Hang gliding is an air sport in which a pilot flies a light and unmotorized foot-launchable aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminum or composite frame with a fabric wing. Pilots usually control the aircraft by shifting body weight, but other devices, including modern aircraft flight control systems, may be used. The pilot wears a harness and is hung beneath a lifting wing by flexible straps.
In the sport's early days, pilots were restricted to gliding down small hills on low-performance hang gliders. However, modern technology gives pilots the ability to soar for hours, gain thousands of feet of altitude in thermal updrafts, perform aerobatics, and fly cross-country for hundreds of miles. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and national airspace governing organizations control some aspects of hang gliding.
