The Gossamer Albatross II in flight.

Gossamer Albatross, close up of the cabin.

The Albatross crossing the English Channel

The Gossamer Albatross was a human-powered aircraft built by American aeronautical engineer Dr. Paul B. MacCready's AeroVironment. On June 12, 1979 it completed a successful crossing of the English Channel to win the second Kremer prize. The Gossamer Albatross II in flight. ... The Gossamer Albatross II in flight. ... Download high resolution version (750x701, 98 KB)NASA photo of Gossamer Albatross. ... Download high resolution version (750x701, 98 KB)NASA photo of Gossamer Albatross. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Three human powered vehicles: the Gossamer Albatross II and two bicycles. ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering that concerns aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. ... Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Paul MacCready is the inventor of the first flying machine powered by a human being, the Gossamer Condor, which thereby won the Kremer prize in 1977. ... AeroVironment is a California technology company that is primarily involved in energy systems, electric vehicle systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles. ... June 12 is the 163rd day of the year (164th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: (IPA: ), the sleeve; Dutch: Het Kanaal) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... The Kremer prizes are a series of monitory awards, established in 1959 by the industrialist Henry Kremer, that are given to pioneers of human-powered flight. ...

Overview

The aircraft was powered using pedals to drive a large two-bladed propeller. Piloted by amateur cyclist Bryan Allen it completed the 35.8 km (22.2 mi) crossing in 2 hours and 49 minutes, achieving a top speed of 29 km/h (18 mph) and an average altitude of 1.5 metres (5 feet). Bryan L. Allen (born October 13, 1952 in Visalia, California) is a former amateur competitive cyclist and self-taught hang glider pilot. ...

The aircraft is of unusual configuration, using a large horizontal stabilizer forward in a manner similar to the Wright brothers successful "Flyer" aircraft. The Gossamer Albatross was constructed using plastic over a carbon fiber frame, with the structure of the wings provided with expanded polystyrene ribs. The entire structure was then wrapped in a thin, transparent plastic (PET film). The empty mass of the structure was only 32 kg (71 lb), although the gross mass for the Channel flight was almost 100 kg (220 lb). To maintain the craft in the air it was designed with very long tapering wings (high aspect ratio), like those of a glider, allowing the flight to be undertaken with a minimum of power. In still air the required power was on the order of 0.3 horsepower (200 W), though even mild turbulence made this figure rise rapidly. The Wright brothers, Orville (August 19, 1871–January 30, 1948) and Wilbur (April 16, 1867–May 30, 1912), were two Americans generally credited with building the worlds first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and heavier-than-air human flight on December 17, 1903. ... The Wright Flyer (often retrospectively referred to as Flyer I and occasionally Kitty Hawk) was the first powered aircraft designed and built by the Wright brothers. ... Carbon fiber composite is a strong, light and very expensive material. ... Polystyrene is a polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry. ... Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (boPET) polyester film is used for its high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, gas and aroma barrier properties and electrical insulation. ... The low aspect ratio wing of a Piper PA-28 Cherokee In aerodynamics, the aspect ratio is an airplanes wings span divided by its standard mean chord (SMC). ...

History

The aircraft was designed and built by a team led by Paul B. MacCready, a noted US aeronautics engineer, designer, and world soaring champion, and Gossamer Albatross was his second human-powered aircraft. The first was the Gossamer Condor which won the first Kremer prize on August 23, 1977 by completing a specified figure-eight course. The Gossamer Condor was a human-powered aircraft built by Dr Paul B MacCready. ...

MacCready's team built two Albatrosses; the back-up plane was jointly tested as part of the NASA Langley/Dryden flight research program in 1980. The back-up craft was also flown inside the Houston Astrodome, the first ever controlled indoor flight by a human-powered aircraft. The Albatross II is currently on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. The aircraft used in the channel-crossing is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's Udvar-Hazy Center. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an agency of the United States federal government, responsible for the nations public space program. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... The Reliant Astrodome, formerly just the Astrodome, is a domed sports stadium in Houston, Texas, and is part of the Reliant Park complex. ... For the Museum of Flight in East Lothian, Scotland, see Museum of Flight (Scotland). ... Nickname: Location of Seattle in King County and Washington Coordinates: Country United States State Washington County King County Incorporated December 2 1869 Government  - Type Mayor-council  - Mayor Greg Nickels (NP) Area  - City  142. ... The Interior of the Udvar-Hazy Center The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM)s annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia. ...

Solar-powered variants

A follow-up to the Albatross was the solar-powered Gossamer Penguin in 1980. The Penguin airframe had been built by the MacCready team as a third craft for the cross-channel attempt; in most of its dimensions it was 3/4ths the size of the Gossamer Albatross, and was held in reserve as a speedier if slightly higher-powered alternative to be used if it were found that the Channel weather precluded success by the slower-flying Albatross. The Penguin was fragile and not very airworthy, but led to a better aircraft, the Solar Challenger. Designed by Paul MacCready, the Solar Challenger had a wingspan of 14.3 meters (47 feet) and a mass of 90 kilograms (198.42 pounds). Its wings were covered with 16,128 PV cells, with a total output power of 2,600 watts, about enough to drive a pair of hair driers. The Solar Challenger was capable of reaching an altitude of 3,660 meters (12,000 feet). On July 7, 1981 the aircraft, piloted by Steve Ptacek, accomplished the 262 kilometer (163 mile) flight from Paris to Manston in the UK.^[1] Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Specifications

Length: 10.36 m (34.0 ft)

Wingspan: 29.77 m (97.7 ft)

Height: 4.88 m (16.0 ft)

References

External links

• NASA's page on Gossamer Albatross II
• NASA image of Gossamer Albatross II
• List of displayed aircraft at Udvar-Hazy center
• Gossamer Albatross II at Seattle Museum of Flight
• Shows various MacCready & Aerovironment aircraft, including Gossamer Penguin
• Gossamer Albatross photography by the team's photographer, Don Monroe
• Solar Challenger photography

Further reading

• Allen, Bryan. Winged Victory of "Gossamer Albatross". National Geographic, November 1979, vol. 156, n. 5, p. 640-651
• 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