HUMAN-POWERED CRAFT EARNS WINGS.Byline: Andy Kehe Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Poised like a gangly gan·gly adj. gan·gli·er, gan·gli·est Gangling. [Alteration of gangling.] Adj. 1. stork stork, common name for members of a family of long-legged wading birds. The storks are related to the herons and ibises and are found in most of the warmer parts of the world. anxious to deliver its payload, the odd-looking flying machine dubbed the Gossamer Condor The Gossamer Condor was a human-powered aircraft built by Dr Paul B. MacCready's AeroVironment. 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 lay still on the apron at Shafter Airport Shafter Airport (IATA: MIT, ICAO: KMIT, FAA LID: MIT), also known as Minter Field, is a public airport located four miles (6 km) east of the central business district (CBD) of Shafter, in Kern County, California, USA. , grounded by dangerous wisps of wind too weak to elevate even a dime-store kite. Aug. 23, 1977, was shaping up to be another day of disappointment for a team of men and women seeking to make history - and $86,000 on the side. But then, unexpectedly, calm prevailed. Condor moved into position and Bryan Allen, clad in biking pants and shoes and a red and white T-shirt, took his place at the - uh, pedals. Seven and one-half minutes later, Allen had pumped his name, his teammates and those of the plane's owner into the aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau record books. At an average speed of 10.35 mph, Allen established a mark for human-powered flight so coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. and significant that it earned for the Gossamer Condor a place in the Smithsonian Institution. The Condor had completed the Kremer Prize Course, a figure-eight alignment featuring pylons a half-mile apart. The course was regarded by purists as a true yet tortured test for human-powered planes due to its demands on plane and pilot to negotiate two 180-degree turns. Anyone who could complete it in front of an official observer would win $86,000. ``Subsequent flights were much more outstanding,'' said Allen, who piloted one of those - a 22-mile human-powered flight in 1979 over the English Channel in the Gossamer Albatross. ``But the Gossamer Condor is historic because it was the first,'' Allen added. ``You can point to it and say, `Here's really the beginning.' Prior to that one, there were quite a number of (human-powered) planes which could fly, but they didn't put all the key features together to maneuver and fly for distance.'' ``We built the plane first, then drew the pictures.'' The vision belonged to Dr. Pete MacCready of Pasadena. He had a few elements working for him that competitors lacked - a skilled cyclist with flying experience in Allen and a savvy engineer like Oldershaw who knew how to get more out of the plane with less. ``Blueprints? What blueprints?'' said Verne Oldershaw. Today, human-powered aircraft are soaring 80 miles. Nonstop. But none of them hangs in the Smithsonian. |
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