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Perkins Reluctant Phoenix
The Reluctant Phoenix is a British human-powered aircraft, designed and built in the 1960s by the British engineer Daniel Perkins. It was notable for being an inflatable delta-wing tailless design, and for being flown indoors. Background Perkins was employed with the Ministry of Defense during the 1950s and 1960s and developed a number of inflatable structures; both for his employers and on his own account. In the late 1950s, he built three human-powered aircraft, all with inflatable wings, though none were successful. The Reluctant Phoenix was Perkins' fourth design. It was a tailless delta-wing monoplane, with a pusher propeller fitted to the tailing edge of the rudder. The primary structure of the craft consisted of single aluminium tube running along the centre-line of the aircraft. To this were attached the undercarriage's steerable nosewheel, pedal cranks, the pilot seat, the control system, a tailwheel, and the tail fin. The remainder of the aircraft's structure co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human-powered Aircraft
A human-powered aircraft (HPA) is an aircraft belonging to the class of vehicles known as human-powered transport. Human-powered aircraft have been successfully flown over considerable distances. However, they are still primarily constructed as engineering challenges rather than for any kind of recreational or utilitarian purpose. History Early attempts at human-powered flight were unsuccessful because of the difficulty of achieving the high power-to-weight ratio. Prototypes often used ornithopter principles which were not only too heavy to meet this requirement but aerodynamically unsatisfactory. First attempts In 1904, Scientific American published an article and a photograph of a bicycle plane built by Steward Winslow of Riparia, Washington. He attempted to fly his plane on 30 July 1904, but one of the wheels failed. An early human-powered aircraft was the Gerhardt Cycleplane, developed by W. Frederick Gerhardt at McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio in 1923. The aircraft h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardington Airfield
Cardington Airfield, previously RAF Cardington, is a former Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, with a long and varied history, particularly in relation to airships and balloons. Most of the former RAF station is in the parish of Eastcotts, as is the settlement of Shortstown. History Birth under the Short brothers The site started life as a private venture when aircraft manufacturing company Short Brothers bought land there to build airships for the Admiralty. It constructed a Airship hangar (the No. 1 Shed) in 1915 to enable it to build two rigid airships, the R-31 and the R-32. Short also built a housing estate, opposite the site, which it named Shortstown. Royal Airship Works The airships site was nationalised in April 1919, becoming known as the Royal Airship Works. In preparation for the R101 project, the No. 1 shed was extended between October 1924 and March 1926; its roof was raised by 35 feet and its length increased to 812 feet. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardington, Bedfordshire
Cardington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Part of the ancient hundred of Wixamtree, the settlement is best known in connection with the Cardington airship works founded by Short Brothers during World War I, which later became an RAF training station. However most of the former RAF station is actually in the parish of Eastcotts, as is the settlement of Shortstown, which was originally built by Short Brothers for its workers. The village of Cardington is located to the north east of Shortstown and the RAF station, and houses most of the population of the parish, which was 270 in 2005, making it one of the least populated parishes in Bedfordshire. Sites of interest The Church of St Mary the Virgin has pieces dating from the 12th century, although the church itself was mostly rebuilt between 1898 and 1902. It is a Grade II listed building. Airships, barrage balloons and RAF Cardington Cardington became one of the major Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMPAC Puffin
The HMPAC Puffin was a British man-powered aircraft designed by a team headed by John Wimpenny, an aerodynamicist at the de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was built by the Hatfield Man Powered Aircraft Club (HMPAC) on the company's premises in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. On 2 May 1962, Wimpenny, aged 39, piloted the Puffin at the Hatfield Aerodrome, pedalling to power the propeller, achieving a flight distance of , a world record which was to stand for ten years. The Puffin had a wingspan of . Puffin II An improved version of the Puffin was developed and built in 1965 as the HMPAC Puffin II. First flown on 27 August 1965, the Puffin II utilized the transmission components of the Puffin I in a completely new airframe. After it had been damaged, the Puffin II airframe was given to Liverpool University, who used it to build the Liverpuffin. Specifications See also * SUMPAC * List of human-powered aircraft References * Further reading *{{cite book, last1=Reay, first1=D. A., ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malliga 1
The Malliga 1 human powered aircraft was the project of Horst Josef Malliga. It is thought that it was the first successful Continental European human-powered aircraft. Design work began in August 1966, with the first flight taking place in September 1967. The aircraft was a low-wing monoplane, with a pod and boom configuration. The pilot sat in a recumbent position, and powered a two bladed pusher propeller, located behind a streamlined nacelle. Twin booms supported twin fins, with an all-flying tailplane located between them. Constructed from aluminium tubing and polystyrene, with plastic film covering. The Malliga 1 had a constant-chord wingplan, and spanned 20.00 m (65 ft 7in). As originally designed, the tailfins did not incorporate rudders, and directional control was made via two fins located outboard and underneath the wing. Lateral control was obtained by wingtip ailerons. With this configuration, and under human-power alone, flights of up to 150 m (487.50 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paxton Man-powered Aircraft
The Paxton man-powered aircraft was the project of architect Tony Paxton, to create a compact human-powered aircraft, suitable for sports flying. It was a low-wing monoplane, but mounted on top of a tall undercarriage 6 ft off the ground. The airframe was constructed of metal tubing, with extensive use of styrofoam in order to create the wing ribs and fuselage formers. The wings were of constant chord and made use of the thick-sectioned high-lift GU25-5(11)8 aerofoil. The wings were also wire braced, and fitted with tip plates at each wingtip. Control was very similar to that of the Weybridge ''Dumbo'' machine; the cruciform tail featured movable control surfaces on both fins and the tailplanes, with lateral control being achieved by rotating each wing, in its entirety, around the spar. The pilot sat in the open air, in a reclined position, and powered a 2-bladed pusher propeller via a bevel-geared drive system. Initial tests with the aircraft resulted in a failure o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft
__NOTOC__ The Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft (also known as ''Dumbo'' and later ''Mercury'') is a British single-seat man-powered aircraft built and flown by members of the Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft Group. Development The Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft Group was formed in late 1967 with members drawn from the British Aircraft Corporation factory and the local chapter of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Construction started in 1968 and the aircraft was assembled at Wisley and flown for the first time from Weybridge on 18 September 1971. The Weybridge MPA (which was named ''Dumbo'') was flown by Christopher Lovell for a distance of 46 metres with a height reached of 3 ft (0.9m). Only two flights were made at Weybridge and the aircraft was passed to another group at RAF Cranwell who renamed it ''Mercury''. Design The aircraft is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a fuselage made from aluminium alloy tubing with balsa frames and covered with Melinex. The wing has a single ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wright Micron
The ''Micron'' was the second of two human-powered aircraft designed and built by Peter Wright, an engineer from Melton Mowbray, England. Wright had previously designed and built the Wright MPA Mk 1, which first flew in 1972. The low wing loading of that design affected the flight opportunities which could be made. The design of his second human-powered aircraft, the ''Micron'', began in 1974 with the intent that it be robust and practical; to this end, it had a relatively high wing loading, thereby increasing flight opportunities. It was also intended to be easily assembled and transportable in a glider trailer. The ''Micron'' was of conventional configuration. It was a low-wing monoplane, with a very streamlined fuselage and a V-tail empennage. The pilot sat in a recumbent position, pedalling a set of bicycle pedals, and powering a pusher propeller mounted on a pylon located near the front of the fuselage. Power transmission was by a cable/roller drive. The craft made ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
