Introduction to Glider Flying > Introduction to Glider Flying > Gliders The Early Years

Welcome to the world of soaring. The Glider Flying Handbook is designed to help you achieve your goals in aviation and to provide you with the knowledge and practical information needed to attain private, commercial, and flight instructor category ratings in gliders.

GLIDERS — THE EARLY YEARS
The fantasy of flight led people to dream up intri-cate designs in an attempt to imitate the flight of birds. Leonardo da Vinci sketched a vision of fly-ing machines in his 15th century manuscripts. His work consisted of a number of wing designs including a human-powered ornithopter, derived from the Greek word for bird. Centuries later, when others began to experiment with his designs, it became apparent that the human body could not sustain flight by flapping wings like birds. [Figure 1-1]