Glider · Unpowered fixed-wing aircraft that ride thermals and ridge lift — silent flight and competition soaring.
Scores are relative 0–100 marks within this atlas. Use them to browse, not as an engineering spec.
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No. The six scores are relative editorial 0–100 marks across the 48 types on this site.
Lead images resolve from Wikimedia Commons via Wikipedia titles on the English masters, with licences recorded on the credits page.
Metric is the default. Regional notes (US customary, local brand culture) appear in culture and market chapters.
Each type gets seven fixed-depth chapters, comparable scores and cross-type labs — structured for browsing, not a single freeform page.
Icons are not always the best sellers — they are the ones that stuck in culture, engineering lore or both.
Use the comparison lab on this page to weigh their stats side by side.
Schleicher ASK 21 stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1979– placed Schleicher ASK 21 in Germany's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Schempp-Hirth Discus stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1984– placed Schempp-Hirth Discus in Germany's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
DG Flugzeugbau DG-1000 stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2000– placed DG Flugzeugbau DG-1000 in Germany's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Rolladen-Schneider LS4 stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1980– placed Rolladen-Schneider LS4 in Germany's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Ahunt · Public domain
Grob G103 Twin Astir stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1978– placed Grob G103 Twin Astir in Germany's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Schleicher ASG 29 stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2006– placed Schleicher ASG 29 in Germany's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
The original uploader was Stahlkocher at German Wikipedia . · CC BY-SA 3.0
Antonov A-15 stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 1960– placed Antonov A-15 in USSR's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Arcus M motor glider stands among the reference glider designs that shaped how the world pictures this mode.
Production or service life 2010s– placed Arcus M motor glider in Germany's transport story.
“Icons teach constraints: cost, regulation and infrastructure matter as much as peak performance.”
Stats are relative 0–100 marks within this type, for comparison only.
Toggle icons on and off — every bar rescales to the leader of your selection.
Should a glider be judged by passenger-km and uptime, or by how completely it owns the public imagination?
Some legends dominate one corridor; others become templates copied worldwide.
Turbofan passenger aircraft that collapsed continents into hours.
Overall 78 🚁Rotary-wing aircraft for vertical lift, hover and point landings.
Overall 51 🛰️High-performance military aircraft optimized for air superiority and strike.
Overall 54 🛩️Small cabin jets for point-to-point travel outside airline schedules.
Overall 52 🛸Uncrewed aircraft from pocket quadcopters to long-endurance military UAVs.
Overall 71 🎈Lighter-than-air craft — rigid zeppelins, blimps and modern cargo concepts.
Overall 49 🛩️Aircraft that take off and land on water — flying boats, floatplanes and amphibians.
Overall 49 🎈Buoyant envelopes heated by burners — the oldest human-carrying flight technology still aloft.
Overall 43 ✈️Fixed-wing freighters with wide doors and main-deck pallets — the air bridge for time-critical freight.
Overall 62