wrote:

The human-powered planes that have crossed the English channel
required something like 2.5 HP (about 2000 Watts). That's about the most
efficient plane you can make that'll carry a person. Try peddling like
2.5 horses for more than a few minutes and see if you'd like to "land" yet

-Cory

More like 0.4 hp (300 Watts) or perhaps even a bit less, Cory. The
best Olympic caliber endurance athletes max out at about 0.6 hp (450
Watts) of sustained power output. My 380 (or so) Watts got me to the
to the US Olympic cycling trials in 1976 but I didn't make the team.

At 50, I still storm my 30 year old racing bike over the mountains of
north Georgia, but my extraordinary aerobic capacity went south about
10 years ago, along with my reading vision.

David O -- http://www.AirplaneZone.com