How to fly for hundreds of miles without a single drop of fuel

Technology · Published 19 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Gliding is the art of harvesting the atmosphere. By identifying invisible currents of rising air, pilots can stay airborne for hours, traveling hundreds of kilometers across continents. It is a high-stakes game of aerial navigation where the wind is your engine and the terrain is your fuel.

Gliding, also known as soaring, relies on naturally occurring atmospheric currents to maintain flight. Pilots utilize three primary sources of lift: ridge lift, where wind hits a hill and is forced upward; thermals, which are bubbles of rising warm air created by sunlight heating the ground; and wave lift, which consists of standing waves in the atmosphere similar to ripples on a stream. Gliders usually stay below 600 metres (2,000 ft) using ridge lift, yet flat terrain thermals can push them past 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), while wave lift enables heights of 23,202 metres (76,122 ft).

The sport saw a massive surge in the 1920s and 30s, largely driven by the Weimar Republic. Following the Treaty of Versailles, which restricted powered aircraft in Germany, aviators turned to perfecting gliders. By 1937, Germany alone had 50,000 glider pilots. This era saw the discovery of mountain waves by Wolf Hirth in 1933 and the first international competitions. Today, the sport is global, with over 111,000 active civilian pilots. Modern technology, including carbon fiber, GPS, and sophisticated weather forecasting, has turned once-extraordinary feats into achievable goals for experienced pilots.

Pilots use specific maneuvers to stay aloft. 'Thermalling' involves flying in tight circles within a rising bubble of air to gain altitude. In contrast, 'dolphining' involves slowing down in rising air and speeding up in non-rising air to maintain a straight, undulating path over long distances. For extreme distance, pilots may fly along convergence zones—boundaries where different air masses meet—or use 'dynamic soaring' to gain kinetic energy by crossing these boundaries. These techniques allow for incredible feats, such as Klaus Ohlmann's 3,008-kilometre (1,869 mi) world distance record set in 2003.

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