# Human-powered airplane: feasible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 24, 2000, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654 "2000-08-24T23:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/1 "2000-08-24T23:15:31Z")
I recall seeing something on TV about Leonardo DaVinci making drawings of airplanes that were supposed to work under human power. Either he never built them, or he built them and they didn’t fly. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t possible back then, and people have probably dismissed the idea of a human-powered plane, but what about now? We have stronger, lighter synthetic materials. Would we be able to build such an airplane? And, as long as I’m asking, has someone already made one? I haven’t seen any yet. I have seen a blimp with a propellar which you could run usin footpedals, but that doesn’t count. I’m talking about a regular airplane that just uses wings or something. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/2 "2000-08-24T23:18:29Z")
[Human-Powered Hydrofoil](http://lancet.mit.edu/decavitator/) [Human Powered Ornithopter](http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/kazuho/index-e.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/3 "2000-08-24T23:22:47Z")
Sorry about the hydrofoil link! I C&Ped the wrong page information and hit submit reply instead of preview reply. [Human Powered Aircraft World Records](http://www.fai.org/humanpowered/) [Human Powered Aircraft](http://www.ihpva.org/Air/) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/4 "2000-08-24T23:24:47Z")
I don’t have a link. That said, some time ago a guy made an airplane of sorts with a bicycle and some other stuff. He managed to “fly” himself over some body of water. The reporters or whatever said that he got as low a 6 inches over the water and as high as like 30 feet. Sounds like fun. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/5 "2000-08-24T23:31:54Z")
Two notable human-powered aircraft, the _Gossamer Condor_ and the _Gossamer Albatross_, won monetary prizes for being the first to fly over a specified figure-eight course and to cross the English Channel. I can’t remember which was which but a web search on those names will give you more information than you can use. They are relatively conventional aircraft (wings, fuselage, tail, etc.) but they are constructed of extremely lightweight materials, carbon fibers, mylar, etc. They are powered by a large propellor driven by the pilot’s legs. It should be noted that the pilot for the channel crossing was a professional bicyclist in extremely good shape. Yes, it was human-powered, but not ordinary human-powered. You or I couldn’t get the thing off the ground most likely. (In my case, using lightweight materials would be wasted effort. I’ve had lunches that weigh more than these airplanes.) ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/6 "2000-08-24T23:31:59Z")
Am i the only one that remebers the gossamer albatross? [http://www.sfoarts.org/exhibits/243/aircraft/12.html](http://www.sfoarts.org/exhibits/243/aircraft/12.html) ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/7 "2000-08-24T23:32:04Z")
Called the Gossamer, was it not? I believe he flew over the English Channel. The frame was obviously very light, covered with some type of plastic film. It was powered like a bicycle. A rather amazing feat, but I believe the speed was such that commercial applications were limited :). ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/8 "2000-08-24T23:41:26Z")
Didn’t the first human powered flight follow the path of Icarus? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/9 "2000-08-24T23:45:12Z")
For a long time there was a thing called the “Kremer Prize” for human powered flight. It stood for many years before being claimed in the 1970’s by the guy who built the “Gossamer Condor”. There are currently many human powered flight records being set, as alluded to in the other posts. Mostly an issue of materials advancing to the point where you could built something light enough to allow human power to get it off the ground, coupled to the willingness of athletes to train like hell to pilot the things. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2000, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/10 "2000-08-24T23:47:16Z")
Oh Hell, that’s what happens when I leave a reply up, do something else, and come back and post it. Everybody and his brother answers in the meantime. ---
**Author:** ![Wood\_Thrush](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b38774/32.png) [@Wood\_Thrush](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wood_Thrush)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/11 "2000-08-25T03:49:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pluto \* > **Two notable human-powered aircraft, the _Gossamer Condor_ and the _Gossamer Albatross_, won monetary prizes for being the first to fly over a specified figure-eight course and to cross the English Channel. I can’t remember which was which but a web search on those names will give you more information than you can use.** Here’s a hint: albatrosses are birds of the open ocean, and condors are birds of land. Interestingly enough, the condor is the largest static soarer, and the albatross is the largest dynamic soarer. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/12 "2000-08-25T14:57:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by adam yax \* > Didn’t the first human powered flight follow the path of Icarus? Actually, that was one of the later ones, in 1988. And it’s still the distance record holder at 115.11 km. I saw a documentary about it and they didn’t quite make it all the way to land. Those human-powered planes are very hard to maneuver and it landed in the water about 15-20 meters from the shore, so you could debate whether it followed the path of Icarus or Daedalus. As to whether a normal person could fly one, well if you’d been at the right place and time you might have. When the Gossamer Condor team was trying to win the first Kremer prize, there were only a dozen or so people around who knew about it and came to watch. After they flew the course and won the prize, they just let everybody give it a try. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/13 "2000-08-25T15:49:13Z")
The first Gossamer now proudly sits in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. Ironically, it is probably only about thirty feet away from the X-15. The difference in top speed between the two is about mach 6. Da Vinci was quite a guy. Not only did he pen some fanciful flying machines, he also conceived a safety device for escaping from a flying machine–the parachute. Recently, some crazy fellow used Renaissance-era tools and materials and created a full-scale model of Da Vinci’s 'chute. [It worked](http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_808000/808246.stm). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/14 "2000-08-25T20:21:54Z")
There’s also been quite a number of attempts at a human-powered helicopter, but so far, none of them has succeeded. As I understand it, the reason for the difficulty there, is that the inner portions of the helicopter rotor aren’t going as fast, so they don’t produce as much lift per surface area as a straight-wing craft would. ---
**Author:** ![Galileo7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/53a042/32.png) [@Galileo7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galileo7)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/15 "2000-08-25T21:17:24Z")
Strictly speaking, this may be a little off topic… But does the guy who tied a bunch of helium baloons to a lawn chair, then went aloft with a six pack of beer and a BB gun, get any credit? ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/16 "2000-08-25T21:23:36Z")
There was some newspaper article about that that was linked from the SDMB somewhere, but I don’t have the time to find it right now. First of all, as I stated in the OP, devices that use lighter-than-air gasses do not count. I’m talking about airplanes, or (now that someone mentioned it) helicopters. Also, the guy with the lawnchair got a huge lawsuit from the air-traffic controller guys because he did not have the permission to fly in the space that he was in. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/17 "2000-08-25T21:24:22Z")
> [@](#): > > But does the guy who tied a bunch of helium baloons to a lawn chair, then went aloft with a six pack of beer and a BB gun, get any credit? I remember that. I was working by LAX at the time. I don’t know if the guy got any “credit”, but he did get a fine from the FAA. He killed himself several years later. ---
**Author:** ![Galileo7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/53a042/32.png) [@Galileo7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galileo7)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/18 "2000-08-25T21:33:17Z")
For those who are interested: [http://www.flightdata.com/ht\_lawnchairman.html](http://www.flightdata.com/ht_lawnchairman.html) ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2000, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/19 "2000-08-25T23:29:29Z")
I’m watching CBS News, reading about the guy in the lawn chair, and there’s a story about the guy who invented the _Gossamer Albatross_–coincidence? Among other things, he invented a plane that worked entirely by solar power and a spy plane about the size of your hand. He is working on a solar powered wing that would get to Mars. Gerald McCreedy, I think they said his name is. Those not on the East Coast could still catch it… ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2000, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/human-powered-airplane-feasible/30654/20 "2000-08-26T07:23:13Z")
[http://www.nasm.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/maccread\_condor.htm](http://www.nasm.edu/nasm/aero/aircraft/maccread_condor.htm)