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human powered aircraft Vï¿½lair

Human powered flight (in English)

This page was last updated: 5 Aug 2001

Fliegen wie ein Mensch (in Deutsch)

Vélair 89 was the first aircraft to fly "from" Munich airport (MUC) runway in the summer of 1990







This was Vélair 88 during a flight in Malmsheim near Stuttgart. Notice the old (stiffer) wing and rudder, and the video camera on top of the fuselage.

Vélair was built in the original version '88' and improved during the following year, the "89" version, mainly with a new wing (larger, higher aspect ratio, lighter, thinner, nicer, cheaper, lower drag... :-))

Version Vélair 88 Vélair 89 first flight 9 August 1988 24 September 1989 its wing was later recycled for the Icaré 1 solar powered aircraft of Stuttgart University Features wing platform

number of segments double trapeze

3 pieces

cantilever rectangle/trapeze

5 pieces

cantilever seat position recumbent 40 ° " controls 3-function cardan sidestick (on the RH side) " roll control (electric) aileron rotating wing tip yaw control push rods & cable, all flying rudder " pitch control push rods & cable with "bungee" trim, all flying elevator " Geometry Wing span 71.2 ft (21.7 m) 76.1 (23.2 m) Wing area 176.5 sqft (16.4 m²) 183 sqft (17 m²) Aspect ratio 27 31.7 Weights Empty weight 83.6 lbs (37.9 kg) 67.2 lbs (30.5 kg) Max take off weight 220 lbs (100 kg) 220 lbs (100 kg) Power loading 396 kg/kW (!!!) Wing loading 25.9 lbs/sqft (5.3 kg/m² ) Wing weight 52.5 lbs (23.8 kg ) 36.8 lbs (16.7 kg ) Propulsion prop diameter

prop speed

number of blades 8.9 ft (2.70 m)

190 rpm

2 blades

carbon shell with web

ground adjustable pitch " power transmission twisted chain +

carbon driveshaft " Construction Fuselage carbon sandwich space frame with Polystyrol/GFRP sandwich fairing wing spar I-beam spar: CFRP (T300/HYE 1048) caps, GFRP/Rohacell sandwich web tailored CFRP (T800/M10) tube spar wing shell GFRP/Polystyrol sandwich Polystyrol wing ribs Styrodur with carbon caps Styrofoam with balsa caps wing cover - Hostaphan wing airfoil (thickness) FX 63-137 (13.7%) PF 25 (12.9%) ultimate load factor 3.0 g 3.36 g (ultimate load, tested) Speeds design speed 17 KEAS (31 km/h, 8.6 m/s) stall speed 15 KEAS (27 km/h; 7.5 m/s) max horizontal speed (power limited 0.4 HP) 22 KEAS (41 km/h; 11.4 m/s) never exceed speed (torsional divergence limited) 27 KEAS (51 km/h; 14.2 m/s) Performance design power 3.75 Watt/kg pilot weight) (225 W) @ 90kg gross weight) Take off distance (198 lbs/90kg, ISA, no wind) ~260 ft (~80 m) Rate of climb @ 0.4 HP (300 W) climb power 20 ft/min (0.1 m/s) well...

Thanks to the team

Thanks to our sponsors

Also thanks to F.J.Arendts, R.Eppler and E. Messerschmid from University of Stuttgart for their logistic (workshop), scientific and morale support.

Also biggest gratitude to the industry for giving this and that:

Bakelite (resins), Beiersdorf (adhesive films), Blaschke Aeolite pedals, Daimler Benz (fuselage 3-D panel calculations, test field), Eurocomposites (honeycombs), Fiberite (carbon prepregs), Gaugler & Lutz (Airex thermoplast foam), Kalle/Höchst (Hostafan film), INA Schäffler (metallic bearings), Grünzweig & Hartmann (Styrodur foam), MBB / Donauwörth (autoclave run), Mutliplex (aileron control servos), Röhm (Rohacell), Velotraum (cycling shoes), Brodbeck (seal tape), DLR (water jet cutting machine), Roland Schirrmacher (prop mold), Martin Siegwarth & Thorn Richter (flight data aquisition system & sensors), MBB Manching, airport München, aeroport de Paris (runways), Polaroid (ultrasonic altimeter), university of Stuttgart (workshop, metallic parts).

do I have to be a bicycle champion to fly this aircraft ?

This depends on the individual's shape and weight. The power required to "cruise" is about 3.75 Watt/kg body weight which can be sustained for 1...2 hours by a well trained athlete. Try yourself on an ergometer to find out. Typical heart rate is about 160 /minute which is not exactly relaxing, but still bears some margin to the red line.

what is the power required ?

With 90 kg gross weight about 225 Watt are required for unaccelerated horizontal flight (this includes transmission losses and propeller efficiency). Would this power be provided by a combustion engine this would correspond to a fuel consumption of 0.24 liter/100km (this is a milage of 848 mpg) !!!

what is it made of ?

The primary structure is made of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy, with custom fabricated and tailored tubes with or without a sandwich core. Those prepreged materials have to be cooked with pressure and temperature. The secondary structure is made of all kinds of foams, wood, and a very light cover film (Hostaphan). Genious fabrication methods were developed to enable production and make it robust.

how fast does it fly ?

The speed range is between 27 and 45 km/h (14...25 KEAS) with minimum power required speed at 31 km/h (17 KEAS)

where can I buy one ?

Nowhere. If you make a good offer I'll build you your own one ! (and they get better each time)

what about wind ?

No problem as long as it is smooth and directed right on to the nose. 12 knots have been demonstrated on the Paris Air Show. But cross wind is a show stopper.

how does it fly ?

Well, not too bad. Pitch response is sensitive, rudder authority is OK, and roll control is kind of slow, specially during take off. In flight it is fully stable and does not need input when correctly trimmed and if there is no turbulence. Turns are induced with rudder and aileron, but then cross aileron (against turning direction) is required soon to support the inner wing. Throttle response and spool up is pretty fast but excess power is lowsy.

Why is the wing so flexible ?

There is no gramm of material wasted, it is just stiff enough to support the fuselage and stay in an efficient shape. As a cantilever wing with such a high aspect ratio the structural design driver is stiffness rather than strength. That's why the safety margin to ultimate load is ample.

how long does it take for take off ?

With no wind ca. 80 m (260 ft). The nose wheel can be rotated off quite soon so that the take off run is on the main wheel only. High concentration is required to keep the wings level with bad low speed roll control authority. Of course MTO power is applied until a slight rotation of a few degrees lifts us off. As soon as cruise altitude is reached power can be reduced.

How is the aircraft transported ?

We modified an old sailplane trailor to accomodate the large dimensions, specially the high fuselage. The largest wing segment is 7.50 m long.

What for is this aircraft anyway ?

imagine you ride your bike at 30 km/h, then slightly pull on the sidestick and rotate to continue to ride in a couple of meter above ground level. Now after a slight turn you float over the meadows, jump over a small fence, cross that creek... Isn't that a reason ?



To make fly a human body on his own low-sy power is quite a challenge. Challenges must be addressed.



How to configure, design and make such an aircraft resulted in plenty of valuable lessons learned about configuration, layout, detail design, aerodynamics, performance, stability and control, aeroelasticity, fabrication techniques, light weight materials... that are applicable to other high performance aircraft, specially for the cases where propulsion power is strongly limited like for high altitude aircraft that are designed to fly in the stratosphere, or for aircraft with very low fuel consumption and long endurance.

What is GFRP and CFRP ?

glass and carbon fiber reinforced plastic, using epoxy resins as a matrix. Aramid fibers have been used as well. Hand laminating of fabrics as well as prepreg curing of UD-layers as been applied. Intermediate modulus carbon fibers and a low pressure low temp cure resin prepreg were used for the Vélair89 spar.









At the Interlaken Human Power Festival August 1999.

26 January: presentation to VDI-Verein Ulm: "Fliegen wie ein Mensch"

16 March: presentation to SAMPE (Society for the advancement of materials and process engineering) /University of Stuttgart: "Fliegen wie ein Mensch"

Vélair on Discovery Channel: "Extreme maschines" (Pioneer Productions)

on Discovery Channel: "Extreme maschines" (Pioneer Productions) Vélair at ARD Tigerentenclub: May (including some short snapshots about Pelargos 3 and the very first flight Vélair 88 )

at ARD Tigerentenclub: May (including some short snapshots about and the very first flight ) Spokes Festival in Leicester /UK: 28...31 July ( Airglow HPA will be on display)

HPA will be on display) Fahrradausstellung in Nürnberg Fall 2000 (perhaps with flight demo). Whether flights will be possible depends on time on hand for the preparation, same procedure as last year. This will be posted here in time.

12 August: Sorry, no demo flights in Nürnberg, there will be no event on an airfield.

Fliegen mit 225 Watt. Muskelkraftflugzeuge und Anwendungen. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft und Raumfahrttechnik, Oktober 1990, Bonn.

Human powered aircraft, the limits of light weight construction: OSTIV symposium Wiener Neustadt 1989.

The human powered aircraft Vélair: design details and result of structural, prop and flight tests. AIAA International human powered flight symposium August 1994, Seattle Washington, USA.

design details and result of structural, prop and flight tests. AIAA International human powered flight symposium August 1994, Seattle Washington, USA. Human powered flight as a sport. Symposium at the Royal Aeronautical Society January 1996.

Design of aircraft with minimum required power. Stuttgart 1990.

Technological spin off from human powered to high altitude long endurance aircraft. The Royal Aeronautical Society, London January 1999.

Keith Sherwin: Man powered flight. Model & Allied publications Argus Books ltd, Kings Langley UK, 1971.

Morton Grosser: The gossamer Odyssey. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston USA, 1981.

Gary Dorsey: The Fullness of Wings . Viking Pinguin, New York USA, 1990.

My flight experience with HPA's: