On June 12, 1979, Bryan Allen pedaled the Gossamer Albatross — a human-powered aircraft designed by Paul MacCready — across the English Channel from Folkestone, England to Cap Gris Nez, France. The 22.2-mile crossing took 2 hours and 49 minutes and won the £100,000 Kremer Prize.
The Gossamer Albatross was built largely from Mylar film, carbon fiber tubes, and foam, and weighed just 70 pounds. Its 96-foot wingspan made it graceful but fragile — Bryan Allen was simultaneously the engine, the pilot, and the only life-support system aboard. He pedaled a bicycle mechanism that drove a pusher propeller while controlling the aircraft with hand and foot inputs.
The crossing was not easy. Allen battled fatigue, cramps, and deteriorating weather conditions as the aircraft skimmed just a few feet above the water. At one point he nearly gave up. But he pressed on, and when he touched down on French soil, he had completed one of the most unusual achievements in aviation history.
Paul MacCready, the designer, was a meteorologist and glider pilot who approached the problem of human-powered flight with the same rigorous scientific method that characterizes great aviation engineering. He had previously won the first Kremer Prize with the Gossamer Condor in 1977.
The Gossamer Albatross crossed the English Channel on muscle power alone. At Cleared4Tees, we honor aviation's most creative thinkers.
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