List of glider pilots

This list of notable glider pilots contains the names of those who have achieved fame in gliding and in other fields:

Notable in gliding

The "Ehrenhalle" at the Wasserkuppe, featuring a larger than life statue of Otto Lilienthal lying on an empty tomb, a tribute to all who have died in gliding.

• Ruth Alexander - female altitude record breaker, first woman glider instructor in the U.S.
• Neil Armstrong - astronaut on first Moon landing, active glider pilot appeared on 60 Minutes TV newsmagazine.^[1][2]
• Bill Bedford Test pilot - first to fly Hawker P.1127 and Harrier.
• Paul Bikle - NASA Director, glider altitude record setter and Soaring Hall of Fame
• William Hawley Bowlus, first American to break Wright brothers 1911 gliding record, Designer of first military prototype glider the XCG-16A, Superintendent of construction of the Spirit of St. Louis and U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member

October 24, 1911: Orville Wright soared above Kill Devil Hill for 9 minutes 45 seconds, breaking their previous record of 1 minute 12 seconds set in January 1903 with the 1902 glider.

• Anne Burns - British Champion, holder of multiple records, aerospace engineer
• Janusz Centka - multiple world champion, ...^[3]
• Anthony Deane-Drummond - Major-General & British National Champion
• Heini Dittmar, test pilot (first person over 1000km/h) and gliding record breaker
• Wilhelm Düerkop, glider aerobatic champion
• Richard C. du Pont - director of military glider program
• Einar Enevoldson - test pilot and gliding record breaker
• Markus Feyerabend, glider aerobatics champion
• Steve Fossett - entrepreneur and gliding record breaker^[4]
• Nicholas Goodhart World Champion, record breaker and inventor of the Mirror sight deck landing system
• Tadeusz Góra, gliding record breaker, first winner of the Lilienthal Gliding Medal
• Hans-Werner Grosse - 46 world records^[5]
• Doris Grove - female world record breaker, first woman to fly 1000 km, and U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member ^[6]
• Julius Hatry, glider designer
• Barron Hilton - hotel magnate and founder of the Barron Hilton Cup for gliding^[7]
• Wolf Hirth, German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer
• Klaus Holighaus, glider designer and European Champion
• Hans Jacobs, glider designer
• Joachim Kuettner, atmospheric scientist and gliding record breaker
• Thomas Knauff - author, instructor, world record breaker, and U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member ^[8]
• Robert Kronfeld- Austrian gliding champion and sailplane designer
• Jean-Marie Le Bris - pioneer of French aviation
• George Lee - Three times world champion, ex-RAF
• Otto Lilienthal - German machine engineer, first controlled gliding flights to 250 m
• Paul MacCready - aviation inventor, devised the MacCready Theory on speed to fly^[9]
• Edward Makula - world champion, 7 world records
• Jerzy Makula - six times world glider aerobatic champion^[10][11]
• Peter Masak - U.S. Soaring Team member, developed the first practical winglets for sailplanes
• Willy Messerschmitt, aircraft designer, including gliders
• George Moffat - author, two-time world champion, and U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member^[12]
• John J. Montgomery - U.S. physicist, first controlled glider flight in U.S., and U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member
• Derek Piggott - flight instructor and movie stunt pilot^[13]
• Helmut Reichmann - German professor, author and three-time gliding world champion
• Hanna Reitsch - test pilot and breaker of several gliding records^[14]
• Klaus Ohlmann - 36 world records ^[15], member of the Mountain Wave Project^[16]
• Joan Meakin Price, first woman to glide over the English Channel (1934).
• Peter Riedel, gliding champion
• Ingo Renner - four times world champion^[17], two world records^[18], flight instructor
• Cliff Robertson - actor and soaring activist^[19]
• Martin Schempp, glider designer and pilot
• Richard Schreder naval aviator and developer of the HP/RS-series kit sailplanes marketed from 1962 until about 1982.
• Peter Scott - naturalist (founder of World Wildlife Fund and ex-chairman of British Gliding Association)^[20]
• Wally Scott - world record breaker, U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member, and multi-time recipient of the Lewin B. Barringer Memorial Trophy^[21][22]
• Karl Striedieck - world record breaker, and U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member ^[23]
• Oskar Ursinus, gliding pioneer and designer
• Gerhard Waibel, glider pilot and designer
• Ann Welch, instructor and administrator
• Philip Wills, world champion and administrator
• Wright Brothers - early glider pioneers, invented 3-axis flight control on 1902 glider, set world glider duration record in 1911 (also widely credited with inventing the airplane)
• Jan Wróblewski, - Polish glider pilot; World Champion in 1965 and 1972; awarded the FAI Lilienthal Medal in 1972; set a world record of out-and-return distance 678.90 km in 1962

Other notable people known to fly gliders

• Richard Bach - author
• Barbara Cartland - author^[24]
• Kalpana Chawla - astronaut
• John Denver - singer/songwriter
• Hugh Downs - television news anchor
• Matthew Fox - actor^[25]
• Erich Hartmann - most successful fighter pilot of all times (352 confirmed victories)^[26]
• Will Hay - British comic actor^[27]
• Marsha Ivins - astronaut
• John Kerry - U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate^[28]
• Charles Lindbergh - winner of the Orteig Prize as pilot on first solo nonstop Atlantic crossing flight^[29]
• William S. McArthur - astronaut
• Richie McCaw - All Blacks captain ^[30]
• Steve McQueen - actor, star of The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)^[31]
• Mike Melvill - Spaceship One test pilot^[32]
• Story Musgrave - astronaut on Hubble telescope repair mission
• Robert Pearson - airline pilot and glider pilot who glided a Boeing 767 to safety^[33]
• Christopher Reeve - actor^[34]
• Michel Rocard - French former prime minister^[35]
• Alan Shepard - astronaut on first Project Mercury space flight
• Chesley Sullenberger - Captain of US Airways Flight 1549 which ditched in the Hudson River
• Peter Twiss - test pilot and former holder of the World Air Speed Record

References

1. ^ "CBS interview with Neil Armstrong includes clip of gliding". CBS News. 2005-11-03. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/03/60minutes/main1008288_page3.shtml. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
2. ^ "Being The First Man On The Moon, Ed Bradley Talks To Neil Armstrong About Fame, Family And Apollo 11 - CBS News". 2005-11-03. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/03/60minutes/main1008288_page3.shtml. Retrieved 2007-08-01. 
3. ^ "FAI awards of Janusz Centka". http://www.fai.org/awards/recipient.asp?id=3957. Retrieved 2008-01-11. 
4. ^ "Link to Steve Fossett's glider altitude record". http://www.perlanproject.com/. Retrieved 2006-09-01. 
5. ^ "FAI World Records by Hans-Werner Grosse". http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=gliding&id=163. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
6. ^ "FAI World Records by Doris Grove". http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=gliding&id=68. Retrieved 2006-12-11. 
7. ^ "FAI article on the Barron Hilton Cup". http://www.fai.org/gliding/taxonomy/term/5?from=5. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
8. ^ "FAI World Records by Tom Knauff". http://records.fai.org/pilot.as?from=gliding&id=75. Retrieved 2006-12-10. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ "Link to Paul MacCready bio". http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/mac0bio-1. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
10. ^ "Jerzy Makula's rankings in FAI world and european championships". http://events.fai.org/aerobatics/pilot.asp?id=3665. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
11. ^ "FAI Centenary Medal recipients". http://www.fai.org/centenary/node/25. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
12. ^ "FAI World Records by George Moffat". http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=gliding&id=693. Retrieved 2006-12-10. 
13. ^ Piggott, Derek (2002). Gliding: A handbook on soaring flight. A & C Black. ISBN 0-7136-6148-8. 
14. ^ "Bio of Hanna Reitsch". http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/reitsch.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
15. ^ "FAI World Records by Klaus Ohlmann". http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=gliding&id=1902. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
16. ^ "Mountain Wave Project". http://213.157.12.16/Defaultengl.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
17. ^ "SSA: World Soaring Champions". http://www.ssa.org/UsTeam/ust_champs.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-11. 
18. ^ "FAI: world records of Ingo Renner". http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=gliding&id=71. Retrieved 2008-01-11. 
19. ^ "National Aviation Hall of Fame article on Cliff Robertson". http://nationalaviation.blade6.donet.com/components/content_manager_v02/view_nahf/htdocs/menu_ps.asp?NodeID=1271444555&group_ID=1134656385&Parent_ID=-1. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
20. ^ "Bio of Sir Peter Scott". http://www.oundlesociety.org/SirPeterScott_1.asp. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
21. ^ Soaring Hall of Fame (2011). "The Soaring Hall of Fame - Alphabetical Listing". http://www.soaringmuseum.org/halloffame/halloffamebios.html#P. Retrieved 25 February 2011. 
22. ^ Leibacher, John (2009). "The Lewin B. Barringer Memorial Trophy". http://soaringweb.org/Awards/barringer.html. Retrieved 25 February 2011. 
23. ^ "FAI World Records by Karl Striedieck". http://records.fai.org/gliding/aircraft.asp?id=284. Retrieved 2006-12-10. 
24. ^ "Barbara Cartland biography". http://www.barbaracartland.com/static/life.aspx. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
25. ^ "Bio of Matthew Fox". http://men.style.com/details/features/landing?id=content_3461. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
26. ^ "New York Times article on Erich Hartmann, Oct 23 1993". The New York Times. 1993-10-23. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE0D91E3BF930A15753C1A965958260. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
27. ^ Mark McKay Laugh Magazine Issue 22 2001
28. ^ "Boston Globe article on John Kerry". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/062103b.shtml. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
29. ^ "Article on glider flight by Lindbergh". http://www.tpghs.org/Bow&Lindy1930.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26. ^{[dead link]}
30. ^ Gallagher, Brendan (2006-12-14). "Daily Telegraph report 17 Dec 2006". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2006/12/14/srabou14.xml. Retrieved 2006-12-20. 
31. ^ "Evidence that Steve McQueen was a glider pilot". http://www.eagleflight.org/cyberSermons/growing_church/eagles_wings.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
32. ^ "Mike Melvill bio". http://www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/melvill_bio.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26. ^{[dead link]}
33. ^ "Description of the Gimli glider accident". Archived from the original on 2006-08-19. http://web.archive.org/web/20060819205629/http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/gimli.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
34. ^ "Interview with Chritopher Reeve". http://www.chrisreevehomepage.com/interview-scavullo.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26. 
35. ^ "Bio of Michel Rocard (in French)". http://www.lepays.net/jdj/02/03/07/IGF/4/article_12.html. Retrieved 2006-09-26.