Human-powered Aircraft - Current Activity

Current Activity

Machines have been built and flown in Japan, Germany, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Austria, Canada, Singapore, the United States and the United Kingdom, with their total number approaching a hundred.

With further funds from the late Henry Kremer, the Royal Aeronautical Society has announced four new prizes:

• £50,000 for the Kremer International Marathon Competition for a flight round a specified twenty six mile Marathon distance course, in a time of under one hour,
• £100,000 for the Kremer International Sporting Aircraft Competition for a sporting aeroplane able to operate in normal weather conditions, as encountered in the United Kingdom
• £1,000 for the Schools Competition
• £500 for The Robert Graham Competition for students for experimental research or engineering design

The eventual aim is to achieve Olympic recognition as a sport.

There are at least four current attempts underway to claim the £100,000 Kremer Sport prize. One team from Virginia Polytechnic Institute has been active for a number of years designing an aircraft as part of their AE4065/6 class; recent attempts to assemble a wing structure had resulted in critical failure. A second team from the Pennsylvania State University is designing and constructing the PSU Zephyrus as part of their AERSP 404H class. A third team from the Aeronautics Department at Imperial College London is undertaking the premise of Human Powered Flight for one of their 3rd Year Group Design Projects, to investigate its feasibility in the sporting world. Finally, the fourth team consists of 10 MEng students from the University of Southampton and who are designing and constructing the SUHPA (pronounced "soo-pah").