the.com/glider
a machine that turns falling into flying by simply refusing to land yet
means An aircraft without an engine that stays aloft by riding air currents and trading altitude for forward motion.
from From the verb 'glide,' which traces back to Old English 'glīdan,' to move smoothly and effortlessly — related to similar words across the Germanic family (Dutch 'glijden,' German 'gleiten'), all carrying the sense of a frictionless slide. The '-er' is the plain old agent ending: a glider is simply 'that which glides.' The aeronautical sense attached itself in the 19th century as inventors built winged craft that did exactly what the word always promised.
- no engine
- Stays aloft by riding rising air alone
- glide ratio
- Best gliders travel 70 feet per foot dropped
- thermals
- Pilots circle hawks to find invisible lift
- distance record
- Over 3,000 km flown without any power
- silent launch
- Often towed up by plane, then released
albatross — seabird that can glide for hours without flapping, traveling thousands of miles
space shuttle — orbiter vehicle that glided back to earth unpowered after each mission, 1981-2011