Acknowledgments and RecognitionAcknowledgments

Graeme Henderson. New Zealand, Australia

Graeme was always interested in aviation. At 17, he had his first experience with the emerging sport of hang gliding on the South Island of his native New Zealand. He eventually became proficient. In 1981, he and his friend Richard Moore became the first two people to fly across Foveaux Strait in single-seat trikes. Graeme landed on Ayr Street, beside the school. In 1985 Graeme broke the New Zealand Open Distance Cross Country record, taking it from 44 to 75 miles. He moved to Australia, where he worked for Greenpeace Australia, learning how to run campaigns and actions, working with some of the best activists from around the world. He used those lessons in his campaign to change the history of hang gliding.

Catch The Wind by Glenn Woodward is one of the first hang-gliding books that Graeme bought. In it, he discovered John Dickenson and his “Improved Gliding Apparatus”, as John’s patent application is called. This was different from the common story with variations around Rogallo, NASA, Palmer, Miller, Bennett and Moyes, where it all happened in America and California. It meant that decades later, when he realised that John Dickenson was still not being recognised by the sport, Graeme didn’t question Dickenson’s contribution, as many others would.

Stumbling into hang-gliding history, Graeme decided to look for logic and evidence. This led him to research and record everything he could find to explain the invention of the modern hang glider and its ongoing development.

Graeme came across other authors’ stories on Dickenson (Stéphane Malbos 1988 interview, Mark Woodhams’ 1993 article…). He met John. He communicated with him extensively until his death in 2023. John showed him his correspondence with Rogallo. Graeme reintroduced John to his partners for the first flight – Rod Fuller and Pat Crowe –and to the pilot of the first glider that John sold, Ron Nickel, who still owned the third glider John had built. The 1964 glider was still in original condition. Together, they reconstructed the story of the dawn of modern hang-gliding.

Graeme went on to hang gliding forums where he made contact with others from around the world with an interest in aviation history. (These people are acknowledged here after.) Together, they continued researching. They looked back in time. They found reports, books, and magazine articles on NASA’s Paraglider Development Program. They unearthed 500+ patents for kites and wings related to hang gliders, including Rogallo’s patents. They debated robustly at times and eventually established the true origin and spread of modern hang gliding.

Graeme compiled their findings and wrote the story. Ken de Russy provided material from his museum collection, insight from his involvement in the sport in California, where he had established a hang gliding school, and fact-checked information. Stéphane reorganised and edited the story, contributed his earlier research, and offered the insights from his association with many of the main actors in the story, like Rogallo, Dickenson, Moyes, Caronti, and the many people he met through the administration of the sport in France and internationally.

Stéphane Malbos. France

After five years “on the road” around the world (the blessed 1970s), Stéphane ended up in New Caledonia, a French island two hours away by plane, east of Brisbane, Australia. At 24, he faced the choice of being a journalist, as he was supposed to be, or an airline steward. Being paid to somehow be “on the road again” was irresistible. He ended up with a 28-year career in French airlines.

In 1979, Bill, Molly, and Steve Moyes were finishing their yearly tour around the world and stopped over in New Caledonia, invited by Stéphane’s roommate, a hang glider pilot. Stéphane became a Moyes Boy, flying mostly in Stanwell Park, south of Sydney, and New Caledonia. He started writing for Vol Libre Magazine, then the only French hang gliding periodical.

In 1988, Stéphane was an official at the World Hang Gliding Championships held in Bright, Australia, organised by Moyes. Rogallo was the guest of honour. During this time, Stéphane discovered Dickenson’s story and met him later in the year. Out of that meeting came the first long article on John Dickenson, a scoop Stéphane is proud of. It was published in Skysailor, the Australian magazine, and in Vol Libre Magazine. Stéphane also submitted it to the UK and USA magazines, but they ignored it.

In 1989, Stéphane came back to France. He soon stopped flying hang gliders, but kept writing for Vol Libre Magazine and for Vol Passion, the French Federation (FFVL) magazine, where he was the editor for 12 years.

In 1997, Stéphane was part of a FFVL filming crew that spent three days with Gertrude and Francis Rogallo. Later in the year, he had the Rogallos invited to the Coupe Icare in France as guest of honour, and spent six days with them.

Stéphane volunteered and became involved in the French Federation (FFVL) administration, then in the International Airsports Federation (FAI) and its Hang Gliding and Paragliding Commission (CIVL). He co-wrote And The World Could Fly, a 100+ page book on the history of hang gliding and paragliding, to celebrate the 100th birthday of the FAI. He became the President of the CIVL and served in that role for eight years.

He met Graeme on the Oz Report forum in 2006 and started working with him to correct the history of the sport he had dedicated a large portion of his life to serving.

Ken De Russy. USA

Ken de Russy’s journey to adulthood began in 1969 when he volunteered as a United States Air Force Security Policeman at a hazardous, remote radar site in Vietnam. This intense experience instilled in him a sense of personal responsibility and strategies for mitigating danger—qualities that later proved invaluable when he founded his hang gliding school. His lifelong passion for history, justice, and philosophy was profoundly shaped by this formative chapter.

In the summer of 1973, less than a year after leaving the Air Force, Ken discovered the nascent sport of hang gliding. Seeing its potential for fame and fortune, he seized the opportunity, opening a retail store and launching a hang gliding school in Santa Barbara, California—the epicenter of the sport’s explosive growth. For 25 years, Ken taught hang gliding and sold equipment, pioneering a business with no established blueprint. Every aspect of the sport and school operations had to be developed from scratch. Over his career, Ken directed or was responsible for more than half a million flights, gaining an unparalleled understanding of foot-launched flight. While hundreds of schools emerged and quickly faded, Ken’s success and longevity were exceptionally rare among early pioneers.

Driven by gratitude for the gift of flight, Ken has dedicated himself to uncovering the sport’s origins since his first flights in 1973.

After retiring to the San Juan Islands in Washington State in 1998, he established the Hang Gliding Museum in anacortes, Washington. There, he has amassed a vast historical collection, hosting public displays, sponsoring educational events—including two featuring John Dickenson—and collaborating with museums to chronicle this significant aviation era. To preserve his extensive paper and video archives, Ken has worked to digitise much of the collection, ensuring its legacy.

In 2006, Ken encountered the work of Graeme Henderson, whose findings challenged existing narratives about hang gliding’s origins. For nearly two decades, Ken has collaborated with Graeme and Stéphane Malbos to research and document the sport’s true history. Motivated by a deep sense of justice and a commitment to truth, Ken has championed this project to correct the historical record and honour the rightful inventor of the modern hang glider.

Others

Without the help of many people – too many to list here – , this new look at hang gliding history would never have been completed. We thank them all. There are, however, four people whose contributions were so large and significant that they need to be acknowledged here. They are listed as they were chronologically involved.

Andy Abbott. Australia

I started flying paragliders in 1994 at the age of 30. I read an article about John Dickenson being awarded the Order of Australia in Skysailor, the official magazine of the Australian Federation. This was my first exposure to the history of Free Flying. In a passing conversation with my father, John Dickenson’s name came up: it turned out that John had worked for the company my father managed. I developed into a skybum and went to every competition I could, a pilot in paragliding, and a driver for hang gliding. I became a paragliding Instructor. I lived that life in Europe, Turkey, New Caledonia, New Zealand, and all the good sites in Australia.

By the time I went to Europe in 1997, I was aware of the true history of the design. By great serendipity, Francis Rogallo was the guest of honour at the Coupe Icare that year. As one of the very few Australians in attendance, I arranged an opportunity to meet Rogallo for the purpose of interviewing him for an article for Skysailor. I had the opportunity to ask directly about Dickenson’s influence on the design. Rogallo responded to me: “It was all John Dickenson”.

Around 2006, I had the opportunity to go to Sydney with my father. He arranged a casual bistro meal with John the next day. John was flattered by my interest and connected me with Graeme. When Graeme needed assistance, I was fortunate to be able to help him. The last event required me to fly from Melbourne to Brisbane and drive three hours to get to Graeme’s. We then travelled to Grafton, where SAFA (Sports Aviation Federation Australia) President Paul Green presented Pat Crowe with his FAI Hang Gliding Diploma.

Terry Aspinall. Great Britain, New Zealand, Australia

I grew up in the United Kingdom and in 1973 I caught the bug as they say and became very interested in the sport of hang gliding. At that time, it was a case of do it yourself, although there were a couple of companies who had taken the plunge into manufacturing and selling modern hang gliders. Not knowing how to fly, I befriend local hang gliding hero, David Cook, and he taught me all the basics. I then enjoyed the time of my life right through the ’70s. In the ’80s, I strapped on an engine and never looked back at free flight.

The one thing I do remember is that we were all told that its inventor was a fellow from the USA who worked for NASA at the time: Professor Francis Rogallo. Or was it Dr Francis Rogallo? What I do know is at no time did I ever hear the name of John Dickenson being mentioned.

Many years later, during June of 2007, I was living in Brisbane, Australia. Graeme Henderson contacted me. He had visited one of my websites, and had been reading what I had got up to while living and hang gliding in New Zealand from 1985 to 1988.

He explained that he was trying to establish that a fellow named John Dickenson had invented the modern hang glider, and would I build a website for him? I accepted and got in touch with the people Graeme was working with, Stéphane Malbos and Ken de Russy included.

I would like to thank Graeme Henderson for the friendship we have carved out together. For his forcefulness in trying to find out who really did invent the modern hang glider. Without Graeme’s persistence in trying to get to the truth, this story may never have been told.

Terry passed away peacefully in November 2025.[/p]

Bernd Lukasch. Germany

Bernd Lukasch, born in 1954, was director of the Otto Lilienthal Museum in Lilienthal’s birthplace of Anklam, Germany, from 1992 to 2019. Under his leadership, the museum was awarded the title “FAI Recognized Museum” by the World Air Sports Federation. In addition to all of Lilienthal’s replicas, the museum owns a collection of around 200 hang gliders, including several prototypes. Part of this collection came to the museum through Günther Burghardt, a German hang glider pilot. His idea was to develop a “World’s First Hang Gliding Museum” in the early 1980s. He donated his collection to the museum in 2000.

Bernd is the author of numerous books and articles on early aviation history, including The Flying Man. Otto Lilienthal – History, Flights and Photographs, published in 2022, written with Markus Raffel.

Chris Ross. New Zealand, USA

Graeme introduced me to hang gliding during the 1980s in Queenstown, New Zealand. I occasionally helped Graeme with his hang gliding simulator that he built beside Arrowtown. This simulator was pretty cool: a cable that started at about 160 feet up, and went out about 750 feet, with a glider suspended 10 feet under. If you held the glider correctly, you could fly it down without any load on the wire, giving you the feeling of flying a modern hang glider.

After living in Arrowtown/Queenstown for a few years, I moved to Dunedin and taught myself how to do ridge soaring and top landing at Sandymount, near Dunedin.

In 1992, I moved to Minnesota, USA, and started flying things that made noise. I contacted Graeme online, and he asked me to track down some missing Rogallo Patents and files. I connected with a worker at the archives who teamed up with me for a small fee and produced some interesting files that I sent to Graeme.

I would love for everybody to see the truth about the invention and development of the hang glider, and one day I hope to see the truth being told at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.