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Story: Aerial recreation

Achieving unpowered flight

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Achieving unpowered flight

This diagram shows how rising air currents are formed, and how they are used by pilots of paragliders, hang gliders and gliders to achieve and sustain unpowered flight.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Aerial recreation – Hang gliding and paragliding, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/diagram/6106/achieving-unpowered-flight (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 2 March 2009.