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Gliding is an air sport in which pilots use an unpowered aircraft which is known as gliders or sail planes. The pilots use naturally occurring currents of air in the atmosphere.

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The sport of gliding started in the 1920’s. Most of the gliding competitions will test a pilot abilities’ to make use of the weather and their flying skills. There is a World Gliding Championship which is held every two years. It is usually held in the summer in the Southern Hemisphere. It used to be demonstration sport in the Summer Olympics, but it never made as an official event.

Some of the competitions are women’s juniors’ grand prix, and aerobatic competitions. There are also aerobatic competitions which are regularly held. In this competition, the pilots perform some skills like inverted flight, loop, roll, and some other combinations. High points are given to the pilot who can fly it perfectly.

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Similar Sports

• Hang Gliding — a type of air sport in which the rider flies a non-motorized aircraft which is called a hang glider.
• Paragliding — riders using para-gliders perform cross country or acrobatic maneuvers.
• Canopy Piloting — a parachute skydiver performs aerial feats above a small body of water.
• Wingsuit Flying — a variety of skydiving, where a person will fly in the air using a special jumpsuit called the wingsuit.
• Ultralight Aviation — events with lightweight aircraft which have 1 or 2 seat fixed-wings.

Related Pages

• Complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports
• About Air Sports