Bill Bennett, hang gliding pioneer and `Live And Let Die` stuntman, dies aged 73

14-Nov-2004 • Bond News

Bill Bennett, who helped develop the modern hang glider and popularized the sport through exhibitions and publicity stunts, has died. He was 73.

Bennett performed as Roger Moore's stunt double for the hang gliding sequence in the 1973 James Bond film "Live And Let Die".

He also gave hang gliding lessons to Moore, which can be seen as a special feature on the "Live And Let Die" Special Edition DVD.

Bennett, originally from Australia, died Oct. 7 at Lake Havasu City Airport in Arizona while being recertified in a powered hang glider, his fiancee, Margo Brown, told the Los Angeles Times. He was taking off with an instructor when the glider lost power and crashed.

Nicknamed the "Birdman," Bennett introduced the modern controllable glider to the United States in 1969 with exhibitions in California before going on to perform high-flying stunts across the country. He once glided around the Statue of Liberty.

Bill Bennet over the Statue of Liberty July 4, 1969.

He also achieved a series of hang gliding milestones, becoming the first to fly higher than a mile, soar more than 200 miles while under tow and pilot a motorized hang glider, according to "Sky Adventures" by Jim Palmieri. He set a 10,000-foot world record when he launched a glider by a hot-air balloon.

In 1972, Bennett made the world's highest and longest unassisted free flight after he took off from a ridge in Death Valley and traveled 6.2 miles to the valley floor, 5,757 feet below.

"Probably his most significant role is he helped to make hang gliding a household word," said Josh Criss, a hang glider pilot who interviewed Bennett for a documentary. "He was really extremely dedicated and a fearless promoter of the sport."

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Bennett's hang gliding company helped pioneer the basic design of modern gliders, along with improvements such as emergency parachutes and Mylar-coated sail cloth, said Richard Boone, Bennett's former chief designer.

Born in Korumburra, Australia, Bennett served in the Australian Navy and worked as a mechanic and boat builder. A renowned water skier, he began experimenting with large kites attached to ski boats by tow rope.

After mastering a weight-shift control system designed by another gliding innovator, John Dickenson, that allowed for free flight, Bennett started exhibiting the device in the United States.

Bennett has been honored by the Soaring Hall of Fame, NASA's Space and Technology Hall of Fame and the Francis Rogallo Hall of Fame, and Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum displays glider's produced by his company.

In addition to his fiancee, Bennett is survived by four children, a stepson, seven grandchildren, and a great granddaughter.

The family requests that donations be made to the Rogallo Foundation Museum Fund.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.