Sportwings Valkyrie

Flight instructor William H. Wolf designed the Valkyrie specifically for pilots who wished to fly over the flat terrain of the Mid-West. Wolf was dissatisfied with the flying qualities of the standard Rogallo wing hang glider, which lacked the performance needed for flatland flying. The Valkyrie wing was long and thin and slightly swept, and both leading and trailing edges ran straight from root to wingtip. To aid longitudinal and lateral stability, Wolf used seven degrees of wing dihedral. Steel cables braced the wings and steadied the pilot who sat in a swing seat and controlled pitch by shifting his or her weight fore and aft.