In these troubled times of Peak Oil and climate change it’s time to start looking at more uses for one of most versatile power sources ever made – you, dear reader. You don’t emit too much CO2, you can be fuelled by everything from rancid eels to fungi and if something breaks it’ll usually grow back. That’s a pretty cool spec list.
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When the oil runs out there are plenty of things we’ll still want to pull off, one of which is flying. Luckily there’s a small band of scientists and enthusiasts out there working to make human-powered flight a reality.
We’re not talking gliding or ballooning, we’re talking taking off and providing forward motion through one’s own toil. Inevitably the earliest attempts at this involved strapping wings onto the arms and flapping away gamely, unfortunately humans would require pectorals the size of beer barrels to keep ourselves in the air.
The archives are littered with questionable achievements in this field. Many an unverified flight took place, others used catapults and cables to gather momentum.
To finally clear the whole thing up the Kremer Prize was created in 1959 by the industrialist Henry Kremer – a pioneer in chipboard and fibreglass. He offered a prize of £50,000 to the first human-powered aircraft to fly a figure of 8 course of nearly a mile at a height of at least 10ft. The stipulations were intended to prove that any winner was a genuinely viable, maneuverable aircraft and not something that could just limp into the air.
The first ever successful human powered flight followed soon after in 1961. The SUMPAC was designed and built at Southampton University. The machine was made from aluminium, spruce, balsa and nylon sheeting and weighed in at just over 60kg. Pedals drove an 8ft propellor. Its best ever flight covered 622 metres at a height of 3.65 metres. It was an amazing achievement, but not enough to win the money.
The Sumpac
After that milestone a variety of contenders appeared. Some were sponsored by aircraft companies, others were private efforts. The maximum distances flown rose to nearly a mile but no one was capable of taking the prize. Mr Kremer increased the winning fund but it wasn’t until 1977 that somebody finally claimed it.
The Gossamer Condor was the machine that pulled off the first controlled flight and won the Kremer Prize. It was a team effort led by aeronautical engineer Dr Paul B MacReady and piloted by cyclist and hang glider Bryan Allen. The machine was largely made from plastic and aluminium and weighed in at a piffling 32kg. It flew a mile and a half and executed a series of manoeuvres. The plane now hangs in the Smithsonian.
The Gossamer Albatross
You’d think the Gossamer team would be content to rest on their laurels, but the Condor was only the first salvo. The Gossamer Albatross truly upped the ante by crossing the English Channel in 1979. The craft, made from carbon fibre and polystyrene over a stretched plastic skin, made the 22 mile crossing in 2hrs and 49 minutes at an average altitude of 5ft, winning a second Kremer Prize of £100,000.
Since then a variety of other firsts have taken place. The first human powered passenger flight took place in 1984 when the German-built Musculair 1′s pilot carried his 10yr old sister a short distance.
The all-time distance record was set by the MIT Daedalus 88 that flew between the Greek islands Crete and Santorini, a distance of 71 miles over a time of 3hrs and 54 minutes. An Olympic cyclist – Kanellos Kanellopoulos – was recruited for the task. He crashed into the sea 7 metres short of his target after high winds broke the 88′s structure.
What next? There are still several unclaimed Kremer Prizes. £50,000 is up for grabs for the first person to cover 26 miles in under an hour. £100,000 is available for the first person to create an aircraft suited for sporting events in normal weather conditions. A competition is also open to schools for the longest flight duration.
People around the world are still refining designs.
There are hopes that one day human-powered aircraft racing will be an Olympic sport. Perhaps when materials and designs advance further we may all be able to have a go. Have a look at the Kremer Prize page if you have a few ideas yourself.
If you’re the inquisitive type, there could be one more thing scratching away at the back of your mind – what about a human-powered helicopter? You’re still in the right place.
This was the Da Vinci 3, the first human-powered hover. It was built in 1989 by Cal Poly. The flight reached an altitude of 8 inches for 8 seconds.
The Yuri 1
The current record holder is the Yuri 1. It was built in 1994 by Japanese students and upped the record to nearly 20 seconds of hovering.
Think you can do better? The Sikorsky Prize is offering $250,000 for the first machine to stay up for 60 seconds at a height of 3 metres. Now you know what to do with your Sunday.
