SUMPA

SUMPAC
	at the exhibition at the SOLENT SKY Aviation Museum in Southampton , Hampshire
Type:	Muscle power aircraft
Manufacturer:
First flight:	November 9, 1961
Number of pieces:	1

The SUMPA (Southampton University Man Powered Aircraft) is a muscle- powered aircraft that took off on November 9, 1961 for the first successful and documented flight of an aircraft powered only by muscle power. It is a development started in 1960 by students at the University of Southampton to obtain the Kremer Prize . However, the aircraft could not meet the required maneuver requirements (lying figure eight).

history

The project by the University of Southampton graduates was intended to meet the requirements of the £ 50,000 Kremer Prize. These required flying through a 1.6 mile flight route in the form of a lying figure eight. The award was announced in 1959 by the Royal Aeronautical Society .

The first flight took place on November 9, 1961 by the test pilot Derek Piggott under the guidance of a gliding instructor at the airfield in Lasham in Hampshire ( England ) and overcame a distance of 594 meters flying. A height of 4.6 meters was reached. To initiate flight curves, the aircraft was tilted up to 80 °, which, however, did not mean sufficient controllability in terms of the conditions of the Kremer Prize. A total of 40 flights were carried out with the aircraft. After an accident in 1963 that destroyed the fragile structure of the wing, the flight attempts were stopped. However, the aircraft has been restored as an exhibit in aviation history worthy of preservation .

construction

The aircraft was designed in conventional wood construction, with a wing structure made of balsa wood , plywood and aluminum and plastic covering typical of aviation. The fuselage was covered with a transparent plastic film. It was driven by pedals and chains to drive the two-bladed propeller .

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	1
length	7.54 m
span	24.4 m
height	3.4 m
Wing area	27.9 m²
Wing extension	21.3
drive	Muscle strength
Top speed	33 km / h
Takeoff mass	121.6 kg

Web links

Flightglobal archives 1985 (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Flight marks 50th anniversary of pedal plane's flight. on: BBC News. , November 15, 2012.
↑ ^a ^b T. E. Guttery: The Shuttleworth Collection. Wm. Carling & Co, London 1969, ISBN 0-901319-01-5 , p. 70.
↑ Details of the SUMPAC ( Memento from March 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) The first true flights on humanpoweredflying.propdesigner.co.uk (engl.)

[1] Flight marks 50th anniversary of pedal plane's flight. on: BBC News. , November 15, 2012.

[G-2] T. E. Guttery: The Shuttleworth Collection. Wm. Carling & Co, London 1969, ISBN 0-901319-01-5 , p. 70.

[3] Details of the SUMPAC ( Memento from March 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) The first true flights on humanpoweredflying.propdesigner.co.uk (engl.)