human powered flight

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

David O wrote:
I stand corrected. I recall hearing that number (1hp) on some
special and thought it was extremely unlikely. You gotta admit that even
1/3 hp for a long time would be a serious workout. People tend to not
have a feeling for how much power a light bulb takes until they work on a
treadmill.


: 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



--
************************************************** ***********************
* The prime directive of Linux: *
* - learn what you don't know, *
* - teach what you do. *
* (Just my 20 USm$) *
************************************************** ***********************