MacCready Gossamer Condor
| Gossamer Condor | |
|---|---|
| |
| The Gossamer Condor at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | |
| Role | experimental aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | AeroVironment |
| First flight | 1977 |
| Status | On display |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed into | Gossamer Albatross |
The Gossamer Condor was the first human-powered aircraft capable of controlled and sustained flight; as such, it won the Kremer prize in 1977. It was created by Paul MacCready and Peter Lissaman of AeroVironment, Inc.
Design and development
The human-powered aircraft had focused on wooden designs, which proved too heavy. Very early attempts – notably the HV-1 Mufli (de) and Pedaliante – used catapult launches.[1]
In 1961, the Hatfield Puffin, which took off under human power, managed a maximum flight of 908 metres but it was difficult to turn. The Jupiter managed 1,239 m in June 1972. The Nihon Stork B achieved over 2 kilometers in 1976[2]
In the early 1970s, Dr Paul B. MacCready and Dr Peter B. S. Lissaman, both of AeroVironment Inc., took a fresh look at the challenge and came up with an unorthodox aircraft, the Gossamer Condor. He took his inspiration from hang gliders, increasing wing area so that the drag of the wire bracing needed would be reduced.[3] The Gossamer Condor is built around a large wing with a gondola for the pilot underneath and a canard control surface on a fuselage extension in front, and is mostly built of lightweight plastics with aluminium spars.[4]
The aircraft, piloted by amateur cyclist and hang-glider pilot Bryan Allen, won the first Kremer prize on August 23, 1977 by completing a figure-eight course specified by the Royal Aeronautical Society, at Minter Field in Shafter, California. It was capable of taking off under human power.
The aircraft is preserved at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
The success led Paul MacCready and AeroVironment to carry on with experimental aircraft:
- the Gossamer Albatross, which crossed the English Channel,
- the Solar Challenger, a solar electric-powered version that also made an English Channel crossing,
- NASA's Pathfinder/Helios series of unmanned solar-powered aircraft.[4]
Specifications
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- Wingspan: 29.25m (96 ft)
- Length: 9.14 m (30 ft)
- Height: 5.49 m (18 ft)
- Weight: 31.75 kg (70 lb.)
See also
- The Flight of the Gossamer Condor, a 1979 short documentary film
Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
References
- ^ Grosser, Morton (1981). Gossamer Odyssey: The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight. Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-7603-2051-9.
- ^ http://www.raes.org.uk/cmspage.asp?cmsitemid=SG_hum_pow_history
- ^ http://www.humanpoweredflying.propdesigner.co.uk/html/the_gossamers_and_other_planes.html
- ^ a b "SOLAR-POWERED UAVS: HALSOL & SOLAR HAPP", The Prehistory Of Endurance UAVs, by Greg Goebel, in the Public Domain
Further reading
- Morton Grosser. Gossamer Odyssey: The Triumph of Human-Powered Flight. MBI Press, 2004; Dover Publications, Inc., 1991; Houghton Mifflin Co., 1981
- Morton Grosser. On Gossamer Wings. York Custom Graphics, 1982
- Gosnell, Mariana. Zero Three Bravo. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1993. (see chapter entitled Shafter)
External links
- Condor at the Smithsonian
- Site with an expanding photo archive of Gossamer-series aircraft, by the Gossamer Albatross team photographer
- THE FLIGHT OF THE GOSSAMER CONDOR DVD. Re-mastered & digitally restored in 2007 from a new Academy Film Archive preservation print. Won the Academy Award in 1978 for best Documentary Short Subject.
- Paul MacCready talking at TED
- Gossamer Condor Video