Greatest gain of height in a hang glider

What to remember

Climbing rather than racing or travelling far: Judy Leden's record measures a gain of height. In 1992 she gained 3,970 m, or 13,025 ft, in her hang glider.

A hang glider is a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing aircraft that takes off and lands on foot. The pilot usually hangs in a harness suspended from the airframe and steers by shifting body weight against a control frame. Most modern wings use an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered with synthetic sailcloth.

Early hang gliders had a low lift-to-drag ratio, so pilots could only glide down small hills. By the 1980s that ratio had improved significantly, and since then pilots have been able to soar for hours and gain thousands of meters of altitude in thermal updrafts. That climb is exactly what Judy Leden's mark measures, set in 1992. Internationally, the sport comes under the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, and in France under the Fédération française de vol libre.