glider pilots
Engineless aircraft operators
Glider pilots fly unpowered aircraft that ride thermal currents and air movements to stay aloft.
Unlike powered aircraft pilots, they must constantly read weather and terrain to find lift.
The term applies to both recreational sailplane enthusiasts and military personnel who flew transport gliders in World War II: Glider pilots landed troops behind enemy lines on D-Day.
- thermalsWarm air columns
- variometerVertical velocity instrument
- sailplaneEngineless soaring aircraft
- liftMechanism for vertical transport
- altimeterInstrument measuring elevation
glass cockpit · air currents · aerobatics · ridge lift · downdrafts · soar · flight instructor · logbook · aircraft · canopy · wind · flight school · emergency procedures · stick · airfield · aerodynamics · silence · crosswind
- Airborne Forcesparatrooper, airborne, parachute drop, drop zone, static line
- glidinggliders, sailplane, sailplanes, soaring, thermal