!  He indicated that the constraints on the first run put the 24 issues of Low & Slow, but not the 180 issues of Hang Glider Weekly; he is looking forward to another product that may include Hang Glider Weekly "and a lot of other stuff" (October 19, 2007, note); Mark has forever been a foundational rock for modern hang gliding; thank you Mark.    You can purchase the same six-disk set (we are not affiliates):
USHPA: toll free: 800.616.6888 ==>Schools/Dealers       ==>Renew/Join      ==>Store

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James Hobson died April 26, 2013. His unfolding story is occurring HERE.