It's 1 AM and I am up to my typical foolishness and read about the ridiculous density of the Martian atmosphere, which is less than 1% of Earths. Not being an Engineer of any sort, I simply rely on my vivid imagination.
Were it even possible, a plane or a glider capable of any sort of flight there. Hmmm. Perhaps an angel capable of living on dusty carbon dioxide.
Just a thought. It might be a fun read if someone were able ....
Gwen Brown
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The Mars Glider
Not 15 minutes since I made this post and I see a new video on YouTube with the same title. Hmmm
Gwen Brown
See: ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingenuity_(helicopter)
"The System" has mangled the link a bit. You'll land on the disambiguation page, where you'll need to select "helicopter".
The problem with gliders ...
... is that they, well, =glide=.
They can stay up for a long time, but only by 'riding the thermals' (updrafts).
The first step in gliding, is to get off the ground. On Earth, gliders are launched into the air by things like tow-planes or cliffs (see 'hang gliding').
On Mars - how to get up on a cliff? And if we have, on Mars, a tow-plane ... then, since any decent plane can glide ... we don't also need a glider.
When I flew gliders ...
... in the UK we had a cable launch from a powered winch. The last time I flew was in Omarara on SI New Zealand one evening when we were cycle touring back in 1999 and that was an aero tow. You can find enough lift there to stay up almost indefinitely in the Southern Alps.
I think gravity on Mars is lower than here so that might compensate to some extent for the thinner air. I have RC model gliders that use electric motors to gain altitude so that's another option. Though why you would do it is another question.
There are also...
...powered gliders, of course, where there is a small engine, perhaps in the nose, used to get sufficient height. The prop blades then feather or fold back, depending on model.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_glider
The Long Earth
Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter co-wrote a series of books premised upon the idea that one can 'step' between alternate Earths, and we learn how to do this at around this point in our civilisation: we've only ruined one (the "datum Earth") out of millions, each one different and most of them devoid of intelligent life. A frontier-like approach sees mankind spread out, away from authoritarian governments and into limitless space.
In one of the later books, 'The Long Mars' they explore alternate versions of Mars, using a glider. Stephen Baxter's sci-fi is... plausible.
As audiobooks, they're on YouTube. (They shouldn't be; somebody's playing fast-and-loose with copyright, but... YouTube.)
Sugar and Spiiice – TG Fiction by Bryony Marsh
The Helicopter
Worked well and showed that flight is possible even in the thin atmosphere.