When Wilbur and Orville set out to fly their first airplane 120 years ago, aeronautical knowledge was rare and precious. Pioneers like Lilienthal preceded the Wright Brothers but the Ohio bike shop owners still had to figure out almost everything. They did so without funding, university degrees, or government help. Today, nearly every aviator celebrates their December 1903 achievement.
Aviation is a many-varied activity, though, and not all aircraft followed the same development path. Especially after World War II and the arrival of kit-built aircraft, American aviators began exploring in many directions.
Around the time NASA was pushing hard to land on the moon, a growing group of enthusiasts were jumping off mountains in pursuit of flight. Hang gliding soared into sky in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Enthusiasts grew to more than 100,000 active hang glider pilots globally, flying in nearly every country on Earth, perhaps as the most affordable of all aircraft.