Gliding technology

Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or in a cocoon-like 'pod' suspended below a fabric wing. Wing shape is maintained by the suspension lines, the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing, and the aerodynamic forces of the air flowing over the outside.

thumb|Example of a thermal column between the ground and a cumulus

In aviation, a variometer – also known as a rate of climb and descent indicator (RCDI), rate-of-climb indicator, vertical speed indicator (VSI), or vertical velocity indicator (VVI) – is one of the flight instruments in an aircraft used to inform the pilot of the rate of descent or climb. It can be calibrated in metres per second, feet per minute (1 ft/min = 0.00508 m/s) or knots (1 kn ≈ 0.514 m/s), depending on country and type of aircraft. It is typically connected to the aircraft's external static pressure source.

wind which blows up a steep slope or mountain side

aerodynamic efficiency of how far an aircraft can move forward without engine power for every meter it sinks

cloud species

maximum density altitude an aircraft is specified to reach

total mass divided by area of wing

cloud species

meteorological phenomenon

sideways nose angle of an aircraft relative to the oncoming airflow or relative wind

mode of flight of some heavier-than-air objects without use of thrust covering a greater distance horizontally than vertically, employed by gliding animals and by some aircraft

meteorological concept

cloud species

Study of heat-to-work transformations and their reverse

thumb|Stratocumulus castellanus

height at which an air parcel becomes saturated

flying technique used to gain energy by repeatedly crossing the boundary between air masses of significantly different velocity

tendency for an aircraft to yaw in the opposite direction of a roll

device for indicating a slip or skid in an aircraft in flight

thumb|right|FLARM Logo FLARM is a proprietary electronic system used to selectively alert pilots to potential collisions between aircraft. It is not formally an implementation of ADS-B, as it is optimized for the specific needs of light aircraft, not for long-range communication or ATC interaction. FLARM is a portmanteau of "flight" and "alarm". The installation of all physical FLARM devices is approved as a "Standard Change", and the PowerFLARM Core specifically as a "Minor Change" by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency; and in addition the Minor Change also approves the PowerFLARM Core

form of cumulus cloud

diagram

long rolls of counter-rotating air

type of concentrated air flow within Earth's atmosphere

principle in aeronautics