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Airlines
Gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in
which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes
using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere
to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.
Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s. Initially the objective was
to increase the duration of flights but soon pilots attempted
cross-country flights away from the place of launch. Improvements
in aerodynamics and in the understanding of weather phenomena have
allowed greater distances at higher average speeds. Long distances
are now flown using any of the main sources of rising air: ridge
lift, thermals and lee waves. When conditions are favorable,
experienced pilots can now fly hundreds of kilometres before
returning to their home airfields; occasionally flights of more than
1,000 kilometres (621 mi) are achieved.
