Judy Leden,
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(born 1959) is a British
hang glider
Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...
and
paraglider
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 lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...
pilot. She has held three
world champion
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
titles,
[Flying with Condors by Judy Leden ] twice in hang gliding, once in paragliding.
Biography
Judy Leden's flying career began while she was at university in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
in 1979. She started competing in 1982 and broke many records in 1983. She currently holds
world record
A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...
s for both hang gliding and paragliding. Leden turned professional in 1988, becoming the only woman to earn a living as a hang glider and paraglider pilot. Her work includes films, stunts, flying displays, teaching and writing. She is a friend and supporter of
Flyability
Flyability is a UK based charity that works to help disabled people fly hang gliders and paragliders. It is the disability initiative of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, the governing body of hang gliding and paragliding in the ...
, the
BHPA charity to help disabled people to fly hang gliders and paragliders.
As a display pilot, Leden has been asked to take part in a range of airshows. She was asked to fly at the
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...
display at
Duxford
Duxford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, about south of Cambridge. It is part of the Hundred Parishes area.
History
The village formed on the banks of the River Cam, a little below its emergence from the hills of north Essex. One of t ...
as part of their 2011 Spring Air Show themed Celebrating Women in Aviation. Unfortunately the strong winds made conditions unsafe for flying hang gliders.
Leden has landed many sponsorship deals, including
Citroën
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
. Her competitive success includes winning the Women's World Hang Gliding Championships in 1987 and again in 1991. She has been British Women's Champion six times and in 1995 she won the Women's World Paragliding Championship.
Involved at
Airways Airsports
Airways Airsports is an airpark at Darley Moor Airfield, Derbyshire, offering hang gliding, paragliding, paramotoring and microlight training and flying. It is a British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association and British Microlight Aircraf ...
from the start, Leden is the senior instructor proficient in every form of free flying.
Leden's father was one of the children saved by Sir
Nicholas Winton
Sir Nicholas George Winton (born Wertheim; 19 May 1909 – 1 July 2015) was a British humanitarian who helped to rescue children who were at risk of being murdered by Nazi Germany. Born to German-Jewish parents who had emigrated to Britain at ...
prior to the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. She took Winton flying in a microlight on a number of occasions including his 98th and 100th birthdays.
Achievements
In 1989 Leden became the first woman to fly over the English Channel by hang glider following a launch from a hot air balloon at 13,000 feet. The flight received substantial press attention and was featured in an episode of ''
Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ov ...
''.
For the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
documentary ''Cotopaxi Dream'' she climbed and flew from the top of
Cotapaxi, at 19,600 feet the world's tallest active volcano.
In early 1992 Leden took part in the Flight of the Dacron Eagles, a 1000-mile, three-week microlight and hang glider expedition down the
rift valley
A rift valley is a linear shaped lowland between several highlands or mountain ranges created by the action of a geologic rift. Rifts are formed as a result of the pulling apart of the lithosphere due to extensional tectonics. The linear dep ...
in Kenya, filming for the
BBC 1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
''
Classic Adventure
Classic Adventure, also known as ''Adventure 1'', is a fantasy text-based video game released by Abersoft in 1982. It was originally released as ''Adventure 1'' on the ZX Spectrum in 1982 before being changed to ''Classic Adventure'' in 1984-1985 ...
'' series with cameramen
Sid Perou
Sidney Allen Bruce Perou (born 1937) is a British cinematographer and film director notable for his work in caves.
He has been called "renowned throughout the caving and broadcasting world," "possibly the greatest cave film maker of all time," an ...
, microlight pilots
Richard Meredith-Hardy
Richard Meredith-Hardy (born 23 August 1957) is a British extreme microlight pilot. He has been flying microlights since 1984, was twice World Microlight Champion and has held a variety of speed records.
Notable voyages by Meredith-Hardy include ...
and
Ben Ashman
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...
and hang glider pilots
Mark Dale,
Tim Hudson
Timothy Adam Hudson (born July 14, 1975), nicknamed "Huddy" is an American former professional baseball pitcher of Major League Baseball (MLB). After spending his college years at Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Auburn University, Hud ...
and
Louise Anderton
Louise or Luise may refer to:
* Louise (given name)
Arts Songs
* "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005
* "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984
* "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013
* "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929
*"Louise", by Clan of ...
.
Leden undertook the "Flight for Life" flight from London to
Amman
Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
, Jordan, for a cancer research campaign with
Ben Ashman
Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right.
Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, ...
, which was inspired by—and in memory of—hang glider pilot Yasmin Saudi, who died of cancer at the age of 24. The flight succeeded in raising over £100,000, and it was filmed en route and released as a video.
In 1996, Leden's autobiography ''Flying with Condors'' was published.
This title was also used for a
BBC 1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
''
Natural World
''Natural World'' is a strand of British wildlife documentary programmes broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history series. It is the longest-running documentary in its genre on British televis ...
'' documentary in which Leden and her husband Chris Dawes travelled to
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...
to fly with
Andean condor
The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...
s using hang gliders, paragliders and paramotors.
Leden's wide experience with various aircraft, adventurous nature and low body weight has resulted in her being asked to test fly a number of unique aircraft. In 2003, she was asked to test fly a replica of a
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
glider and in 2009 the makers of a replica of the first aircraft to fly in the UK recruited Leden in an attempt to get their replica
Roe Triplane airborne.
Awards
Leden was awarded an
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
in 1989 for her services to hang gliding, and has received many other awards, including the
Royal Aero Club
The Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910.
History
The Aero Club was foun ...
Gold Medal for 1995, and Sportswoman of the Year from ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
'' magazine and
Middlesex county.
She also received the
Hussein Medal for Excellence in recognition of her flight to Jordan by microlight, and the
Star of the First Order by
King Hussein
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...
.
Records
Media appearances
(1989) ''
ITN'' news reports on crossing the English Channel landing on the beach at Calais.
(1991) ''Cotopaxi Dream''
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
documentary. The first ever hang glider flight from one of the world's highest active volcanoes – Cotopaxi in
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, which rises 19,600 feet.
(1992)
Flight of Dacron Eagles BBC 1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
''
Classic Adventure
Classic Adventure, also known as ''Adventure 1'', is a fantasy text-based video game released by Abersoft in 1982. It was originally released as ''Adventure 1'' on the ZX Spectrum in 1982 before being changed to ''Classic Adventure'' in 1984-1985 ...
'' series
[
(1994) '' Stratosfear'' - ]Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
documentary on breaking the world altitude record for a hang glider release from a balloon taking off from Wadi Rum, Jordan to an altitude of 41,300 feet[
'' Don't Try This at Home'' - tandem hang glider flight from a mountain
(1999) '']Scrapheap Challenge
''Scrapheap Challenge'' is a British television show where teams of contestants build a working machine that can perform a specific task, using materials available in a scrapyard. The series features teams of four or five members who are given ...
'' Series 2, Episode 1 "Flying Machine".
(2003) ''Woman's Hour
''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946.
History
Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by A ...
'' - two interviews with presenter Jenni Murray
Dame Jennifer Susan Murray, (''née'' Bailey; born 12 May 1950) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4's ''Woman's Hour'' from 1987 to 2020.
Early life
Murray was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorks ...
discussing Leonardo's Dream Machine and flying with Sir Nicholas Winton
(2003) ''Blue Peter
''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
'' presenter Matt Baker
Matthew James Baker (born 23 December 1977) is a British television presenter. He co-presented the children's television show ''Blue Peter'' from 1999 until 2006, BBC One's ''Countryfile'' since 2009 and ''The One Show'' from 2011 to 2020, wit ...
taught to fly & makes successful tandem world record breaking flight with Airways instructor Judy Leden.[
(2005) ]BBC 1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
''Natural World
''Natural World'' is a strand of British wildlife documentary programmes broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history series. It is the longest-running documentary in its genre on British televis ...
'' documentary Flying with Condors using hang gliders, paragliders and paramotors.[
(2006) An extract from ]BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''Great British Summer''. Airways instructor Judy Leden flying Tandem with
, showing him what its like to fly through the clouds on a hang glider.
(2010) ''
learnt to fly with Airways instructor Judy Leden with the aim of flying with Lucy the
flew tandem with Airways instructor Judy Leden to experience hang gliding and to demonstrate the benefits of aerotowing for disabled students.
(2011) ''
''.
(2014) TEDx Talk: Putting the F into Future: Judy Leden at TEDxHurstpierpointCollege