This list of notable glider pilots contains the names of those who have achieved fame in gliding and in other fields:

Notable in gliding

Ruth Alexander Ruth Blaney Alexander (May 18, 1905 – September 18, 1930) was an early female pilot in the United States who established several records in altitude and distance during 1929 and 1930. Youth Ruth Blaney was raised in Irving, Kansas in Mars ...

- female altitude record breaker, first woman glider instructor in the U.S. * Sergei Anokhin -

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

, glider instructor, recordsman and gliding promouter in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, on October 2, 1934, carried out a flutter test with deliberate in-flight destruction of RotFront-1 glider and safe parachute escape after the glider disintegration. * Bill Bedford test pilot - first to fly Hawker P.1127 and Harrier. * Luca Bertossio - Champion glider aerobatic pilot *

Paul Bikle Paul F. Bikle (5 June 1916 – 19 January 1991) was director of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Facility from 1959 until 1971, and author of more than 40 technical publications. He was associat ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

director, glider altitude record setter and

Soaring Hall of Fame The Soaring Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made the highest achievements in, or contributions to, the sport of soaring in the United States of America. It has been located at the National Soaring Museum in Elmira, New York, since 19 ...

William Hawley Bowlus William Hawley Bowlus (May 8, 1896 – August 27, 1967) was an American designer, engineer and builder of aircraft (especially gliders) and recreational vehicles in the 1930s and 1940s. Today he is most widely known for his creation of the worl ...

- first American to break Wright brothers' 1911 gliding record, designer of first military prototype glider the

XCG-16A The XCG-16 was a military transport/assault glider ordered by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), from General Airborne Transport Co., for competition against the Waco CG-13A at Wright Field. Design and development Design of the CG-16 e ...

, superintendent of construction of the

Spirit of St. Louis The ''Spirit of St. Louis'' (formally the Ryan NYP, registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane that was flown by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first solo nonstop transatlant ...

and U.S.

member

Anne Burns Anne Burns (23 November 1915 – 22 January 2001) was a British aeronautical engineer and glider pilot. She had a career of nearly 40 years in the Royal Aircraft Establishment as an engineer and an expert in wind shear. As a glider pilot, ...

- British champion, holder of multiple records, aerospace engineer *

Janusz Centka Janusz Centka (born 20 April 1950, in Tonowo) is a Polish glider pilot who has won two European and three World Gliding Championships.

- multiple world champion * Jackie Coogan - actor, former WW2-era combat Glider Pilot *

Adela Dankowska Adela Stanisława Dankowska (born 5 January 1935 in Sobienie-Jeziory) is a retired Polish aviator and politician. She was a glider pilot and the coach of the Polish national gliding team, and also served as a member of Parliament. Biography Da ...

- held 12 world records and 43 Polish records during her career *

Anthony Deane-Drummond Major-General Anthony John Deane-Drummond, CB, DSO, MC & Bar (23 June 1917 – 4 December 2012) was an officer of the Royal Signals in the British Army, whose career was mostly spent with airborne forces. During the Second World War, he was ...

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

& British national champion *

Heini Dittmar Heini Dittmar (Born March 30, 1912, Bad Kissingen, Unterfranken, Germany – Died April 28, 1960 near Mülheim an der Ruhr, West Germany) was a record-breaking German glider pilot. Inspired by the example of his glider flying brother Edgar, Di ...

- test pilot (first person over 1000 km/h) and gliding record breaker *

Wilhelm Düerkop Wilhelm DüerkopList of founding members of the ''Förderverein Segelkunstflug im BWLV e.V.'' (handwritten by the participants of the meeting)

- glider aerobatic champion * Richard C. du Pont - director of military glider program *

Einar Enevoldson Einar K. Enevoldson (born June 15, 1932, in Seattle, Washingtondied April 14, 2021) was the director of the Perlan Project. He was a civilian research pilot for NASA's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California, from 1968 until ...

- test pilot and gliding record breaker *

Markus Feyerabend Markus Feyerabend (born 1971) is a German glider aerobatic pilot.Steve Fossett James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraf ...

- entrepreneur and gliding record breaker *

Nicholas Goodhart Rear Admiral Hilary Charles Nicholas Goodhart CB FRAeS (28 September 1919 – 9 April 2011) was an engineer and aviator who invented the mirror-sight deck landing system for aircraft carriers. He was also a world champion and record breaker i ...

- world champion, record breaker and inventor of the Mirror sight deck landing system * Tadeusz Góra - gliding record breaker, first winner of the

Lilienthal Gliding Medal Lilienthal Gliding Medal – the highest soaring award in the world, established by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in 1938 in honour of Otto Lilienthal, a German pioneer of human aviation. It aims "to reward a particularly rema ...

Hans-Werner Grosse Hans-Werner Grosse (28 November 1922 – 18 February 2021) was a German Luftwaffe bomber pilot and glider pilot who established 50 world records approved by FAI Gliding Commission. Early life Grosse was born in Swinemünde, now Świnoujście i ...

- 46 world records * Doris Grove - female world record breaker, first woman to fly 1000 km, and U.S.

member *

Julius Hatry Julius Hatry (30 December 1906 – 7 November 2000) was a German aircraft designer and builder. He is remembered for his contributions to sailplane development in the early twentieth century and for building the world's first purpose-built ro ...

- glider designer * Barron Hilton - hotel magnate and founder of the

Barron Hilton Cup The Barron Hilton Cup (BHC) was a worldwide soaring contest, founded by the late ex-chairman, president and chief executive officer of Hilton Hotels Corporation, Barron Hilton, and the late Prof. Dr. Helmut Reichmann. The European Aeronautic Defen ...

for gliding *

Wolf Hirth Wolfram Kurt Erhard Hirth (28 February 1900 – 25 July 1959) was a German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer. He was a co-founder of Schempp-Hirth, still a renowned glider manufacturer.Segelflugbildkalendar 2011 Hirth was born in Stuttgart ...

- German gliding pioneer and sailplane designer *

Klaus Holighaus __NOTOC__ Klaus Holighaus (14 July 1940 – 9 August 1994) was a glider designer, glider pilot and entrepreneur.European Champion *

Hans Jacobs Hans Jacobs (30 April 1907 in Hamburg - 24 October 1994) was a German sailplane designer and pioneer. He had been taught sailplane design by Alexander Lippisch, designer of many gliders during the 1920s and the 1930s. As the head of the ''Deut ...

- glider designer * Dick Johnson - 11-time U.S. National Champion, glider distance record setter and

* Sebastian Kawa - most wins (5+3) in

World Gliding Championships The World Gliding Championships (WGC) is a gliding competition held every two years or so by the FAI Gliding Commission. The dates are not always exactly two years apart, often because the contests are sometimes held in the summer in the Southern ...

Joachim Kuettner Joachim Kuettner (September 21, 1909 – February 24, 2011), also spelled Küttner, was a German-American atmospheric scientist. Germany Born and raised in Breslau, Germany, Joachim Kuettner put his early interest in the atmosphere aside to c ...

- atmospheric scientist and gliding record breaker *

Thomas Knauff Thomas L. Knauff (born 1938) is an American writer, glider pilot, flight instructor, former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Designated Pilot Examiner, and a member of the U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame. He was an early pioneer of ridge soarin ...

- author, instructor, world record breaker, and U.S.

member *

Robert Kronfeld Squadron Leader Robert Kronfeld, AFC (5 May 1904 – 12 February 1948) was an Austrian-born gliding champion and sailplane designer of the 1920s and 30s. He became a British subject and an RAF test pilot. He was killed testing a glider in 1948 ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n gliding champion and sailplane designer *

Jean-Marie Le Bris Jean Marie Le Bris (March 25, 1817, Concarneau – February 17, 1872, Douarnenez) was a French aviator, born in Concarneau, Brittany who built two glider aircraft and performed at least one flight on board of his first machine in late 1856. His ...

- pioneer of French aviation * George Lee - three time world champion, ex-RAF *

Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making ...

- German machine engineer, first controlled gliding flights to 250 m *

Paul MacCready Paul B. MacCready Jr. (September 25, 1925 – August 28, 2007) was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the first Kremer prize. He devoted his life to dev ...

- aviation inventor, devised the MacCready Theory on

speed to fly Speed to fly is a principle used by soaring pilots when flying between sources of lift, usually thermals, ridge lift and wave. The aim is to maximize the average cross-country speed by optimizing the airspeed in both rising and sinking air. Th ...

Edward Makula Edward Makula (4 July 1930 – 15 January 1996) was a Polish glider pilot and engineer.Jerzy Makula Jerzy Makula (born 29 September 1952 in Ruda Śląska) is a Polish pilot who won the FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships seven times.

- six time world glider aerobatic champion * Peter Masak - U.S. Soaring Team member, developed the first practical

winglets Wingtip devices are intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft by reducing drag. Although there are several types of wing tip devices which function in different manners, their intended effect is always to reduce an aircraft' ...

for sailplanes *

Mike Melvill Michael Winston Melvill (born November 30, 1940 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a world-record-breaking pilot and one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShip ...

- Spaceship One test pilot, first

commercial astronaut A commercial astronaut is a person who has commanded, piloted, or served as an active crew member of a privately funded spacecraft. This is distinct from an otherwise non-government astronaut, for example Charlie Walker, who flies while represe ...

Willy Messerschmitt Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (; 26 June 1898 – 15 September 1978) was a German aircraft designer and manufacturer. In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Rethel, he designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which became the most important ...

, aircraft designer, including gliders * George Moffat - author, two-time world champion, and U.S. Soaring Hall of Fame member *

John J. Montgomery John Joseph Montgomery (February 15, 1858 – October 31, 1911) was an American inventor, physicist, engineer, and professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, who is best known for his invention of controlled heavier-than-air ...

- U.S. physicist, first controlled glider flight in U.S., and U.S.

member *

Story Musgrave Franklin Story Musgrave (born August 19, 1935) is an American physician and a retired NASA astronaut. He is a public speaker and consultant to both Disney's Imagineering group and Applied Minds in California. In 1996, he became only the second a ...

- astronaut on a

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

repair mission, CFI-Glider * Klaus Ohlmann - 36 world records, member of the

Mountain Wave Project The Mountain Wave Project (MWP) pursues global scientific research of gravity waves and associated turbulence. MWP seeks to develop new scientific insights and knowledge through high altitude and record seeking glider flights with the goal of inc ...

Derek Piggott Alan Derek Piggott (27 December 1922 – 6 January 2019) was one of Britain's best known glider pilots and instructors. He had over 5,000 hours on over 153 types of powered aircraft and over 5,000 hours on over 184 types of glider. He was hon ...

- author, flight instructor and movie stunt pilot * Joan Meakin Price - first woman to glide over the English Channel (1934). *

Helmut Reichmann Helmut Reichmann (1941 – March 10, 1992) was a German glider pilot, thrice World Gliding Champion, and co-founder, along with millionaire Barron Hilton, of the Barron Hilton Cup. He was an arts teacher and a professor of industrial design in ...

- German professor, author and three-time gliding world champion *

Hanna Reitsch Hanna Reitsch (29 March 1912 – 24 August 1979) was a German aviator and test pilot. Along with Melitta von Stauffenberg, she flight tested many of Germany's new aircraft during World War II and received many honors. Reitsch was amon ...

- test pilot and breaker of several gliding records *

Ingo Renner Ingo Renner OAM (1 June 1940 – 26 February 2022) was an Australian glider pilot. He won the World Gliding Championships four times.

- four time world champion, two world records, flight instructor * Peter Riedel - gliding champion *

Cliff Robertson Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film '' PT 109'', and won the 19 ...

- actor and soaring activist *

Martin Schempp Introduction Martin Schempp (23 March 1905 - 9 July 1984) was a glider pilot and founder of Schempp-Hirth, a major manufacturer of gliders. First years Martin Schempp was born in Stuttgart. After completing his commercial education, he helped ...

- glider designer and pilot *

Richard Schreder Richard E. Schreder (25 September 1915 – 2 August 2002) was an American naval aviator and sailplane developer, responsible for design and development of the HP/RS-series kit sailplanes marketed from 1962 until about 1982. Schreder also fou ...

- naval aviator and developer of the HP/RS-series kit sailplanes marketed from 1962 until about 1982. *

Peter Scott Sir Peter Markham Scott, (14 September 1909 – 29 August 1989) was a British ornithologist, conservationist, painter, naval officer, broadcaster and sportsman. The only child of Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott, he took an interest i ...

- naturalist (founder of

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

and ex-chairman of

British Gliding Association The British Gliding Association (BGA) is the governing body for gliding in the United Kingdom. Gliding in the United Kingdom operates through 80 gliding clubs (both civilian and service) which have 2,310 gliders and 9,462 full flying members ( ...

) * Wally Scott - world record breaker, U.S.

member, and multi-time recipient of the Lewin B. Barringer Memorial Trophy * Geoffrey H. Stephenson - first person to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

in a glider * Karl Striedieck - world record breaker, and U.S.

member *

Wolfgang Späte Wolfgang Späte (8 September 1911 – 30 April 1997) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. For fighter pilots it was a quantifiable measure of skill an ...

- Inventor of the theory of speed to fly, Luftwaffe ace and test pilot *

Kurt Student Kurt Arthur Benno Student (12 May 1890 – 1 July 1978) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II. An early pioneer of airborne forces, Student was in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the '' Fallsch ...

- ''Luftwaffe'' general, developed glider infantry concept, commanded WW2-era ''Fallschirmjäger'' *

Dennis Tito Dennis Anthony Tito (born August 8, 1940) is an American engineer and entrepreneur. In mid-2001, he became the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space, when he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visitin ...

- gliding speed record holder, aerospace engineer and investment manager * Oskar Ursinus - gliding pioneer and designer * Gerhard Waibel - glider pilot and designer *

Ann Welch Ann Courtenay Welch OBE, née Edmonds, (20 May 1917 – 5 December 2002) was a pilot who received the Gold Air Medal from Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) for her contributions to the development of four air sports - gliding, ha ...

- instructor and administrator *

Philip Wills Philip Aubrey Wills CBE (26 May 1907 – 16 January 1978)Fripp UK genealogy was a pioneering British glider pilot. He broke several UK gliding records from the 1930s to the 1950s and was involved in UK gliding administration including being ...

- world champion and administrator * Wright Brothers - early glider pioneers, invented 3-axis flight control on 1902 glider, set world glider duration record in 1911 (also widely credited with inventing the airplane) * Jan Wróblewski - World Champion in 1965 and 1972; FAI Lilienthal Medal 1972

Other notable people known to have flown gliders

* Sir John Allison - RAF Officer, former Commander in Chief Strike Command * James Allison - F1 Engineer, Technical Director Scuderia Ferrari * Neil Armstrong - first man on the moon, astronaut * Richard Bach - author *

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

- American-German aerospace engineer *

Paul Bulcke Paul Bulcke (born 8 September 1954) is a Belgian businessman who is the chairman and former CEO of Nestlé. Early life He graduated as a commercial engineer at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and is an alumnus of the Vlerick Leuven Gent Man ...

- Nestlé CEO (2007–present) *

Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily duri ...

- author *

Kalpana Chawla Kalpana Chawla (17 March 1962 – 1 February 2003) was an Indian-born American astronaut and mechanical engineer who was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' in 1997 as a mission speciali ...

- astronaut * John Denver - singer/songwriter *

Hugh Downs Hugh Malcolm Downs (February 14, 1921July 1, 2020) was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk show sidekick; and music composer. A regular t ...

- television news anchor * Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank - British architect *

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned h ...

- actor * Christopher Foyle - owner of Foyles Bookshop * Andy Green - World Land Speed Record holder *

Erich Hartmann Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993) was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful flying ace, fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in ...

- most successful fighter pilot of all times (352 confirmed victories) *

Will Hay William Thomson Hay (6 December 1888 – 18 April 1949) was an English comedian who wrote and acted in a schoolmaster sketch that later transferred to the screen, where he also played other authority figures with comic failings. His film ''Oh ...

- British comic actor * Ralph Hooper - British aeronautical engineer famous for the

Hawker Siddeley Harrier The Hawker Siddeley Harrier is a British military aircraft. It was the first of the Harrier series of aircraft and was developed in the 1960s as the first operational ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft with vertical/short takeoff an ...

and

BAe Hawk The BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. It was first flown at Dunsfold, Surrey, in 1974 as the Hawker Siddeley Hawk, and subsequently produced by its successor companies, British Aerospace and B ...

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianeti ...

- founder of the Church of Scientology *

Marsha Ivins Marsha Sue Ivins (born April 15, 1951) is an American retired astronaut and a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions. Career Ivins, born April 15, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, graduated from Nether Providence High School in Wallingford, Penns ...

- astronaut *

Sir David Jason Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally by his stage name David Jason, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector J ...

- actor *

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records du ...

- pioneer in aviation, member at

Yorkshire Gliding Club The Yorkshire Gliding Club (YGC) operate from an airfieldSutton Bank was mentioned in the House of Lords in the year 2000 as being an ''aerodrome'' as this would restrict open access to the site on the grounds that the flying activity on the site ...

from 1937 *

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

- U.S. Senator and former presidential candidate *

Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (russian: Сергей Павлович Королёв, Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov, sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf, Ru-Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.ogg; ukr, Сергій Павлович Корольов, ...

- father of the Soviet space program *

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

- winner of the

Orteig Prize The Orteig Prize was a reward offered to the first Allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.Bak. Pages 28 and 29. Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before the rel ...

as pilot on first solo nonstop Atlantic crossing flight * William S. McArthur - astronaut *

Richie McCaw Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugb ...

- former

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

captain * Steve McQueen - actor, star of

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film) ''The Thomas Crown Affair'' is a 1968 American heist film directed and produced by Norman Jewison and starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, winning Best Original Song for Michel Legrand's " The Wind ...

* Arseny Mironov - Russian aerospace engineer and aviator, scientist in aircraft aerodynamics and flight testing *

James H. Newman James Hansen Newman, Ph.D. (born October 16, 1956) is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. NASA career After graduating from Rice University in 1984, Newman did an additional year of post ...

- astronaut, holds private pilot certificate (glider) * Sir Paul Nurse - President of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

* Robert Pearson - airline pilot and glider pilot who glided a Boeing 767 to safety *

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, best known for playing the title character in the film '' Superman'' (1978) and three sequels. Born in New York City and raised in Princeton, New Jersey ...

- actor *

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991 during which he created the ''Revenu minimum d'ins ...

- French former prime minister. *

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in '' ...

- actor *

Alan Shepard Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998) was an American astronaut, naval aviator, test pilot, and businessman. In 1961, he became the second person and the first American to travel into space and, in 1971, he beca ...

- astronaut on first

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

space flight *

Chesley Sullenberger Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (born January 23, 1951) is a retired American fighter pilot, diplomat, and airline pilot best known for his heroism as captain of US Airways Flight 1549 that he ditched in the Hudson River in 2009 af ...

- captain of

US Airways Flight 1549 US Airways Flight 1549 was a regularly scheduled US Airways flight from New York City (LaGuardia Airport), to Charlotte and Seattle, in the United States. On January 15, 2009, the Airbus A320 serving the flight struck a flock of birds short ...

which ditched in the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Peter Twiss Lionel Peter Twiss (23 July 1921 – 31 August 2011) was a British test pilot who holds the World Air Speed Record as the first man to fly a jet aircraft faster than . Early life He was born in Lindfield, Sussex and lived with his grandmothe ...

- test pilot and former holder of the World Air Speed Record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Glider Pilots Gliding *

Glider pilots Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of gliding ...