The ''Musfly'' was a British two-seat human-powered tailless aircraft built by David Cook in the 1970s.
Background
Intended to win the
Kremer prize
The Kremer prizes are a series of monetary awards, established in 1959 by the industrialist Henry Kremer.
Royal Aeronautical Society Human Powered Flight Group
The Royal Aeronautical Society's "Man Powered Aircraft Group" was formed in 1959 b ...
, the ''Musfly'' was designed by David Cook and Neil Moran, who at the time were employees at
Richard Garrett & Sons
Richard Garrett & Sons was a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, steam engines and trolleybuses. Their factory was Leiston Works, in Leiston, Suffolk, England. The company was founded by Richard Garrett (1755–1839), Richard Garrett in ...
, at
Leiston
Leiston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is close to Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at th ...
, in
Suffolk
Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
.
[ The aircraft was a wire-braced high-wing tailless ]monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
. The wing planform was made up of a central constant-chord swept wing
A swept wing is a wing angled either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than perpendicular to the fuselage.
Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigated in Ge ...
, with anhedral wing-tips. "Draggons" (upward deflecting ailerons
An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...
) fitted to the wing-tips would provide lateral and directional control.[ Pitch control would be by weight shift, with the crewed capsule, suspended beneath the wing, being moved back and forth.][
In the capsule, the two-person crew would operate treadles in order to power a pusher propeller, which was to be positioned slightly below and behind the wing.][ The pilot would operate leg treadles, while the second crew member would use both arm and leg treadles. It was believed this arrangement would generate more power, with longer power strokes, than would be possible with a conventional pedal arrangement.][ Moran believed that the ''Musfly'' would fly with the crew generating 0.8 hp (0.6 kW).][
The aircraft was built by Cook, with assistance from co-designer Moran, Chris Tansley, Terry Aspinall, Bob Jelliff, Brian Pattenden, and others, with the primary airframe being completed by September 1977.][ Work on the aircraft continued till at least 1979, and was nearing completion when Cook lost use of the building that it was being housed in.][ That development prompted the end of the project, and the airframe was then scrapped.][
]
Specifications
See also
References
{{reflist, refs=
[{{cite magazine, last=Pickford, first=Dr Martin, date=September 1977, issue=33, title=Float Like A Butterfly ...., editor1-last=Worth, editor1-first=David, magazine=Wings!, location=Sydenham, London, UK, publisher=British Hang Gliding Association , pages=18–19]
[{{cite magazine, date=March 1979, issue=50 , title=The A.G.M. and who you'll be voting for, magazine=Wings!, editor1-last=Thomas, editor1-first=Garth, location=Taunton, Somerset, UK, publisher=British Hang Gliding Association , pages=8–9]
[{{cite book , last1=Cook, first1=David , date=2007 , title=Flying from my mind: Innovative and record-breaking microlight and aircraft designs , location=Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK, publisher=Pen & Sword , pages=30–32 , isbn=9781844155880]
[{{cite web , last1=Aspinall , first1=Terry , title=A Brief History of Hang Gliding in Suffolk UK , url=https://www.terryaspinall.com/terry-aspinall/floaters-history.html , website=Hang Gliding & Microlighting , publisher=Terry Aspinall , access-date=25 March 2023]
}
External links
David Cook Aviator
Human-powered aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Pusher aircraft
Tailless aircraft
Twin-engined single-prop pusher aircraft
1970s British experimental aircraft
Unflown aircraft