From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A human powered aircraft
A
human powered
aircraft
is an aircraft that is powered entirely or partly by the
pilot
(s). Several human powered aircraft have been
constructed
in the past 30 years for
recreation
or to win
prizes
.
Designing a successful human-powered aircraft is difficult because a very large
power to weight ratio
must be
achieved
. This has been the reason why many of these aircraft use
advanced
composite
materials
in their
construction
.
There are human-powered aircraft being
designed
and made now. One aircraft is being built by
Virginia Tech University
named the Iron Butterfly. Another one is being built by the
Pennsylvania State University
named the
Zephyrus
.
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Types of aircraft
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Famous aircraft
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