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MIT Monarch A
The ''Monarch A'' was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built by graduates and undergraduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Professors Walter Hollister and Ed Crawley acting as Project Advisers. Professor Eugene Larrabee, who had been the adviser for the 1979 MIT ''Chrysalis'' HPA, also provided support. Development The concept and general arrangement of the craft, described as an improved successor to the ''Chrysalis'', was first detailed in the Spring 1981 issue of the ''AIAA Student Journal''. Development of the design was prompted in May 1983 by the announcement of the Kremer World Speed Competition. According to the rules, the first HPA to traverse a 1,500 m (4,920 ft) triangular closed course in less than 180 seconds would be awarded a £20,000 prize. Competition rules allowed for stored energy, generated by the pilot during a ten-minute period immediately preceding a flight, to be used as an additional power source. Design of the ...
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Human-powered Aircraft
A human-powered aircraft (HPA) is an aircraft belonging to the class of vehicles known as human-powered transport. As its name suggests, HPAs have the pilot not only steer, but power the aircraft (usually propeller-driven) by means of a system similar to a bicycle or tricycle: a pair of pedals, moved by the pilot's feet that turns a gear, which then moves a bicycle chain, which then rotates a smaller gear, which turns a vertical shaft that either turns a set of bevel gears, which turns another, horizontal shaft that ultimately turns a propeller, or in the case of earlier prototypes, an ornithopter mechanism. Often, a hybrid system is used; where during a certain amount of time pedaling, it would charge a battery, which would, at the push of a button, power an electric motor that is connected to the same horizontal shaft as the propeller. Human-powered aircraft have been successfully flown over considerable distances. However, they are still primarily constructed as engineer ...
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Electric Battery
An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive Terminal (electronics), terminal is the cathode and its negative terminal is the anode. The terminal marked negative is the source of electrons. When a battery is connected to an external electric load, those negatively charged electrons flow through the circuit and reach the positive terminal, thus causing a redox reaction by attracting positively charged ions, or cations. Thus, higher energy reactants are converted to lower energy products, and the Gibbs free energy, free-energy difference is delivered to the external circuit as electrical energy. Historically the term "battery" specifically referred to a device composed of multiple cells; however, the usage has evolved to include devices composed of a single cell. Primary battery, Primary (single-use or "disposable") batter ...
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MIT Aircraft
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and science. In response to the increasing industrialization of the United States, William Barton Rogers organized a school in Boston to create "useful knowledge." Initially funded by a federal land grant, the institute adopted a polytechnic model that stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. MIT moved from Boston to Cambridge in 1916 and grew rapidly through collaboration with private industry, military branches, and new federal basic research agencies, the formation of which was influenced by MIT faculty like Vannevar Bush. In the late twentieth century, MIT became a leading center for research in computer science, digital technology, artificial intelligence and big science initiatives like the Human Genome Projec ...
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Aircraft First Flown In 1983
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, direct downward thrust from its engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, rotorcraft (including helicopters), airships (including blimps), gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 14 of the U. S. Code of Federal Regulations states that aircraft "means a device that is used or intended to be used for flight in the air." The human activity that surrounds aircraft is called ''aviation''. The science of aviation, including designing and building aircraft, is called ''aeronautics.'' Crewed aircraft are flown by an onboard pilot, whereas unmanned aerial vehicles may be remotely controlled or self-controlled by onboard computers. Aircraft may be classified by different criteria, such as ...
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1980s United States Experimental Aircraft
__NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 198 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire *January 28 **Publius Septimius Geta, son of Septimius Severus, receives the title of Caesar. **Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, is given the title of Augustus. China *Winter – Battle of Xiapi: The allied armies led by Cao Cao and Liu Bei defeat Lü Bu; afterward Cao Cao has him executed. By topic Religion * Marcus I succeeds Olympianus as Patriarch of Constantinople (until 211). Births * Lu Kai, Chinese official and general (d. 269) * Quan Cong, Chinese general and advisor (d. 249) Deaths * Li Jue, Chinese warlord and regent * ...
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High-wing Aircraft
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing configuration and is the simplest to build. However, during the early years of flight, these advantages were offset by its greater weight and lower manoeuvrability, making it relatively rare until the 1930s. Since then, the monoplane has been the most common form for a fixed-wing aircraft. Characteristics Support and weight The inherent efficiency of the monoplane is best achieved in the cantilever wing, which carries all structural forces internally. However, to fly at practical speeds the wing must be made thin, which requires a heavy structure to make it strong and stiff enough. External bracing can be used to improve structural efficiency, reducing weight and cost. For a wing of a given size, the weight reduction allows it to fly slower an ...
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List Of Human-powered Aircraft
This is a list of History of human-powered aircraft, human-powered aircraft by date. See also *History of human-powered aircraft References Further reading * External links Chris Roper's online book ''Human Powered Flying''Prop designer
Vélair

– Yuri human-powered helicopter – YouTube video

– human-powered ornithopter

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MIT Daedalus
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department's Daedalus is a class of three human-powered aircraftJohn McIntyreMan's Greatest Flight, ''AeroModeller'', August 1988 (in files of Royal Aeronautical Society Human Powered Aircraft Group) (accessed Nov. 13 2012) that included ''Daedalus 88''which, on 23 April 1988, flew a distance of in 3 hours, 54 minutes, from Heraklion on the island of Crete to the island of Santorini. The flight holds official Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI world records for total distance, straight-line distance, and duration for human-powered fixed-wing aircraft. The class was named after the mythological inventor of aviation, Daedalus, and was inspired by the Greek myth of Daedalus' escape from Crete using manmade wings. The three aircraft in the class are: * ''Light Eagle'' (originally ''Michelob Light Eagle''): a prototype. * ''Daedalus 87'': Crashed during testing at Rogers Dry Lake (NASA Dryden F ...
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MacCready Gossamer Condor
The MacCready ''Gossamer Condor'' was the first human-powered aircraft capable of controlled and sustained flight; as such, it won the Kremer prize in 1977. Its design was led by Paul MacCready of AeroVironment, Inc. Design and development The Kremer Prize had been set up in 1959 by Henry Kremer, a British industrialist, and offered £50,000 in prize money to the first group that could fly a human-powered aircraft over a figure-eight course covering a total of one mile (1.6 kilometers). The course also included a ten-foot pole that the aircraft had to fly over at the start and at the end. Early attempts to build human-powered aircraft had focused on wooden designs, which proved too heavy. Very early attempts – notably the ' and ''Pedaliante'' – used catapult launches. In 1961, Southampton University's Man Powered Aircraft SUMPAC took to the air at Lasham Airfield on 9 November, piloted by Derek Piggott, achieving a maximum flight of . One week later, on 16 November, ...
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MacCready Gossamer Albatross
The ''Gossamer Albatross'' is a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Dr Paul B MacCready's company AeroVironment. On June 12, 1979, it completed a successful crossing of the English Channel to win the second Kremer prize worth £100,000 (). Design and development The aircraft was designed and built by a team led by Paul B. MacCready, a noted American aeronautics engineer, designer, and world soaring champion. ''Gossamer Albatross'' was his second human-powered aircraft, the first being the ''Gossamer Condor'', which had won the first Kremer prize on August 23, 1977, by completing a -long figure-eight course. The second Kremer challenge was then announced as a flight across the English Channel recalling Louis Blériot's crossing of 1909. The aircraft is of " canard" configuration, using a large horizontal stabilizer forward of the wing in a manner similar to the Wright brothers' successful ''Wright Flyer'' aircraft and powered using pedals to drive a ...
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Kohm Lady Godiva
The ''Lady Godiva'' is a human-powered aircraft built in the early 1980s by Thomas Kohm of Huntington, New York. It is a replica of the MacCready ''Gossamer Albatross''. Kohm had been a physics teacher at Cold Spring Harbor High School and, along with a group of his students, was inspired by the success of the ''Albatross'' to make a copy of it. As their project advanced, Kohm decided that the craft would be the "first girl-powered plane", with the role of pilot eventually being taken by his teenage daughter, Christina 'Christy' Kohm. The craft acquired the name ''Lady Godiva'', due to her wearing minimal clothing, when she was piloting the craft. Construction began in 1981, with the first flight taking place at the Brookhaven Municipal Airport in July 1982. The best flight occurred on October 1, 1982, when it flew for 4 minutes 30 seconds. The aircraft was constructed from graphite fibre tubing, mylar, stryofoam, and balsa. It was modified three times, and also underwen ...
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