Around fifty years ago, the sport of hang gliding would have been impossible. The reason for this was because, at that time, there were not the materials available with the combination of being both lightweight and very strong. These types of material had not yet been developed. Within recent years designs for hang gliders have advanced rapidly. They have become feasible thanks to materials initially created for use with yacht construction. Aluminium tubing which is now also utilised in the production of hang gliders, was primarily used for television aerials.
The hang glider utilises currents of air to fly in a similar fashion to a full sized glider, to get airborne the pilot will usually run off the side of a very steep hill. Navigation is performed by the movement of the pilot's body. To fly left or right the pilots move their bodies in the required direction, to increase speed the pilots pull themselves forward and decrease speed by pulling back.
The hang glider designs of today are mostly offshoots of the previous Rogallo Delta shape. This shape is so called, as it derives from the name of Dr. Rogallo, a NASA scientist.
