In July last year there was held the Asian Cup 2017 of the FAI World Cup Event in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. The players from different countries in the world competed fiercely, flying their gliders in the blue sky over the wide steppe.
Some gliders soared aloft by an ascending air current while others dived down onto the ground before the set time as they failed to escape from a descending air current. The organizers of the contest, umpires and participants, including the DPRK player So Myong Bom and his coach Kim Song Il, a Merited Athlete, of the Kaesong Aero Club, looked up at the gliders flying at different heights. Though So and the coach had rich experience and honed skills at international and domestic competitions several times, they were strained as they had to compete with the foreign players whose countries were said to be the best in the development of the aero technology.
At last, the result of the match was announced. The Korean player So Myong Bom snatched first place at the several rounds of both F1H-class and F1A-class matches. The participants of the contest congratulated So and his coach for their success, saying that Korea was the best and that they had a bright future.
Later So Myong Bom won the individual free glider flying event of the DPRK championships held in October last year. The aforesaid club holds undisputed command in the glider flying event not only at home but also in Asia. It is not long after the club was organized. So it put primary efforts in developing the event which they thought they had a fair chance of winning. Many problems arose in designing and making gliders suited to their characteristics of having to float on air currents, and in mastering the skill of flying them. And only the size of glider wings was fixed internationally regardless of their shape. So they conducted the research to make ideal wings. They studied not only the latest scientific and technological data but also the relevant historical documents of the country.
In the late 16th century the Korean people made and used Pigo(a flying vehicle) on a similar principle to making of today’s glider. While referring to the scientific and technological successes of the ancestors they tried to make a gliderin keeping with the trend in the global development of gliders. It was not an easy job. What mattered especially was to obtain necessary material and introduce a wireless control technique. To solve the problem they frequently visited many scientific research institutes and the relevant factories and enterprises. When they had an opportunity to take part in an international competition, they would exchange opinions with foreign players.
In the course of this, they secured different kinds of materials by themselves, and invented and employed a new wireless control technique superior to that of other countries. After conducting hundreds of computer simulation tests they finally made a glider of their own type. They improved their skill of flying the glider higher through steady training. Now the club puts efforts in developing other events including the power-driven glider event in which they are inexperienced. Besides, it pushes ahead with the work to arrange a popular aero sports service base.
Jon Ju Bong, head of the club, says, “My club is merely in its initial step. But amidst the expectation and concern of many young and other people who want to have a chance of flying in the blue sky freely, our aero sports is developing day after day. In the future lots of people will enjoy themselves by aero sports at the popular aero sports service base to their heart’s content.”