Deconstructing the Rogallo MythToday

When researching on the Internet for “Rogallo”, the search results come up with hundreds of references of no value. Recent documentaries still claim Rogallo is the father of hang gliding and paragliding. So does The Rogallo Foundation on its website, and its Hall of Fame diplomas.

NASA has not changed its narrative to the point of absurd dishonesty when stating that the background of the Allison’s Sled kite (that was invented before any Rogallo kite) is the “Rogallo-designed parawing” (doc-21)

The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum has stated clearly that it is happy to ignore the evidence it has been provided with, in favour of the stories it has been telling for decades. The US hang gliding and paragliding federation still calls a class of its members “Rogallo”. As John Heywood said, “There are none so blind as those who will not see”.[/p]

In the last 20 years, we have made massive changes to the story of modern hang gliding. The roles of John Dickenson, Rod Fuller, Pat Crowe, Ron Nickel, John Revelle, Mike Burns, Steve Cohen, Jan Lavezzari, Robert Bach, Lee and Darrah, William Allison, Robert Bach, Reinhold Platz, and many other pioneers have been brought forward. In our search for the truth, Bill Bennett and Bill Moyes have had their roles reduced to reality, but they still played huge roles. Rogallo, however, inserted himself into the story by stealing the credit for other people’s work. He has no place in it.

It Is What It Is.

These 44,000+ words of argumentation and some 700 pages of supporting documents are our contribution to a more factual and authentic history of hang gliding and paragliding. We believe that, in the long term, the truth will prevail. We hope that, if you were bamboozled by the Rogallo myth, as we once were, these pages helped you reclaim your power from the charlatans.