The HMPAC Puffin was a British man-powered aircraft designed by a team headed by

John Wimpenny John Wimpenny (3 December 1922 – 27 April 2015) was an English aeronautical engineer who held the record for the longest human powered flight. Career Wimpenny was born in London, growing up in Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill. He attended Mi ...

, an aerodynamicist at the

de Havilland Aircraft Company The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in He ...

. It was built by the Hatfield Man Powered Aircraft Club (HMPAC) on the company's premises in

Hatfield, Hertfordshire Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It had a population of 29,616 in 2001, and 39,201 at the 2011 Census. The settlement is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, home of the Marquess o ...

. On 2 May 1962, Wimpenny, aged 39, piloted the Puffin at the

Hatfield Aerodrome Hatfield Aerodrome was a private airfield and aircraft factory located in the English town of Hatfield in Hertfordshire from 1930 until its closure and redevelopment in the 1990s. Early history Geoffrey de Havilland, pioneering aircraft des ...

, pedalling to power the propeller, achieving a flight distance of , a world record which was to stand for ten years. The Puffin had a wingspan of .

Puffin II

An improved version of the Puffin was developed and built in 1965 as the HMPAC Puffin II. First flown on 27 August 1965, the Puffin II utilized the transmission components of the Puffin I in a completely new airframe. After it had been damaged, the Puffin II airframe was given to

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

, who used it to build the Liverpuffin.

Specifications

References

External links

Flight archive

1960s British experimental aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1961 Human-powered aircraft

Puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids ( auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in c ...

Single-engined pusher aircraft Shoulder-wing aircraft

Puffin II

Specifications

See also

References

Further reading

External links