HPA Toucan

The HPA Toucan is a British two-seat man-powered aircraft built and flown by members of Hertfordshire Pedal Aeronauts and was the first two-man man-powered aircraft to fly.^[1]

Development

The Hertfordshire Pedal Aeronauts was formed in 1965, mainly from the staff of Handley Page Limited, to design and build a man-powered aircraft and to compete for the Kremer Prize.^[1] Partly funded by a grant from the Royal Aeronautical Society construction began in 1967 and was completed in 1972.^[1] Following taxying trials the Toucan was first flown at Radlett Aerodrome on 16 June 1972 when three flights were completed.^[1] Flown by Bryan Bowen with Derek May as crewman the longest flight was 204 ft (62 m), the Toucan flew again on 3 July 1972 for 2,100 ft (640m) and achieved a height of 15 to 20 ft (4.5 to 6 m).^[1]

Design

The Toucan is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with the fuselage a braced structure of spruce and balsa and covered with Melinex.^[1] The wing spars had spruce booms and plywood edges and the ribs were made from balsa and like the fuselage it was covered with Melenix.^[1] The landing gear was a non-retractable the main wheel and tailwheel in tandem, it also had small outrigger under the wings.^[1] The two crew sit in tandem under a transparent removable cover, the power is generated by the two crew using bicycle pedals which were connected by chains to drive the main wheel and via a shaft a two-bladed balsa pusher propeller mounted at the rear of the tail unit.^[1]

Specifications

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1973-74^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m)
• Wingspan: 123 ft 0 in (37.49 m)
• Height: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
• Wing area: 600 ft² (55.7 m²)
• Empty weight: 210 lb (95 kg)
• Gross weight: 528 lb (239 kg)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 34 mph (54.5 km/h)
• Stall speed: 20 mph (32 km/h)

See also

Related lists

• List of Human-powered aircraft

References

Notes

Bibliography