Would you buy a pedal powered airplane?

[CCS]

Would you buy an airplane like this? How much would you pay?



It would be completely powered by you, at a somewhat vigorous workout pace.

It would nap together or unsnap in 10 minutes, and go in a 10 foot trailer, like one of the bigger U-Haul trailers. The wing span is 40 feet.

It needs to take off from a smooth runway. If the small wheels have big bumps in front of them, it might not be able to pick up any speed. You will have about 25 pounds of thrust or more when you first start. A road is smooth enough.

You could fly figure 8's, but would have to stay withing 20 feet of the gorund or so. It would be pretty strong, but if a sudden gust of wind got you, it could break the wings. And since you'd be flying really slowly, your steering would be ineffictive against a strong wind gust which could knock you who knows which way. Fly on calm days at your own risk.

You can taxi during take offs and landings.
You can buy it in a kit that you can assymble in 3 days, 4 hours per day, to the larger pieces that you transport.

If you are in good shape and light, you buy the one with the smaller wing and have a top speed of maybe 30 mph, though you'd have to be an athlete to cruize at over 25 mph for more than a few minutes. An athlete can maybe keep it up for an hour.
If you are a bit bigger or not in as good of shape, you buy the bigger winged one, and maybe cruize at 15 mph.

Just like the early hang gliders, there is a risk of dying or getting hurt.

The driver seat is completely inclosed, but the walls are clear plastic. There are ventilation holes that let a breeze pass through.

Steering is done easily with a control stick.

 

[HughJass]

what happens if you get a cramp mid-flight?

 

[cuebald]

if it was cheap? Yeah
I'd then fit a small motor to the chain drive

 

[CCS]

If your leg cramps, you just glide. Pull a lever, and the propeller blades twist in the direction of flight so there is less drag.

I figured out how to make sure the propellers never hit the ground stronger landing gear may be in order too.

As for the engine, that is a good way to get yourself killed, unless you are a structural engineer. It has to match the structural strength of the airplane. But I will design one with an engine, and sell that as well. It will be built stronger, so people don't get themselves killed. Ill get a 5 hp engine so it is still cheap. I'll modify the engine.

Construction costs for all materials would be around $2000. Then I have labor. I'd probably sell it between $5000 and $10000. $5000 for the pedal powered one. I just really got to design it well, so I don't get sued. I want to license the plans to a company, which then sells to many people and pays me a cut.

What percent of americans do you think would buy this thing? It will fit in a 8 foot by 7 foot by 7 foot trailer, and can be constructed in less than 30 minutes. 5 minutes if you are fast.

 

[Doug Douglas]

Best thread ever.

 

[s.a.f]

Seriously I dont think this will be a big seller or a viable alternative form of transport.
But if it really is a reliable design then I'm sure that it would be a good form of recreational excercise or transportation for the odd eccentric. And that would be enough to warrant a decent production line but only if it was affordable.

 

[CCS]

Shipping would be the main challenge. For it to ship in a small box, it would have to need a lot of gluing still upon arrival. Even if I sold it cheap, I doubt most people would want to put in 30 hours of construction time and risk messing something up.

I'd have to make them one at a time, and have them on display in bike stores, for sale on consignment. I could sell the plans to people. But some might leak to other people.

It is not meant for transportation. It is illegal to fly over populated areas. It is meant for going out flying on a sunday afternoon, and then storing it in a big box in your garage the rest of the time.

It just sounds a lot more fun than riding a bike.

What would you guys consider to be affordable?

 

[CCS]

Some cars have a $500 delivery fee.

 

[oni]

Can you make a 2 seater one............................................so I can go cruising for girls.............

But wait that means I can only pick up midgets or athletes!!!!! :shakehead:

CCS....this is way too limiting!

 

[somone uk]

i can only imagine what would happen if there was a little gust of wind :innocent:

i would probs pay for a man powered air ship for one thing it's VTOL so you won't need the runway and maybe add some, maybe have an areofoil sail for windy days though you would need a hand pump to control it's decent hmmmm

 

[CCS]

That athlete is a perfect 10.

As for riding double, it would be easier. Two people, one in front of the other, could punch through the air better. I could make one with you two sitting side by side, but you'd have slightly less efficiency than a single pilot. Different weights would be a problem too, though I could make trim tabs on the tips that you adjust while on the ground.

 

[s.a.f]

It just sounds a lot more fun than riding a bike.

What would you guys consider to be affordable?

It would only ever be a minority pastime like hangliding, windsurfing or street Luge I'm sure you'd get a big demand for orders upon release but then it would drop right off. For the type of money you're asking people could easily get a decent Jetski or secondhand car. So yeah only rich people with a taste for adrenaline rushes would be interested.
To make it a mainstream pasttime you'd have to sell them for $100's rather than $1000's.

 

[oni]

That athlete is a perfect 10.

As for riding double, it would be easier. Two people, one in front of the other, could punch through the air better. I could make one with you two sitting side by side, but you'd have slightly less efficiency than a single pilot. Different weights would be a problem too, though I could make trim tabs on the tips that you adjust while on the ground.

Can I have one that looks like this?

But with wings and it needs to be able to take off from water.................

 

[lock]

it could be a hit with guys like you who dont have that many options when they want to fly with guns..

 

[Boondock]

This thread takes the biscuit. Seriously, CSS, who do you think you are? f*****g Leonardo da Vinci?

The amount of energy generated by someone peddling is nothing like enough to get a propeller to take them off the ground. Think how much energy it takes to ride a bicycle up an 80% hill, and then ask someone to do that for 20 minutes straight (with the caveat that if they get tired, they fall out of the sky).

It might be an option for Lance Armstrong.

 

[Bryan]

The amount of energy generated by someone peddling is nothing like enough to get a propeller to take them off the ground...It might be an option for Lance Armstrong.

That's what I've been thinking. Nobody except a world-class athelete would be able to use the thing AT ALL, and even then, only for very very brief periods of time. It's an idea whose time has long-since passed.

 

[CCS]

YOu guys don't know what you are talking about. It takes less energy to fly a human powered aircraft than it does to run on foot. The record for flying a human powered aircraft is 4 hours over about 70 miles. Do that on foot. The speed record is a mile in 2 minutes. Do that on foot.

And FYI, a bicycle is very inefficient, dispite what you many have read.

Don't worry. If you can't get women, pretty soon you'll at least be able to go flying.

 

[Bryan]

YOu guys don't know what you are talking about. It takes less energy to fly a human powered aircraft than it does to run on foot. The record for flying a human powered aircraft is 4 hours over about 70 miles.

Please cite some serious evidence for those claims!

 

[CCS]

Every aerodynamicist agrees Leonardo was a very smart non scientist. His tiny helicopter could not have flown. Bigger better aircraft can. By non-scientist, I mean he approached it with art and what he thought looked good, rather than using math or experiments.

http://pictures.propdesigner.co.uk/

Those are most of the famous flight attempts. There are lots more.

Here is a human powered helicopter which I plan to beat:
http://www.humanpoweredhelicopters.org/yuri1/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_Daedalus

It is much easier to beat stuff when you are improving on it, though much of what I use will be original.

 

[s.a.f]

I personelly cant wait to see it. Although it does look abit impractical (sizewise).