Self-soar

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To use the normal launching method for a hang glider.

    "Noted Swedish sailplane pilot Bengt Soderholm tries self-soaring for a change."

Example

More examples

"Noted Swedish sailplane pilot Bengt Soderholm tries self-soaring for a change."

Etymology

From self- + soar. Many intrepid flyers joined the 70s' Self-Soar Association [S-SA] that had "Otto" memberships and membership numbers in honor of Otto Lilienthal who self-soared off a hill he had built. The booklet series Low & Slow and the Hang Glider Weekly (together 216 editions) frequently used the term self-soar to describe flying using an unpowered glider flown after launching by some system without the aid of motors or other persons.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.