Keith Sherwin | |
---|---|
Born | 1937 (age 85–86) |
Nationality | English |
Education | Lanchester Polytechnic |
Known for | academic, author |
Keith Sherwin is an English academic and author of publications promoting human-powered aircraft and engineering textbooks.
Sherwin was educated at the Anthony Gell School in Derbyshire between 1948 and 1953. [1]
In 1958 he gained a Higher National Certificate at Derby Technical College. In 1961 he received a Bachelor of Science from University College, Swansea. In 1968 he gained a Ph.D. from Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry. [1] [2]
In 1968, he was appointed to the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Liverpool. [1] In 1969, he implemented a design project for mechanical engineering undergraduates in the second year of a three-year degree course, to design and build a 'sporting' human-powered aircraft. [3] A donation of the remains of the HMPAC Puffin allowed the group to incorporate elements of that craft into their own design, which was called the Liverpuffin. The aircraft was completed by December 1971, but during taxiing trials on 17 December, a gust of wind flipped the craft, causing significant damage. Repairs took two months, with trials re-commencing in March 1972. The craft only flew once, with Sherwin as a pilot, covering 15 m (49 ft) on the 18th of March, 1972. [3]
During the 1970s, Sherwin authored several articles and books on the topic of human-powered flight, with the Liverpuffin being incorporated into his writings. His first book - Man-powered flight - was published in 1971 and canvassed technical and engineering issues which HPAs had to contend with. New editions of it appeared in 1975 and in 2007. His second book - To fly like a bird - appeared in 1975 and was non-technical in nature, with it surveying recent HPA projects and analysing their success or otherwise.
In the 1980s, Sherwin took up a position with the Nanyang Technological Institute and while there implemented an undergraduate programme for human-powered aircraft, resulting in the building and flying of the Aslam human-powered aircraft. [3] [4]
In 2007, Sherwin published his third HPA book - Pedal Powered Planes - with it incorporating details of significant HPAs which dated from the late 1970s on through to the 1990s.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences. In 2015, it had more than 30,000 members among aerospace professionals worldwide.
Jan Roskam was the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kansas. He is the author of eleven books on airplane design and flight dynamics and over 160 papers on the topics of aircraft aerodynamics, performance, design and flight controls. He founded the company DARcorporation with Willem Anemaat.
Dr. John S. Langford is the Founder and CEO of Electra.aero, a startup developing hybrid electric aircraft for regional mobility. He was previously Founder, President, and C.E.O. of Aurora Flight Sciences. Langford founded Aurora Flight Sciences in 1989 in order to design and manufacture high altitude UAVs that could be used for global climate change research. In 2004, Langford received Virginia’s Outstanding Industrialist award for his contribution to business development in Virginia.
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is similar, but deals with the electronics side of aerospace engineering.
A human-powered aircraft (HPA) is an aircraft belonging to the class of vehicles known as human-powered transport.
Tom D. Walshaw (1912–1998) was an engineer, author and contributor to the British magazines Model Engineer and Engineering in Miniature. Many of his magazine contributions and books were authored under the pseudonym Tubal Cain. The pseudonym relates to the Tubal-cain, the biblical metal worker. As Tubal Cain he made over 424 contributions to Model Engineer, beginning in 1971. These were mainly divided between workshop equipment articles and model stationary engine constructional articles. He graduated in mechanical engineering at Loughborough University in 1934. and eventually, after a career in mechanical design, went back to that university in 1943, becoming, after some years, senior lecturer in mechanical engineering. He went on in 1948 to teach at University of Liverpool. In 1952 he was appointed Head of Department of Mechanical, Civil and Electrical Engineering at Darlington College of Technology. His final academic post was Head of Mechanical, Production and Civil Engineering at Lancashire Polytechnic. He gained the first of his many model engineering exhibition awards in 1949. At one point he was editor of the Transactions of the Newcomen Society. Walshaw died on 2 May 1998.
John H. McMasters was an aeronautical engineer notable for his contributions to aerodynamics and engineering education.
The Chrysalis was a human-powered biplane, designed and built by graduates and undergraduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with Professor Eugene Larabee acting as Project Adviser. MIT had previously built two HPAs, the BURD and BURD II, both of which were unsuccessful.
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.
The Paxton man-powered aircraft was the project of architect Tony Paxton, to create a compact human-powered aircraft, suitable for sports flying.
The Micron was the second of two human-powered aircraft designed and built by Peter Wright, an engineer from Melton Mowbray, England.
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.
The Olympian ZB-1 was the first human-powered aircraft to have flown in the United States. It was designed, built, and flown by Joseph A. Zinno, of North Providence, Rhode Island. Zinno had previously been a USAF Lieutenant Colonel, and undertook the challenge of making a human-powered aircraft as a post-retirement project.
The BURD II was a two-place human-powered biplane, designed and built by graduates and undergraduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is very similar to the original BURD, which suffered a structural collapse during testing in 1975, but incorporated changes to its structure and its control systems.
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.
The Dragonfly was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built by the Prestwick Man Powered Aircraft Group, based at the Prestwick International Airport in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
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.
The Smolkowski-Laviolette biplane was a Canadian human-powered biplane designed and built by two Calgary aeronautical engineers, Alvin Smolkowski and Maurice Laviolette, in the 1960s.
Ronald Godfrey Moulton was an English author and editor, notable for his work in the field of scale models and aeromodelling.