Barry Hill Palmer

[1] In October 1961 he completed construction and flew the first flexible wing hang glider; this took place near Latrobe, east of Sacramento, California.

[2] He used polyethylene sheet, aluminum tubing and no wires for construction as he did fear kinking during assembly and transport.

His smallest glider weighed 24 lb (11 kg), and had a surface area of 205 sq ft (19.0 m2).

During the period from 1961 to 1963 Barry Palmer made tens of flights using the Rogallo wing concept.

Palmer relates that he had a good paying aerospace job at the time and he was flying on a minimalist and inexpensive glider purely for curiosity and fun.

[3] In fact, Palmer concealed his efforts to the American aviation bureaucracy (FAA) of flying without credentials in a pre-ultralight era, but freely gave information about the wing to any person interested, including Francis Rogallo[4][5] and Richard Miller, who develop the famous Bamboo Butterfly Rogallo wing hang glider, the plans of which circulated in some American magazines in the mid 1960s; Tara Kiceniuk's followed with plans for the bamboo Batso Rogallo wing.

It was powered by a 17 hp (13 kW) at 5000 rpm single cylinder JLO L297 two stroke engine, driving a composite propeller designed and built by Palmer himself and driven by a 2.1/1 reduction gearbox.