__NOTOC__ 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.

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. Construction started in 1968 and the aircraft was assembled at Wisley and flown for the first time from Weybridge on 18 September 1971. 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). Only two flights were made at Weybridge and the aircraft was passed to another group at RAF Cranwell who renamed it ''Mercury''.

Design

The aircraft is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a fuselage made from

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

alloy tubing with balsa frames and covered with Melinex. The wing has a single warren-girder main spar of aluminium alloy tubing with balsa ribs and, like the fuselage, covered with Melinex. The landing gear was a non-retractable tandem arrangement using bicycle wheels. The power is generated by the pilot in an enclosed cockpit using bicycle pedals driving a two-bladed balsa pusher propeller.

Specifications

External links

British Pathé - partial success in man-powered flight
- video of the Weybridge MPA

References

Notes

Bibliography

* {{refend Aircraft first flown in 1971 1970s British experimental aircraft Human-powered aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft with fixed bicycle landing gear