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.
Paul B. MacCready Jr. was an American aeronautical engineer. He was the founder of AeroVironment and the designer of the human-powered aircraft that won the first Kremer prize. He devoted his life to developing more efficient transportation vehicles that could "do more with less".
AeroVironment, Inc. is an American defense contractor headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, that designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Paul B. MacCready Jr., a designer of human-powered aircraft, founded the company in 1971. The company is best known for its lightweight human-powered and solar-powered vehicles. The company is the US military's top supplier of small drones —notably the Raven, Switchblade, Wasp and Puma models.
An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity. Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, the most common being batteries. Most have electric motors driving propellers or turbines.
Astroflight, Incorporated is a manufacturer of products for electric-powered radio controlled aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), brushless industrial motors, the world's first solar-powered aircraft and the world's first practical electric radio controlled model airplane. The company is based in Irvine, California, USA.
The Monarch B was a human-powered aircraft, designed and built by graduates and undergraduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and won the £20,000 first prize for the Kremer World Speed Competition. It is a successor to the Monarch A HPA which preceded it.
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.
The Flight of the Gossamer Condor is a 1978 American short documentary film directed by Ben Shedd, about the development of the Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered aircraft, by a team led by Paul MacCready. The Academy Film Archive preserved The Flight of the Gossamer Condor in 2007.
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 Solar-Powered Aircraft Developments Solar One is a British mid-wing, experimental, manned solar-powered aircraft that was designed by David Williams and produced by Solar-Powered Aircraft Developments under the direction of Freddie To. On 13 June 1979 it became one of the first solar-powered aircraft to fly, after the unmanned AstroFlight Sunrise and the manned Mauro Solar Riser, and the first successful British solar-powered aircraft.
The Mauro Solar Riser is an American biplane ultralight electric aircraft that was the first crewed aircraft to fly on solar power. It was also only the second solar-powered aircraft to fly, after the uncrewed AstroFlight Sunrise, which had first flown 4+1⁄2 years earlier.
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 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 Paxton man-powered aircraft was the project of architect Tony Paxton, to create a compact human-powered aircraft, suitable for sports flying.
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 Lady Godiva is a human-powered aircraft built in the early 1980s by Thomas Kohm of Huntington, New York. It is a replica of the MacCready Gossamer Albatross.
The Musfly was a British two-seat human-powered tailless aircraft built by David Cook in the 1970s.
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 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.
