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Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft
Type of aircraft From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft (also known as Dumbo and later Mercury) is a British single-seat man-powered aircraft built and flown by members of the Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft Group.[1]
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Development
The Weybridge Man Powered Aircraft Group was formed in late 1967 with members drawn from the British Aircraft Corporation factory and the local chapter of the Royal Aeronautical Society.[1] Construction started in 1968 and the aircraft was assembled at Wisley and flown for the first time from Weybridge on 18 September 1971.[1] The Weybridge MPA (which was named Dumbo) was flown by Christopher Lovell for a distance of 46 metres with a height reached of 3 ft (0.9m).[1] Only two flights were made at Weybridge and the aircraft was passed to another group at RAF Cranwell who renamed it Mercury.
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Design
The aircraft is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a fuselage made from aluminium alloy tubing with balsa frames and covered with Melinex.[1] The wing has a single warren-girder main spar of aluminium alloy tubing with balsa ribs and, like the fuselage, covered with Melinex.[1] The landing gear was a non-retractable tandem arrangement using bicycle wheels.[1] The power is generated by the pilot in an enclosed cockpit using bicycle pedals driving a two-bladed balsa pusher propeller.[1]
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Specifications
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1973-74[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m)
- Wingspan: 120 ft 4 in (36.69 m)
- Height: 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
- Wing area: 485 sq ft (45.06 m2)
- Empty weight: 125 lb (56 kg)
- Gross weight: 280 lb (127 kg)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 16 mph (25.5 km/h, 14 kn)
- Stall speed: 11 mph (18 km/h, 9.6 kn)
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
External links
- British Pathé - partial success in man-powered flight - video of the Weybridge MPA
References
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