| |
|
In 1905
the Peugeot prize for a human-powered flight of more than 10 meters was offered.
This was claimed in 1921 by a sprint bicycle champion, Gabriel Poulain,
who launched to a gliding flight of 11.98 m his Farman biplane glider "Aviette"
at Longchamps. The machine was equipped with bicycle wheels
driven by the pilot to provide the necessary ground speed for launching the glider.
The diagram shows the configuration of this craft which had a total wing
area of 12 m2. The upper wing had a span of 6 m and a chord of
1.2 m, and the lower wing a 4 meter span and 1.22 m chord. The aircraft weighed
17 kg and Poulin's weight was about 74 kg at the time of the flight. |
|
|
