Gossamer Condor

Gossamer Condor

Infobox Aircraft
name = Gossamer Condor




caption = The Gossamer Condor at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
type = experimental aircraft
national origin = United States
manufacturer = AeroVironment
designer =
first flight = 1977
introduction =
retired =
status = museum piece
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 1
program cost =
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

The Gossamer Condor is the first successful human-powered aircraft. It was the first human powered airplane capable of controlled and sustained flight, able to win the Kremer Prize.

History

The Kremer Prize had been set up in 1959 by Henry Kremer, a British industrialist, and offered 50,000 pounds ($85,000) in prize money to the first group that could fly a human-powered aircraft over a figure-eight course covering a total of a mile (1.6 kilometers). The course also cosisted of a 10 feet pole that the aircraft have to fly over. Early attempts to build human-powered aircraft had focused on wooden designs, which proved too heavy.

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.

The Gossamer Condor is basically a flying wing, modified with the addition of a gondola for the pilot underneath and a canard control surface extended in front, and is mostly built of lightweight plastics. [http://www.vectorsite.net/twuav_12.html#m3 "SOLAR-POWERED UAVS: HALSOL & SOLAR HAPP", The Prehistory Of Endurance UAVs, by Greg Goebel, in the Public Domain] ]

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 '8' course specified by the Royal Aeronautical Society, at Minter Field in Shafter, California.

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.

pecifications

:Wingspan: 29.25m (96 ft):Length: 9.14 m (30 ft):Height: 5.49 m (18 ft):Weight: 31.75 kg (70 lb.)

ee also

* "The Flight of the Gossamer Condor", a 1978 short documentary film

References

External links

* [http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/maccread_condor.htm Condor at the Smithsonian]
* [http://www.donaldmonroe.com/ Site with an expanding photo archive of Gossamer-series aircraft, by the Gossamer Albatross team photographer]
* [http://www.gossamercondor.com 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.]
* [http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/176 Paul MacCready talking at TED]

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)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gossamer Condor — Le Gossamer Condor exposé au Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Le Gossamer Condor est le premier avion à propulsion humaine qui a remporté le prix Kremer[1], le 23 août 1 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Gossamer Condor — Die Gossamer Condor im National Air and Space Museum in Washington, USA …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The Flight of the Gossamer Condor — Infobox Film name = The Flight of the Gossamer Condor image size = caption = director = Ben Shedd producer = Boyd Estus Jacqueline Phillips Shedd Ben Shedd Oscar Williams writer = narrator = starring = Bryan Allen music = cinematography = Boyd… …   Wikipedia

  • The Flight of the Gossamer Condor — Filmdaten Originaltitel The Flight of the Gossamer Condor Produktionsland USA …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gossamer Albatross — im Flug Gossamer Albatross am Boden …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gossamer — can be: * Common name for spider silk * A very light, sheer, gauze like fabric, see textile manufacturing terminology * Gossamer A novel by Lois Lowry * Gossamer, a 1995 short story by Stephen Baxter, found in his collection Vacuum Diagrams, and… …   Wikipedia

  • Condor — oder Cóndor (Bezeichnung für die beiden Kondor genannten Vogelarten in verschiedenen Sprachen) steht für: einen Ort in Südbrasilien, siehe Condor (Rio Grande do Sul) einen Berg in Argentinien, siehe El Cóndor einen Ort in der Provinz Jujuy in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Gossamer Albatross — Infobox Aircraft name = Gossamer Albatross caption = The Gossamer Albatross II at Dryden Flight Research Center in 1980 type = experimental aircraft national origin = United States manufacturer = AeroVironment designer = Paul MacCready first… …   Wikipedia

  • Gossamer Albatross — Le Gossamer Albatross Le Gossamer Albatross est avec le Daedalus le seul engin volant mû par la force musculaire ayant effectué un vol prolongé. À son bord, Bryan Allen (en) f …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Condor des Andes — Condor des Andes …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”