HPA Toucan

Toucan
Role	Two-seat Human-powered aircraft
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Hertfordshire Pedal Aeronauts
First flight	23 December 1972
Number built	1

Last updated March 12, 2023

The HPA Toucan is a British two-seat human-powered aircraft built and flown by members of the Hertfordshire Pedal Aeronauts and was the first two-person human-powered aircraft to fly.^[1]

Development

The Hertfordshire Pedal Aeronauts was formed in 1965, mainly from the staff of Handley Page Limited, to design and build a human-powered aircraft and to compete for the Kremer Prize. The aircraft, unique in being powered by two persons, was designed by Martyn Pressnell. Pressnell was at the time a stress engineer with Handley Page.^[1] Partly funded by a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society construction began in 1967 and was completed in 1972.^[1] Following taxying trials at Radlett Aerodrome on 16 June 1972 when brief hops were made, the aircraft made its first flight on 23 December 1972.^[1]^[2] Flown by Bryan Bowen with Derek May as crewman the longest flight was 204 ft (62 m), the Toucan flew again on 3 July 1973 for 2,100 ft (640 m) and achieved a height of 15 to 20 ft (4.6 to 6.1 m).^[1]

Design

The Toucan is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with the fuselage a braced structure of spruce and balsa and covered with Melinex.^[1] The wing spars had spruce booms and plywood edges and the ribs were made from balsa and like the fuselage it was covered with Melenix.^[1] The landing gear was a non-retractable the main wheel and tailwheel in tandem, it also had small outrigger wheels under the wings.^[1] The two crew sit in tandem under a transparent removable cover, the power is generated by the two crew using bicycle pedals which were connected by chains to drive the main wheel and via a shaft a two-bladed balsa pusher propeller mounted at the rear of the tail unit.^[1]

Specifications

Data fromJane's All the World's Aircraft 1973-74^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m)
Wingspan: 123 ft 0 in (37.49 m)
Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Wing area: 600 sq ft (55.7 m²)
Empty weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
Gross weight: 528 lb (239 kg)

Performance

Maximum speed: 34 mph (54.5 km/h, 30 kn)
Stall speed: 20 mph (32 km/h, 17 kn)

Related Research Articles

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.

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.

The Handley Page HP.81 Hermes was a civilian airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page.

The Solar Challenger was a solar-powered electric aircraft designed by Paul MacCready's AeroVironment. The aircraft was designed as an improvement on the Gossamer Penguin, which in turn was a solar-powered variant of the human-powered Gossamer Albatross. It was powered entirely by the photovoltaic cells on its wing and stabilizer, without even reserve batteries, and was the first such craft capable of long-distance flight. In 1981, it successfully completed a 163-mile (262 km) demonstration flight from France to England.

Bossi-Bonomi <i>Pedaliante</i> Type of aircraft

The Pedaliante was a human-powered aircraft designed and built by Enea Bossi and Vittorio Bonomi and credited with, in 1936, making one of the first fully human-powered flights. The aircraft successfully traveled 1 km (0.62 mi) as part of an Italian competition, but was denied the monetary prize due to its catapult launch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Handley Page Hare</span> Type of aircraft

The Handley Page HP.34 Hare was a British two-seat high-altitude day bomber designed and built at Cricklewood by Handley Page. It was designed by Harold Boultbee to meet the requirements of Air Ministry Specification 23/25 for a replacement for the Hawker Horsley in the day bomber role, competing against the Blackburn Beagle, Hawker Harrier, Gloster Goring and Westland Witch. The Hare was a conventional biplane, with single-bay unequal-span staggered wings, of mixed wood and metal construction. It had a crew of two with the pilot in an open cockpit aft of the wing with a gunner/bomb aimer behind him.

A human-powered aircraft (HPA) is an aircraft belonging to the class of vehicles known as human-powered transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SUMPAC</span> British human-powered aircraft

The Southampton University Man Powered Aircraft on 9 November 1961 became the first human-powered aeroplane to make an officially authenticated take-off and flight. It was designed and built by Southampton university students between 1960 and 1961 for an attempt at the Kremer prize, but it was never able to complete the 'figure-of-eight' course specified to claim the prize money.

The Somers-Kendall SK-1 was a light jet-powered 1950s British two-seat racing monoplane, designed by Hugh Kendall and built by Somers-Kendall Aircraft Limited at Woodley Aerodrome.

The Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft is a British single-seat man-powered aircraft built and flown by members of the Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft Group.

The Holmes KH-1 is a British single-seat high-performance homebuilt sailplane designed and built by Kenneth Holmes and first flown on 27 November 1971.

The Akaflieg Braunschweig SB-10 Schirokko is a German two-seat high performance sailplane designed and built by students of Brunswick University. The sailplane was not intended for production.

The Akaflieg Darmstadt D-38 is a German, single-seat, Standard Class sailplane that was designed and built by the Fliegergruppe of Darmstadt University.

The Akaflieg Stuttgart fs26 Moseppl is a German single-seat motor glider with twin fins and rudders designed and built by Akaflieg Stuttgart. First flown on the 25 September 1970 it was designed as an experiment and not intended for production.

The Powell P-70 Acey Deucy is an American two-seat parasol wing monoplane designed and built by John C. Powell for amateur construction.

The Ryson STP-1 Swallow is an American experimental two-seat powered cruising sailplane designed and built by the Ryson Aviation Corporation to be license built by other companies.

The Manuel Hawk was a homebuilt single-seat glider designed and constructed in the UK around 1970. Only one example was flown.

The Timm T-840 was a twin engine, high wing passenger aircraft designed and flown in the United States in 1938. Equipped with a tricycle undercarriage and low speed aerodynamic devices, it could be configured to carry between six and ten passengers. Only one was built.

The Goodhart Newbury Manflier was a two-place human-powered aircraft designed by Nicholas Goodhart. Its most notable feature was that the two pilots were placed in separate fuselages, spaced 70 ft apart.

The Southend MPG Mayfly was a British two-seat human-powered aircraft built by members of the Southend Man-Powered Group in the 1960s. It was one of the first two-person human-powered aircraft to have been built and tested, although it never flew.

References

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Taylor, John W. R., ed. (1973). Jane's all the world's aircraft 1973-74. London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 210–211. ISBN 0354001175.
↑ Sherwin, Keith (1976). To Fly Like a Bird: The Story of Man-Powered Aircraft. Folkestone, England: Bailey Brothers and Swinfen Limited. pp. 94–97. ISBN 0561002835.

Bibliography

Taylor, John W.R., ed. (1973). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1973-74. London, United Kingdom: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 0-354-00117-5.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Janes-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Taylor, John W. R., ed. (1973). Jane's all the world's aircraft 1973-74. London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 210–211. ISBN 0354001175.

[2] Sherwin, Keith (1976). To Fly Like a Bird: The Story of Man-Powered Aircraft. Folkestone, England: Bailey Brothers and Swinfen Limited. pp. 94–97. ISBN 0561002835.

[1]

[2]