I was hang gliding at Chelan, WA some years back, and about 1500' above the airport over on 97A north of town, a big, territorial redtail hawk hit my fabric wing in the same place as your hawk hit you. Right leading edge from above, about halfway out. The one that hit my wing dug it's talons in, rocked forward in a pivot from its feet, then let go and banked right to come around and repeat. I dove out and went in for a landing, since I was somewhat fatigued from about a 3-4 hour flight, didn't want the bird hassle, and thought I heard a cold beer calling me. I think they choose that area because it is near a bird joint, and a strike there could do more damage than along a straight section of sinew and muscle with no cartilage and flex points. After I landed, I inspected the fabric on my leading edge and saw a one-inch tear, a half-inch tear and a small puncture. I was impressed as I laughed from my beer-in-hand, feet-on-grass recollection of what had happened just a few minutes ago. What a fun day.

The pilot of the glider gots nerves of steel ! I didn’t see him flinch once 👍

His pattern recognition is spot on. He’s going for what would be the head

A whole new meaning to "feather the prop"

That's a big R/C glider. i was a terrible R/C flyer, but one day 2 seagulls were flying together over the field and i was able to swing around and come up behind them and fly off their wing. They were looking back at my plane with puzzlement. i escorted them off the field area. They were pretty cool about it.

Mommas gonna be so proud when I bring this back to the nest

I often had hawks and eagles come up and look into the cockpit around Tocumwal in Victoria. However none of them attacked in any way. In gliding you are often circling with the birds and they are used as a sign of lift by most glider pilots.

I genuinely didn't notice that was an RC-Glider until I read the comments...

That is really impressive for Black-shouldered Kites, that are small raptors and not normally overly aggressive. Presumably, you are in Australia, (if so that is what they are) although there are very similar species in other parts of the world.

Very cool footage, thanks for sharing Adam! Thumbs up!

It amazes me people can fly so high up like that. I get mine that far up or away and eventually I can't tell which way it's pointing. And people who do it with helicopters are just as amazing if not more.

Looked more like it was trying to mate with it... "Hey sexy.. come here often?"

Aggressive little critters,I give them top marks for persistence.

You were piloting in his airspace without clearance, what did you expect? ;)

Beautiful plane, pretty amazing footage, I just ordered the 4 meter DG 808 from hobby 88, my first venture into large sailplanes, been flying 2 meters, just hope the motor and speed control is enough to get some decent altitude, I'm excited and nervous

Great glider and video Adam. Spectacular scenery too.

Hawk like, "Why Doesn't This Damn Noisy Bird Have A Head?"

wow what a really cool video! Glad to see that you didnt turn on your motor to make sure said hawk would chop itself up. Well done Boss. Happy Flying. Ps. lol That Hawk sure was pissed that you were flying in his airspace.

What a beautiful part of the world this is, those waterways are awesome! Thank you for the video.

Hawk be like, "I got your nose". That was some really cool footage. Thanks for sharing.

GIANT BIRDS!!!! That poor girl with the big rack flying must have been terrified :o

Ah the hawks just wanted to get on KZfaq like everyone else! Lol!

The bird was just mad you can do loops

Yes. He should be looking around all the time. Must be lazy. Excellent video and lovely glider - climbs like crazy! No "washout" it seems. (At high speeds, wing tips bending down because of their reduced angle of attack. Helps roll stability in a stall.) Outstanding all round. Good job!

This is the most awesome thing I've seen all day.

Bravo Adam....amazing...thanks alot.

IDK, the glider pilot looks pretty hot!! The hawk might have been just lonely!!

Beautiful video. Glad the raptors decided to leave your horizontal stabilizer alone! We have a slope here in Frankfort Kentucky USA where a few red tailed hawks get curious especially if you fly near their resting area. But most will just circle for a bit and leave. AJ

Now that's a bird strike!

Clearly invaded what they thought was their airspace

awesome video... thanks for this footage , like a loot! :)

Amazing speed to keep up! I wonder if it was trying to kill the glider or attack its own reflection? He must of been proud when you landed thinking he injured you lol

They mistook the folded prop for prey in a predator's beak and tried to steal it, IMO.

That hawk better watch he don't get tangled up in the prop... It will be a bad day.....!!!!

1:28

Thx that u dont start the engine! And nice landing!! :)

for anyone wondering: it's a white-tailed kite.

I'm regularly getting chased by magpies. Lol. And constantly have to avoid flocks of crazy galahs and rainbow lorries.

Crazy ! Thank you for sharing :)

OMG I thought it was real plane :-)

this is really cool, those hawks meant business!

these birds have amazing courage as they are attacking a "creature" at least 100 times their size.

their stealth haunting as the shadows emerge in the light, long before the attack, assessing their threat

Over and over too!! Amazing!

The pilot has no fear

The birds like hey there's a lil one inch man inside

I don’t think he likes you…! Great respect for his airspace bro… most would power up for the chop..

Thank you for caring for nature, good that you stop the prop from spinning or that hawk would have been hurt. I fly rc too

1:44 you're welcome 🤗

Flying a hang glider years ago at Australia’s Buckland Ridge I had a hawk rake my upper surface.

Yes--the pilot is very calm. Almost catatonic. I've heard pilots can get hypnotized by spinning propellers. Maybe a check up is in order before someone gets hurt. Is he still under warranty?

the pilot inside the glider looks like lunch...

It keeps going after the the canopy. Almost as if it was trying to eat the tiny man inside.

Smaller birds do this a lot to bigger birds when they fly in their skies. It's like hunting grounds real estate for them and so to them this plane has no permit to fly in those airs. They are keeping the zone safe for their young to grow up.

I hope you're okay! Must be very scarry when he comes done to your window.

Beautiful movie! Btw, your "hawk" is a White-tailed Kite.

First I thought it was a drone, then I said to myself, nah probably a real plane with a pilot in it. But the when the thing landed, I face palm.

Non one notice it but rear view is juste wonderful with nice colors 👍 Really nice vidéo

Oh hell! I though this was a real glider. Came here to see the giant bird LoL! You need some gun turrets.

They sometimes attack full size gliders as well..

Very nice. The same happened to me with another type of bird. Regretfully I had not a camera onboard.

beautiful video

Adam, An amazing "eagle" view and you hit the bull`s ...hawk`s, By the way. Please check the wing beams because Andrzej has just lost his DG808 in the air. Why? After crash analysis the wing joiner plugs have been embedded by the manufacturer with almost no resin. It was a hidden affliction for that soarer... don`t worry the RC pilot has survived :-) So, pls keep an eye.

In the Spring and early Summer birds are very protective of their nesting territory. That`s why they attack.

The hawk had a big appetite he was going to get the big bird in the sky

That's a giant White Tailed Kite or a really small person. I think it is the later.

This is not a hawk, but a black-winged kite aka black-shouldered kite Elanus caeruleus, just for your information.

It didn't like your pilot! :D Cool video :)

I had a hawk come at me 2m hotliner at one point while I was in a shallow climb, I was worried for its safety because of the big prop, which would certainly kill or at least maim it, so I nailed it and climbed vertically as a hotliner is wont to do and the hawk fucked off. I must have mushed around for 20 minutes up there and when I deployed the brakes and came in the hawk was back, took a chunk out of the canopy, guess he wasn't happy about my showoff climb.

kind of looks like its trying to swipe a blade from the prop. My guess is the glider looks like a large bird with a couple fish hanging out of its mouth and the hawk is trying to steal it.

Gotta credit the cameraman here, hell of a job.

Looks like my wife is the pilot! It all makes sense.

Holy crap, didn't know this was a glider until I checked the comments! lol

The pilot seems somewhat of a stoic fellow.

The wing seems to be to hard and slippery for him to get a hold of. Stick and tissue would crumble instantly.

Amazing how short a time it takes for this bold little hawk to make a return attempt. They really do rule their airspace. I am trying to identify it. Any idea people?

attacking the head...

I've been attacked flying a Standard 15 metre Cirrus more than once by an Augur Buzzard who used to live in a tree close to the threshold of our club's grass strip in Kenya - used to object to us coming in to land through his airspace. Downwind checks used to end with an extra L = lookout for the Augur Buzzard ! Before the days of Go-Pros !

It looks like the hawk is having trouble with the updraft caused by the leading edge of the wing. He keeps swooping in and gets blown upward.

Just a guess but looks like defensive dive bombing rather than an attack, you where probably flying over the Hawks nesting area

i though its a real glider

It is a model airplane, with a doll in there, if you ask me

I don't like the placement of the camera it gives a distorted view. My glider pilot buddy said that attacking raptors always made eye contact as if they knew it was a toy with a human inside running it. I'm still surprised that the kites aren't intimidated by the size of the glider. It's like attacking a huge pterosaur of some kind. Maybe in the past giant pterosaurs were heckled the same way by smaller ones.

hawk is saying your on my air space.

Perhaps it is not really attacking, just checking it out. I had a bird check out my drone, flying circles around it. Did not even know birds could fly such circles, very close near the propellers. Normally those birds clear the area if you start flying drone.

Awesome. Another favorite if mine is an eagle attacking a drone.

Very striking

Hello , What its dumm from you is to keep on flying because the bird doesnt know what it is and wants to kill it. So its wise to give the plane down with avoiding movings and get it to landing mode

They don't like the noise in your invading their airspace, LOL

Hawk attack on German Unit - understood

Vielen Vögeln wurden von den Propellern Füße und Schnäbel abgehackt.

Sweet footage

I need glasses I thought this was a Wiley coyote cartoon

I recon the bird tries to push away the intruder from her/his territory

Probably thinks your glider is as giant prey, or it thinks your glider is another threat on its airspace.

That's what you get...is a no fly zone

The real scene from Stuart little

the bird didn't attack; it just try to have a rest

What a brave bird!

At first I thought that it was a full scale glider, then I read 4 meters..... a little small for a full scale glider. I have the 2 meters electric Aspire, I will try with the camera. I posted few airborne videos that I took with my Senior Kadet.