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Wright MPA Mk 1
The Wright MPA Mk 1 was the first of two human-powered aircraft designed and built by Peter Wright, an engineer from Melton Mowbray, England. Background Design of the aircraft began in October 1969, with construction itself beginning mid-1971. It was completed by February 1972, with that taking 500 hours. Wright's approach was to reduce the aircraft's weight and its construction time by minimising the amount of materials used to construct the aircraft. The aircraft was a mid-wing monoplane. The pilot sat in a semi-recumbent position, and powered a rear-mounted 2-bladed propeller via bicycle pedals driving a bicycle chain and driveshaft transmission. The framework for the pilot support and the transmission was made from mild steel tubing, with the remainder of the aircraft being constructed from expanded polystyrene, plastics, balsa, with carbon fibre being used to reinforce the structure. Compared to other human-powered aircraft of the era, the MPA Mk 1 had a very large ... [...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] |
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 650 metres. One week later, on 16 N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruciform Tail Aircraft
Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform architecture. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross, with arms of equal length or, later, a cross-in-square plan. In the Western churches, a cruciform architecture usually, though not exclusively, means a church built with the layout developed in Gothic architecture. This layout comprises the following: *An east end, containing an altar and often with an elaborate, decorated window, through which light will shine in the early part of the day. *A west end, which sometimes contains a baptismal font, being a large decorated bowl, in which water can be firstly, blessed (dedicated to the use and purposes of God) and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pusher Aircraft
In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in normal operation. Pusher configuration describes this specific (propeller or ducted fan) thrust device attached to a craft, either aerostat (airship) or aerodyne (aircraft, WIG, paramotor, rotorcraft) or others types such as hovercraft, airboat and propeller-driven snowmobiles. "Pusher configuration" also describes the layout of a fixed-wing aircraft in which the thrust device has a pusher configuration. This kind of aircraft is commonly called a pusher. Pushers have been designed and built in many different layouts, some of them quite radical. History The rubber-powered "Planophore", designed by Alphonse Pénaud in 1871, was an early successful model aircraft with a pusher propeller. Many early aircraft (especially biplanes) were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mid-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 planes. 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 a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Human-powered Aircraft
This is a list of 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 a ... 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 [...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] |
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] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melton Mowbray
Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promoted as Britain's "Rural Capital of Food", it is the home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie and is the location of one of six licensed makers of Stilton cheese. History Toponymy The name comes from the early English word Medeltone – meaning "Middletown surrounded by small hamlets" (as do Milton and Middleton). Mowbray is the Norman family name of early Lords of the Manor – namely Robert de Mowbray. Early history In and around Melton, there are 28 scheduled ancient monuments, some 705 buildings of special architectural or historical interest, 16 sites of special scientific interest, and several deserted village sites. Its industrial archaeology includes the Grantham Canal and remains of the Melton Mowbray Navigation. Windmill sites and ... [...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] |
