Southampton University students started testing their revolutionary design for a human powered aircraft this week. They aim to get airborne later this summer and win the prestigious £100,000 Kremer prize. But before the students can start building their plane, they need to find out if they can provide enough power to get it into the air. Which was why they were in the University’s wind tunnel this week.
The plane will be built around a light-weight carbon fibre bike donated by Olympic gold medallist, Chris Boardman MBE. This is the first time a road bike has been used in a human powered aircraft, but academic supervisor Dr Alex Forrester – who will pilot the aircraft on its maiden flight – is confident the bike will deliver what’s needed on the day.
Zemedia were with Dr Forrester in the wind tunnel to capture footage for a podcast to be released in September. The video will also be provided to TV news channels.
This year marks the 50th aniversary of the University’s first sucessful human powered aircraft – you can see a short film of this flight on the British Pathé website. To find out more about the current project visit the Southampton University Human Powered Aircraft website.
Tags: engineering