The HPA Notebook

DaSH PA at Half Moon Bay Airport Happy National Aviation Day! In recognition of the day, the HPA Notebook is introducing a new series of posts, Pilot 101.  This recurring series will examine flying challenges that pilots of HPAs often encounter.   This week's topic is pilot induced oscillations, most often referred to as PIOs.   These oscillations occur when a pilot inputs a series of overcorrections in opposite directions, each input intended to correct the previous one.  The diverging sinus-wave flight pattern that results is very common with first-time HPA pilots as most HPAs are very pitch sensitive.  Pilots riding the roller coaster of PIOs should let up on the controls and allow the HPA to level out and essentially fly itself.   Other factors that can feed into and exacerbate PIOs are lags in the control system and pitch variations due to changing pedaling cadence, which most HPAs experience to some degree. In the top video, the...

In 2012, the Royal Aeronautical Society Human Powered Aircraft Specialist group announced their intention to award the Icarus Cup to “promote human powered flight as a sport and encourage wider participation, perhaps one day appearing at the Olympics. The idea of the Icarus Cup was conceived as a way to inspire more people to design, build and fly aircraft themselves and provide an environment for them to meet, compete and share knowledge.” The inaugural Icarus Cup competition was held at Lasham Gliding Society in Alton from 13-22 July 2012, and it commemorated the 51st anniversary of human powered flight at Lasham Airfield.  5 HPAs competed and the Icarus Cup was awarded to Robin Kraike, the winning individual pilot of Airglow, an HPA designed and built by John and Mark McIntyre.  Team Airglow also won the team prize. In 2013, the Icarus Cup competition was held at Sywell Aerodrome in Sywell, Northamptonshire. David Barford won the Icarus Cup in a plane he desi...

Photo Credit: Alec Proudfoot Niall Paterson resides in Cumbria, U.K., and has been flying HPAs since 2016. He is the winner of the 2017 Icarus Cup, the 2018 Icarus Cup, and in 2018, he became the first winner of the Jacobson Figure of Eight Prize. He was also a member of the Aerocycle team which took the Team Prize at the 2017 and 2018 BHPFC Icarus Cup Competitions. Age: 42 Occupation: Commissioning Engineer Weight: 68 kg Power/weight ratio: 330 watts/68 kg HPAs flown: Aerocycle 3 # of flights: 25-30 First flight: Sywell Aerodrome, 2016 Longest duration flight: just under 3 minutes Longest distance flight: just under 1500m Most challenging flight: Distance around a Triangular Course Awards: 2018 Icarus Cup, 2018 Jacobson Figure of Eight Prize, 2017 Icarus Cup, 2017 & 2018 BHPFC Icarus Cup Competition Team Prize (Aerocycle) The HPA Notebook recently spoke with Niall, following his 2018 wins at the BHPFC Icarus Cup Competition held at Sywell Aerodrome. THN: W...

Photo Credit: Elanor Andreassen This year’s BHPFC’s Icarus Cup Competition, held at Sywell Aerodrome, saw Niall Paterson complete the Jacobson Figure of Eight course on his first attempt, capturing the Jacobson Figure 8 Prize in the first year it was offered. The ￡1000 prize was awarded to Paterson after his completion of 1.5 loops of the figure of eight in just under 3 minutes. The award, open to individuals and teams from anywhere in the world, is awarded to the aircraft that flies the farthest after one completion of a figure of eight with turning points set 350m apart. Paterson flew Aerocycle 3, a human-powered airplane designed and built by John Edgley. Aerocycle 3 claimed the team prize this year at the rally, and Paterson also won the individual pilot Icarus Cup this year, repeating his victory from last year. A video of Paterson’s history-making flight

Photo Credit: Elanor Andreassen This year’s BHPFC Icarus Cup Competition was held at Sywell Aerodrome, in Sywell, Northamptonshire, England from July 14 - 22. Two airplanes and their teams, Aerocycle 3 and Airglow, competed in the international competition. The Icarus Cup was awarded to the winning pilot, Niall Paterson, who repeated his win from last year. The newly-established Jacobson Figure of Eight prize of ￡1000 was also awarded to Niall Paterson after he completed 1.5 loops of the figure of eight. The team award of ￡1000 was awarded to Aerocycle 3, an HPA designed and built by John Edgley. This year’s competition saw two airplanes, Aerocycle 3 and Airglow, compete in 10 different tasks: Duration 200m time trial 1 km time trial 500m slalom course Distance around a triangular course Unassisted takeoff performance Landing accuracy Takeoff from grass 200m time trial with takeoff from grass Jacobson Figure of Eight Approximately one dozen pilots competed in this year’s compet...

Human powered flight has captured man's imagination since the mythological times of Ancient Greece. The elusive goal of Leonardo Da Vinci, flying under one's own power, continues to intrigue and inspire mankind. This blog is devoted to human powered aircraft (HPAs), past, present and future. In the tradition of the inventor's notebook, the HPA Notebook documents the history of HPAs; examines current flying HPAs, their construction, designers/builders and pilots; and delves into the future of the art, science and sport. Whether you build, dream, spectate, fly or hope to fly, welcome to the HPA Notebook!