Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Human-powered light aircraft

Power Plant:

Nil

Specifications:

History:

In 1959 a prize was announced by Henry Kremer, a British Industrialist, for the first group to build and fly a human-powered aircraft over a figure-of-eight course covering a total of 1.6 kms (one mile), the course to include a 3.048 m (10 ft) pole that the aircraft had to fly over at the beginning and conclusion of the flight.

A number of groups from various universities and companies around the world took up the challenge and one of the first of these was an aircraft designed and built by the Southampton University in 1961 in the United Kingdom and, flown by Mr Derek Piggott, on 9 November flew 650 m (2,132.5 ft). In the following years a number of other aircraft were flown, one in June 1972, known as the Jupiter, managing 1,239 m (4,065 ft), and the Nihon Stork B in 1976 achieving 2 km (1.24 miles).

At this time, in the early 1970s, a fresh challenge came from a company called AeroVironment Inc run by Dr Paul B MacCready and Dr Peter B S Lissaman. Its design became known as the Gossamer Condor. This aircraft had a large wing with a gondola hung beneath the wing for the pilot, and a canard control surface on an extension from the forward fuselage. It was mostly built with lightweight plastic with aluminium spars.

The aircraft was developed through three distinct variants, the first becoming known as the Pasadena Version, being a proof of concept aircraft which flew once in the vehicle parking area of the Pasadena Rose Bowl stadium.

The next variant, which carried the name Gossamer Condor, was known as the Mojave Version and was flown on 26 December 1976 at Mojave airport in Calilfornia.

The final variant, known as the Shafter Version, had many improvements including double-skin aerofoil sections, this allowing the aircraft to fly long distances and also make manoeuvres. On 23 August 1977 piloted / pedalled by amateur cyclist and hang-glider pilot Bryan Allen at Minter Field in Shafter, California, it won the Kremer Prize by performing the figure-eight course specified by the Royal Aeronautical Society. This aircraft was later preserved and placed on display at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC.

Further development of the design led to the Albatross which made a flight across the English Channel, the Solar Challenger, a solar-powered model that also crossed the English Channel, and other designs.

The Burney Technical College in Tasmania designed, built and flew a man-powered aircraft, known as the Sky Cycle, which made a number of successful flights in the early 1990s. However, in recent years interest in man/pedal-powered aircraft has all but disappeared with the introduction and development of solar panels and electric/battery-operated aircraft, and the introduction of efficient lightweight aircraft engines.

In 1979 a group led by Lauchlan Thomson at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Victoria built a replica of the Gossamer Condor as a project for students. It is known it was completed and made a number of successful short flights but the aircraft was badly damaged by a sudden gust of wind early in its test program whilst being moved from its hangar to the runway. It is thought this was a replica of the final and most successful of the Condor designs.

It has been reported the first of the designs had a wing area of 98.2 m² (1,055 sq ft), a span of 29.3 m (96 ft) and an empty weight of 38.2 kg (84 lb) but was found to be susceptible to gust loads. The second aircraft had a number of improvements to overcome these problems, one of which was to reduce the wing area to 70.7 m² (761 sq ft). Later designs of man-powered aircraft were far smaller, with wing areas in the region of 30 m² (323 sq ft). It is believed the RMIT Condor was not rebuilt and its ultimate fate is not known.