Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth to form a wing. Typically the pilot is in a harness suspended from the airframe, and controls the aircraft by shifting body weight in opposition to a control frame.

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Early hang gliders had a low lift-to-drag ratio, so pilots were restricted to gliding down small hills. By the 1980s this ratio significantly improved, and since then pilots have been able to soar for hours, gain thousands of feet of altitude in thermal updrafts, perform aerobatics, and glide cross-country for hundreds of kilometers

 

As for competitions, they started with "flying as long as possible" and spot landings. With increasing performance, cross-country flying has largely replaced them. Usually two to four waypoints have to be passed with a landing at a goal.

 

Every two years there is a World Championship. Other forms of competition include Aerobatic competitions, and Speedgliding competitions, wherein the goal is to descend from a mountain as fast as possible while passing through various gates in a manner similar to down-hill skiing.

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