I'm doing a study on human powered aircraft but i'm struggling to find much data on existing designs. Does anyone know of any good resources on the subject?
Hard to tell what data you are looking for.
I would guess your best bet is to ask the people who are working on that directly, or go to organizations like AIAA for published papers.
the University of Toronto has been working for years on their ornithopter (a plane powered by a flapping wing, powered by a human) is a completely different approach to the problem.
are you planning on competing for this new prize ? are you looking for full technical descritpion on previous (and current) models ? if so, i think you're dreaming, that projects, past and current, are going to fully disclose their hard earned data. i think you most you'll get are generalisations (like you probably already have).
Check Da Vinci's "Codex on the Flight of Birds" dated 1505-1506. He was the first to propose man powered flight and his diagrams are on display in the museum of science in Florence Italy.
Will there ever be a marketable HPA? One that you can carry in your car/truck, bring it to a field and start flying on a nice calm day?
Imagine how much cheaper and more accesible that would be than any powered aircraft or air-towed glider!
I have some ideas on a radical VTOL HPA design but no way to test them.
i think that the athletic requirements would exclude most of the population. also the ultra-low weight design and materials would probably make this an expensive proposition, i'd think much more than a powered ultra-light. would it be possible to design an ultra-light as a soaring glider (most of them look like they'd glide like a space shuttle).
really cool link, but those are high performance hang gliders ... i was thinking more along the lines of a powered ultralight as a pwoered glider (use the engine to launch, then soar.
The italian company Pipistrel makes an hybrid between ultralight aircraft and a glider. Its a glider with engine in the front, or maybe an ultralight with slighly wider wingspan.
I doubt that it's possible to make an UL plane human powered. Im flying an zephyr 2000 UL which has a glide ratio to 16:1, witch is good performance for UL, but still not good enough for human powered flights I think.
Also solar powered sailplanes have been produced.
that are true sailplanes. A character at Ramona Ca has a solar powered sailplane with 5000watts of generating capability. It uses a 6hp motor.
B.E.
