Glider


 * This article is about the gliders made by the mechanist. For the traditional variant, see Air Nomad glider.



The gliders are designed by the mechanist, who came up with the idea when he saw murals of airbenders and found the old airbender gliders lying around the temple. They gave him the idea to build a new life for his son, Teo, up in the air, so he modified the design and made it possible for non-airbenders to glide.

History
Team Avatar traveled to the Northern Air Temple after they heard from a storyteller that there were still "air walkers" around in that temple. When they arrived there, they saw that there were several people circling around the towers of the temple. At first they thought they were airbenders, but Aang quickly unmasked them to be just gliders. Teo silently challenged Aang to do gliding tricks with him, a challenge the Avatar gladly accepted.

After seeing so many people gliding in the air, Katara was encouraged by Teo to try gliding herself, but her enthusiasm for it was somewhat dampened when she had to make the leap of faith. With extra encouragement and mentoring from Aang, she began to trust in the design and in herself too and soon took the leap.

Katara learned that she needed to trust the air and let it carry her. Aang, gliding beside her, gave her the advise to not glide with her mouth open to avoid swallowing bugs.

The gliders played a key roll later in the defense of temple during the battle for the Northern Air Temple. As the only party controlling the sky, the defenders held an advantage over the invading Fire Nation forces and were able to drop different kind of bombs on them to repel the attackers.

Design


Little is known specifically. They are simple in design and therefore likely to be made from easily available material such as wood that is light, flexible and strong for the spars and frame. The wing covering appears to be cloth or possibly waxed paper. The main fastening material is twine which is likely waxed too. Lack of moving parts makes the glider simple and quick to produce as well as safe.

They are monoplane in design and do not use an engine or airbending for propulsion; instead they are designed to glide on the air currents alone, much like a kite. Launch is by foot, leap, or in Teo's case a wheeled launch, usually from a cliff edge. They have no moving parts and are controlled by shifting the center of gravity. Lift can be gained in various ways such as thermals, ridge lift, mountain waves and convergence.

Trivia

 * The first gliders are thought to have been invented by a multi-talented Chinese innovator known as Lu Ban, referred to as the "Asian Leonardo Da Vinci". He supposedly invented a piloted kite that could stay aloft for many hours, up to as long as three days.
 * Concept art of The Legend of Korra has shown an Equalist using a kite to fly. It is not known if this is a mode of transportation or if it's simply an aspect of the drawing.