This paper examines recent and historical milestones in human-powered flight, tracing the dream of individualized flying machines from ancient mythology to modern engineering. It highlights the 2010 Snowbird ornithopter flight, Paul MacCready's award-winning Gossamer aircraft, and the Kremer Prize competition that has driven innovation in the field. The paper also considers the practical value of pure research, drawing a connection between exploratory aviation projects and the development of unmanned mini-aircraft used in military reconnaissance. Together, these examples argue that experimental human-powered flight contributes meaningfully to broader advances in aviation technology.
In many early scientific drawings, the yearning for human flight is in evidence. Flying machines — in which men sail through the air on gliders or with wings — were once a common fantasy, expressed in art, mythology, and architecture. Today, human beings speed through the air in manmade planes every day. Yet the construction of an actual, individualized flying machine remains elusive.
The most recent successful attempt at sustained, human-generated flight occurred on September 14, 2010, when a university graduate student became a kind of modern Icarus, "sustaining both altitude and airspeed for 19.3 seconds, traveling a little more than 145 yards at an average speed of about 16 mph" (Maugh 2010). This statistical record is hardly impressive even when compared with the achievements of the Wright brothers.
His vehicle, an ornithopter called Snowbird, had a wingspan of 105 feet — "nearly as long as the wingspan of a modern-day Boeing 737 jetliner. But because it is constructed of balsa wood, foam, and carbon fiber, it weighs only 94 pounds — less than all the pillows normally carried by a commercial 737" (Maugh 2010). Rather than jet propulsion, the craft was moved by the pilot pumping his legs up and down "as if working out on a StairMaster. That causes the ends of the wings to flex like those of a giant pterosaur" (Maugh 2010).
An earlier model along similar lines was created by Paul B. MacCready, who invented the "Gossamer Condor and the Gossamer Albatross — two flimsy, awkward-looking planes powered by a furiously pedaling bicycle racer — that won him international fame and $300,000 in prize money" (Malnic 2007). Some have criticized the outpouring of such extensive resources into individualized human flight, arguing that the money could be better spent elsewhere.
However, MacCready justified his use of the grant money as pure research in the field of aviation: "Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic did not directly advance airplane design… the plane was a lousy plane. It was unstable and you couldn't see forward very well. You wouldn't want to design another like it. But it changed the world by being a catalyst for thinking about aviation" (Malnic 2007).
"Kremer Prize recipients and hang glider innovations"
"Mini-aircraft research applied to military reconnaissance"
You’re 57% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.